From Binali Yildirim, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey

His Excellency Mr Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Dear Mr President,

I thank you for your letter of sincere congratulations on the occasion of my birthday.

On behalf of the government of Turkey, my wife and on my own behalf, I also extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on the occasion of your birthday, as well as to Your Excellency and Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva on the occasion of the upcoming New Year.

We are very happy to see the achievements of Azerbaijan under your far-sighted leadership. The contributions you have made to Azerbaijan's becoming an influential country which has its say in the region will go down in history.

Our relations have been extensively developing over this period.

Thanks to both high-level visits and trilateral mechanisms we have established, today our relationship has become stronger than ever before.

The level of our bilateral cooperation will continue to be a source of pride for our country. A few days ago, during our visit to Nakhchivan, I got the opportunity to be further convinced of our close ties and cooperation with Azerbaijan. I do believe that the current high-level cooperation between our countries will continue developing in 2018 in line with the best interests of our peoples.

Mr President, on this occasion I extend my best wishes to Your Excellency for the best of health, and for the prosperity and happiness of the brotherly people of Azerbaijan.

Sincerely,

Binali Yildirim

Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey