After the one-on-one meeting, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili held a meeting in an expanded format with the participation of delegations.
Welcoming the meeting participants, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:
- Dear Mr. President!
Dear guests!
I am glad to see you here in Azerbaijan. Welcome! We have already had an exchange of views on important issues of bilateral relations and regional issues. Now we will continue our discussion in an expanded format.
First of all, I want to say that I am very glad to see you in our country again. Your visit to Azerbaijan marks a very important stage in the development of our relations. In the last nine years we have met very often – in Baku, in Tbilisi, in Batumi and in other cities. I am pleased that these contacts are continuing, and at the current stage of our relations it is necessary to ensure full continuity of the strategic partnership between Georgia and Azerbaijan. I am glad that you are paying this visit with such a representative delegation. I have known many of you for a long time. I am sure that your visit to Baku will also be useful in terms of communication between colleagues.
Our relations have passed a lot of tests, have risen to the highest level and it is difficult to imagine a level that would be higher. Specific projects are being implemented, bringing our countries and peoples even closer together. Also, there are very good prospects for the future. In order to ensure that, it is necessary to maintain the steady course towards integration and coordination of efforts in the international sphere as well. The successful completion of specific economic and infrastructure projects we have initiated together with you will also contribute to stability in the region and the well-being of our peoples.
Our agenda is very broad, as always. We have on the agenda a lot of issues of different nature. And it is very important that all of them are solved very positively and effectively. I think that at the end of your visit we will also define concrete ways of further strengthening our cooperation.
Welcome once again.
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Expressing his satisfaction with another visit to Azerbaijan and meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili said:
- Thank you very much, Mr. President! First of all, we are honored and always pleased to come to the almost native Baku. This is indeed not only an important center of the region, but also one of the most amazing and interesting cities in the world.
I have watched the progress of Baku since my first visit to attend your inauguration at the beginning of my term in office, when Baku was just beginning to develop. And I do not know of any other examples in the world, except, perhaps, for one or two much richer and bigger countries, where there would be such development as in Azerbaijan. I think that this is your personal achievement and, of course, the achievement of your people.
Our relations are developing. The foundation of these relations was laid by the strategic vision of great Heydar Aliyev, who pursued an absolutely unwavering course on where Azerbaijan should go. And it is his firmness, strategic vision and consistency in the implementation of all of these measures, which have been continued in your policies, that have led Azerbaijan to where you are now. You are the subject of admiration and delight of all my fellow citizens and indeed all sober-minded people of the world, at least of this region, I am sure. So in a sense we are somewhat summing up the results of this cooperation. I am pleased that the prime minister of Georgia has also come here with a government delegation. I understand that no matter who is in the Georgian government, they appreciate the importance of Azerbaijan and can not but continue the course that has been started. This course does not depend on who is in power in Georgia, because it is a course between two nations. This is a course that has no alternative, no option for development other than that of a very deep and profound strategic partnership between our countries at the grassroots level, at the business level, at the level of governments, at the level of presidents, at the level of prime ministers. So in this sense we are very grateful to you.
