Ilham Aliyev attended a meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State

A regular meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State has been held in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

The meeting was attended by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko met President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in the "Palace of Independence".

The heads of state had their picture taken.

Then, President Alexander Lukashenko also met other heads of state who arrived in Belarus to attend the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State.

The Presidents posed for photographs.

First, a meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State was held in a restricted format.

After welcoming the participants, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko praised the participation of Heads of State and Government in the event.

Congratulating Ilham Aliyev on his election as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on behalf of the meeting participants, Alexander Lukashenko said:

- Before we start our work, please allow me to congratulate dear Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev on a convincing victory in the presidential election on behalf of all of us and wish him continued success as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the benefit of prosperity of the state and people of this country.

On behalf of the participating Heads of State, President Ilham Aliyev was presented with flowers.

Then Alexander Lukashenko declared the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State open and gave the floor to the Chairman of the Executive Committee and the CIS Executive Secretary, Sergey Lebedev.

Providing information about the agenda and rules of the meeting, Sergey Lebedev noted that the Heads of State were to review 14 issues. These include the announcement of 2015 the Year of Veterans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the establishment of common jubilee awards on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the theme of the presidency in the CIS, the date and venue of the next meeting of the Council of Heads of State and other issues.

After the approval of the meeting agenda, President Alexander Lukashenko spoke on topical issues of cooperation within the Commonwealth. He said:

- Today we are gathered in Minsk, where the headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States is located and where the most large-scale decisions are traditionally adopted. During our presidency, Belarus concentrated on addressing the problems related to the "Integration for the good of the people" motto. Proceeding from this, all of us have successfully implemented a number of activities and initiatives in the areas of security, environment, "green" technologies, expansion of inter-regional and cross-border cooperation, and the dialogue of cultures. The subject of economic partnership has run like a golden thread through our cooperation. This year we have embarked on active talks on the draft agreement on free trade in services.

"And now is the time to take further measures to enhance mutual economic cooperation within the CIS," said Alexander Lukashenko, stressing the importance of further strengthening the cooperation among member-states of the Commonwealth in three directions. They provide for better coordination of international affairs among CIS countries, intensification of work at the regional level and to promote unity among the youth.

Speaking next, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

- I would like to begin by thanking you, Alexander Grigoryevich, for your kind words and congratulations. It was somewhat unexpected. I would also like to thank all my colleagues, heads of state, who have congratulated me on my reelection as President of Azerbaijan. I must say that cooperation among our countries will be of paramount importance in my activities. Our people have a common history, a common past, a heroic past and a joint fight against fascism. Today, we are united by economic and political interests, and cooperation within the CIS is one of the main priorities of the foreign policy for Azerbaijan. Of course, Azerbaijan has always held a position of principle on the issues of integration within the CIS. Our position has always been aimed at strengthening the cooperation and development of multilateral and bilateral relations.

After a few days, Baku will be hosting the third International Humanitarian Forum, which was initiated jointly by Russia and Azerbaijan and has become a very important platform for the discussion of issues of humanitarian cooperation, intercultural and interreligious dialogue in a short time.

I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the representatives of the CIS countries for their active participation in previous forums. I also hope for the active participation of intellectuals and members of the scientific community in the forum. It fits quite well into our policy to strengthen the ties in the humanitarian sphere, which forms the basis for our cooperation. The humanitarian sphere is an area which cements the relationship between our two countries, and it is necessary to make sure that future generations of our citizens who were born and grew up after independence also appreciate all the positive things that used to bind our peoples and countries together and contribute through their hard work to the development of our relations.

We also attach great importance to the issues related to economic cooperation. Azerbaijan's turnover with most of the CIS countries is growing every year and its structure is improving. In other words, the humanitarian cooperation, which forms the basis of our relations, also promotes active cooperation in the economic sphere.

Our agenda covers issues related to the fight against crime and terrorism. These issues are also important to us and, in general, should be viewed from a single point of view by the whole world because no country can defend itself or fully guarantee its security without the active cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism. We need to strengthen our joint efforts to and step up the coordination between relevant services of our countries in order to secure a safe future for our citizens.

With regard to the other topics on the agenda, namely the announcement of 2014 the Tourism Year and of 2015 the Year of Veterans of the Great Patriotic War, we fully share the views of the Commonwealth member-states. These areas are very important. Of course, Azerbaijan for its part will continue to take advantage of its opportunities to contribute to the strengthening of cooperation and good neighborly relations between our countries. Thank you.

The next speaker, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev said that the issue of further rapprochement among peoples of the Commonwealth was a priority. He expressed his support for Ukraine's presidency in the CIS in 2014.

Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Djomart Otorbaev said his country attached great importance to the activities marking the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

President of Moldova Nicolae Timofti expressed his hope for a further strengthening of cooperation in the interests of countries and peoples.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed to the importance of the priority approach to the measures in the economic sphere. Touching upon the processes taking place in the global economy, he noted the importance of integration among countries of the Commonwealth in the conditions of the global recession and the formation of a secure business environment. Emphasizing the need for strengthening the cooperation in the field of law enforcement, Vladimir Putin said that this year was announced the Year of Environment and next year the Year of Tourism.

Indicating that the strategy of cooperation in the field of tourism for the period up to 2020 was under consideration, Russian President Vladimir Putin said:

- The CIS countries have a unique diversity of cultural, historical and natural attractions. It is necessary to enhance their accessibility, develop the regional transport infrastructure and invest in the establishment of joint facilities. For example, we have a good project with Belarus, which has been in operation since 2012. We are working on the largest project in the Commonwealth – the 220-km water tourist route "Along the Dnepr: on the way from the Vikings to the Greeks".

Similar projects are being developed by us with Ukraine and Azerbaijan. I have recently visited Azerbaijan, was pleased to see how Baku is developing. We walked through the central part of the city. It was just wonderful. I am sure that if people know what is happening in our countries, the interest will continue to grow.

President of Tajikistan Emomalii Rahmon said that his country still considered the CIS as an important lever for regional cooperation and stressed the importance of the events held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan's Osh as part of their announcement as cultural capitals of the Commonwealth.

The Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Turkmenistan, Annamuhammed Gochiev, said that his country, as an active member of the CIS, attached great importance to the cooperation within the Commonwealth in both bilateral and multilateral formats.

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov touched upon the prospects of the CIS and noted the importance of this structure in maintaining relations between countries and peoples.

President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych said that his country supported the proposal to declare 2014 the Year of Tourism and 2015 the Year of Veterans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko also emphasized the importance of promoting the examples of heroism displayed during World War II among young people and said this Great Victory should be of particular importance in educating the younger generation.

Х Х Х

Then a meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State was held in an expanded format.

Saying that the meeting in a restricted format had focused on an exchange of views on a number of issues, Alexander Lukashenko noted that the main topics of discussion were related to the expansion of cooperation in the fields of transport, energy, space, nanotechnology and other fields.

Noting that Ukraine would chair the CIS in 2014, President Viktor Yanukovych spoke about the projects to be implemented in the CIS during this period. Viktor Yanukovych suggested conducting the next meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State in Kiev in October 2014.

After the meeting in an expanded format, the Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State signed a package of documents.

After the signing ceremony, the CIS Heads of State and heads of delegations took part in the ceremony to set up an Alley of the Guests of Honor outside the “Palace of Independence”.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev planted a tree in the alley.

Other guests also planted trees.

Then, the Chairman of the Council of CIS Heads of State and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko hosted a dinner reception in honor of the participants of the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State.

On 25 October, the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State completed its work.