The heads of state of the Caspian littoral states made statements for the press

After the ceremony of signing documents, the heads of state of the Caspian littoral states made statements for the press.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev delivered a statement.

Statement by President Ilham Aliyev

- Distinguished Presidents,

Dear ladies and gentlemen!

First of all, I would like to once again thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, for the organization of the summit, for the hospitality and for the atmosphere you have created for the discussion of issues both in a narrow and extended formats.

As a matter of fact, we have had a very efficient day today, had an open and very friendly dialogue on the important issues of our future cooperation in the Caspian Sea. Vladimir Vladimirovich has already pointed out the main issues we discussed today and the issues we resolved. I do not want to repeat that. I would like to say that I believe that the basis of our success is the close interaction which has historically existed among our peoples.

Azerbaijan has very close and mutually beneficial friendship and partnership with all Caspian states. Our peoples are bound together by history. It is a great asset that we have been able to preserve and are now multiplying the traditions of interaction, mutual support and good neighborliness. The years that have passed since the last summit held in Baku in 2010 have been spent usefully. The agreements we have reached today are the result of very hard and I would even say sincere work. If we hadn’t displayed a common political will, it would probably be difficult to achieve what we have achieved.

And today we have made a decision which can in some ways be considered as a significant step forward. These decisions also give us more confidence that we can resolve all the issues related to our interaction in the Caspian Sea.

At different stages of our interaction there have been various estimates of how feasible it is to reach a consensus on fundamental issues of our cooperation. I think that today's discussions, the decision and the documents signed make it clear for all that where there is political will, we can resolve all the problems of our interaction. The key to security in the Caspian Sea is our partnership both bilaterally and multilaterally.

We in Azerbaijan are also very pleased that our neighbors across the Caspian Sea are also good partners between themselves. We always support each other and actively cooperate in international organizations. I think that these positive trends should and will certainly be continued because we live in this region. The Caspian is our common wealth. We will cherish and protect it even better with specific steps, including infrastructure projects and investments in the creation of new opportunities for our countries. The advantage of our countries is not only in the fact that we are friends with each other and treat each other sincerely, but also in the fact that we are economically self-sufficient states. Our countries do not have serious financial problems and we invest heavily in infrastructure.

Vladimir Vladimirovich has noted the need for a further development of the transport infrastructure. I also said in my speech what is being done in Azerbaijan. I think that at the next step we need to consider the coordination of our transport spheres, including the coordination of our ports that are being created and have already been created in order to establish uninterrupted transportation in all directions – both in the North-South direction, which is very promising, and in the East-West direction. Azerbaijan participates in both projects, and we see only the benefits of such interaction. Security issues in the Caspian Sea, of course, require special attention, but I must say that given this level of cooperation and trust between our countries, each Caspian state ensures both its own security and the security of its neighbor.

In conclusion I would like to say that Azerbaijan is very pleased with today's results, documents signed and arrangements reached. I do hope that at the next summit we will resolve the issues that have not yet been resolved and move forward successfully. Thank you very much again for your hospitality.