President Ilham Aliyev receives Mevlut Cavusoglu [PHOTOS/VIDEO]

Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, has received Mevlut Cavusoglu, former Foreign Minister of Turkiye, member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, head of the delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Azernews reports.

The head of state underlined that Azerbaijan holds Mevlut Cavusoglu in high esteem for standing by the country throughout the years, adding that the people of Azerbaijan highly appreciate this. President Ilham Aliyev highlighted that during the Second Karabakh War, Mevlut Cavusoglu made important statements regularly. “He raised Turkiye's voice to the whole world, stating that Azerbaijan is not alone, and Turkiye stands by its side. These declarations played a pivotal role in countering external forces that sought to interfere in Azerbaijan's affairs.”

The head of state emphasized the crucial importance of further strengthening the Azerbaijan-Turkiye alliance today, particularly in light of the current global processes, including those unfolding in the South Caucasus, which are heading in very dangerous directions. “Azerbaijan rightfully expresses its concerns about these developments. Thus, the plans formulated for the South Caucasus could potentially lead to significant disasters in the future.”

The President of Azerbaijan affirmed that the liberation of Karabakh from occupation, particularly the anti-terrorism operation conducted in September of last year, has unsettled certain forces. "I have consistently stated, and continue to affirm, that we are on the right path; we have liberated our ancestral lands through military means in accordance with all international laws," emphasized President Ilham Aliyev, highlighting that pressures on Azerbaijan have persisted since then. “The European Parliament has adopted insulting and ugly resolutions while the PACE has deprived our delegation of voting rights. These are the actions that could have very negative consequences, and the sole reason for this is the liberation of Karabakh from occupation.”

On the trilateral meeting between the United States, the European Union, and Armenia scheduled to be held in Brussels today, the head of state stated that this poses another source of danger for the South Caucasus. Despite recent attempts by high-ranking officials from both the United States and the European Union to assure, during phone conversations initiated by them, that this meeting is not aimed against Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that “we understand this is against Azerbaijan and cooperation in the South Caucasus. Its objective is to create divisive lines and isolate our country.”

The head of state reiterated that the statements made by the European Parliament and the Council of Europe against Azerbaijan since September last year until now, and the attempts to establish Armenia as an armed outpost in the South Caucasus, will cause much greater damage in the future. “Therefore, we have issued statements to warn our partners in the United States and Europe about this.”

Saying that the geopolitical situation has changed, President Ilham Aliyev stressed the necessity of the Azerbaijan-Turkiye alliance to remain strong as it has always been, and expressed confidence that the desires of those seeking to break this alliance would be in vain.

Expressing gratitude for the kind words, Mevlut Cavusoglu conveyed the greetings of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the head of state.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed his gratitude for the greetings and asked Mevlut Cavusoglu to communicate his greetings to Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed the great joy they felt at being in their native Azerbaijan, as always. He congratulated Ilham Aliyev on his landslide victory in the presidential election, describing it as a manifestation of the high trust of the Azerbaijani people in their leader as the Commander-in-Chief who achieved the Victory in Karabakh.

Noting that the President of Azerbaijan referred to the Turkish world as “our family” in his speech during the inauguration ceremony, Mevlut Cavusoglu pointed out that the valuable ideas expressed by the head of state regarding the unity of the Turkic world were warmly welcomed in the Turkic world. Mevlut Cavusoglu emphasized: "You are an influential leader on the global scale, and the steps you have taken towards strengthening the Turkic world are evident to the entire Turkic world."

President Ilham Aliyev noted that indeed the Turkic world is “our family” and emphasized the need to work in this direction.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said that there are forces unable to digest Azerbaijan's Karabakh Victory, and they are trying to pursue their policies in this direction.