- Your Excellency, after the conclusion of your mandate to the Holy See as the first Ambassador of Azerbaijan, how do you feel about this experience today and what is the purpose of your visit today?

- Firstly, it's always a pleasure to be back to the Vatican City as this revives unique and pleasant memories related to the beginning of what has today become a vibrant, solid and efficient cooperation and interaction between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Holy See. Almost twenty years since my first visit to the Vatican, it's gratifying to acknowledge significant progress and steady evolution in our bilateral relations. It gives me a particular pleasure to contemplate our beautiful tricolour waving from the premises of the Embassy of Azerbaijan to the Holy See at the historical via della Conciliazione next to the Vatican. And we are glad that since December 2022 we have a dedicated Ambassador who is accredited to the Holy See with residence in Rome.

As to the purpose of this visit, it is a part of the ongoing active political dialog between our States on the issues of mutual interest, including on the matters related to the ongoing peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We are grateful to the Holy See for its interest to this topic and for the support of the peace agenda put forward by Azerbaijan to normalize relations with our Armenian neighbors. As you may know, direct bilateral talks between our two countries to finalize a peace deal have entered a crucial final stage, and I am here to reiterate Azerbaijan's strong commitment to achieve durable, credible and irreversible peace with Armenia. To reach this goal, it is our solemn duty to make sure that the future peace deal makes any return to territorial claims, aggression, or military conflict completely impossible, even theoretically. Azerbaijan has suffered enough from this scourge and would like to exclude repeating this scenario in the future. For that, Armenia needs to urgently address the obvious territorial claim embedded in its current Constitution with regard to part of a sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. By denying the relevance of this major obstacle to peace and opting for simplistic and non-viable shortcuts to sign a half-baked text at any cost, Armenia seems to ignore the elephant in the living room. It tries to sweep under the carpet the raison d'etre, underlying reason of decades-long rivalry and confrontation between our countries. So, the ball is today in the Armenian court and we do hope the historic opportunity to turn the tragic page in our relations will not be wasted.

- Your country is known for religious tolerance and the Holy See plays a role in the difficult interreligious dialogue. Is there a synergy in this field between the two States?

- Indeed, you are right. Religious tolerance, which I would rather qualify as mutual respect between representatives of various religious confessions and faiths and their harmonious and peaceful co-existence in our country is Azerbaijan's hallmark and a source of pride of all Azerbaijanis, irrespective of their ethnic origin or religious background. Our geostrategic location at the crossroads of the East and the West and our ability to absorb and maintain the values of both civilizations allow us to perform the role of a living bridge between various cultures and civilizations. Because of its strong record in this field, Azerbaijan is easily accepted by both the East and the West as a natural platform for much-needed intercultural and interreligious dialogue and interaction. Baku has been recognized already as one of the
leading international venues for all sorts of high level events, including summits, global fora and conferences aimed at fostering and deepening the dialog between various cultures and religions. I agree, that this element adds to the synergy between Azerbaijan and the Holy See and may serve as a model for many others. As a practical contribution to enhancing intercultural and interreligious dialog Azerbaijan has been engaged for decades now in multiple charity activities through financing the implementation of large number of projects aimed at preservation of global cultural and religious heritage in various corners of the world.

- Indeed, through the activities of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Azerbaijan is also known here as an important patron and financier of the Holy See's cultural and religious heritage. Can you tell us a little bit about this aspect of bilateral cooperation? What are the current projects on the agenda, and how important are they for your country?

- Let me start by saying that these projects constitute an important element in our bilateral relations and testify to the existence of deep trust and mutual respect between Azerbaijan and the Holy See and our Heads of State. Azerbaijan is proud to be able to contribute to protection and maintenance of precious cultural and religious heritage of the Catholic Church. Practical interaction between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation led by the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mrs Mehriban Allyeva and the Pontifical Council of the Holy See for Culture as well as Pontifical Commission for the Sacred Archeology is more than ten years old. As the result of these long years of cooperation several important Roman catacombs, considered among the most significant monuments for the Christian world, such as those of Saints Marcellinus and Peter were restored and opened for public. We may also recall restoration of numerous sarcophages at the catacombs of Saint Sebastian, monuments at the Vatican Museum, as well as some of the artifacts at the St Peter's Cathedral and restoration of large number of manuscripts at the Vatican Apostolic Library. As to the current projects, we expect the finalization of restoration works at the Comodilla catacombs by the end of this year. Last but not least, Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Governorate of Vatican City State signed here less than one month ago a new agreement that would allow for the restoration and consolidation of the vast ceiling decorations in the Basilica of St.Paul Outside the Walls to make passage for the public inside the Basilica safe by the beginning of the Jubilee Year 2025. That all these projects are extremely important for Azerbaijan which strives to consolidate further its image of the land of diversity and harmonious existence of different cultures and faiths. And we are confident that this collaboration which is highly appreciated by both sides will be successfully continued in future.

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