“Foreign policy issues are always in the center of attention of the Azerbaijani president,” said Hajiyev. “The head of state defines priority tasks facing Azerbaijani diplomacy, ensures their systematic and consistent implementation. Not every country is able to pursue an independent foreign policy, as Azerbaijan does.”
The article says that the meetings by President Ilham Aliyev with the heads of neighboring and other states, the dialogues and high-level discussions held with them are a factor of particular importance in the implementation of an independent and flexible foreign policy based on the national interests of Azerbaijan.
“Just like in domestic politics, the schedule of the head of state is also intense in foreign policy issues, numerous visits and meetings are held,” reads the article. “In 2018, President Ilham Aliyev made 16 official and working visits, including visits to Turkey, Russia, the UK, Sweden, France, Croatia, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Turkmenistan. In turn, the heads of state of Turkey, Iran, Russia, Italy, Tajikistan, Macedonia, Mongolia, Albania, the German chancellor, prime ministers of Bulgaria, Georgia and Slovakia, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina made official and working visits to Azerbaijan.”
Hajiyev noted that each visit on the agenda of President Ilham Aliyev is result-oriented and is of practical nature, serves to develop mutually beneficial cooperation based on the country’s strategic interests.
He said that the visit by President Ilham Aliyev to the EU headquarters and the meeting with President of the European Council Donald Tusk, the initialing of the Partnership Priorities document with the EU, letters addressed by the US president to the president of Azerbaijan, as well as the visit of high-ranking US delegations to Azerbaijan give even greater impetus to the cooperation of Azerbaijan with the EU and the US.
“President Ilham Aliyev during the year held over 230 meetings with foreign delegations in Azerbaijan and beyond,” Hajiyev said. “This is not counting meetings with delegations in the cultural, social and sports fields. The head of state, speaking at the NATO Brussels Summit, as well as at the summits of the CIS and the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, at the meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Baku and other authoritative events, demonstrated Azerbaijan’s fundamental view on global and regional issues.”
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