Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said, “Relations with Georgia are of strategic importance for us due to the historical connections.”

At the 7th ADA University Policy Forum titled “Facing The New World Order,” Aliyev stated that “Georgia and Azerbaijan managed to transform the region of South Caucasus into strategically important.”

“Definitely, relations with Georgia are of strategic importance for us due to the historical connections between our peoples, our mutual past as being non-free and non-independent, and also the period of independence where from the very beginning, Georgia and Azerbaijan demonstrated a very high level of mutual understanding, partnership, friendship, and actually managed to transform the region of South Caucasus into strategically important. It was done by us, only by Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Situated between two seas, the Caspian and Black Sea, we are the gateway for each other to contact different regions and continents. So the prospects I’m sure will be as bright as our present.

Among the last developments which indicate the close partnership and friendship relations between the two countries, I would name the visit of the Prime Minister of Georgia, the first after the elections. Usually the first visit after elections has a very symbolic sense. So the first visit was a visit to Azerbaijan. And also we expect soon the first after-elections visit of the President of Georgia, also to Azerbaijan. So these two facts are a clear indicator of our relationship, our commitment to each other and our friendship.

Of course, we can talk a lot about the projects which unite us. They’re well known. Therefore, I don’t want to take much of your time. But they’re important not only for us, for our peoples and countries, but also for a large geography, especially now when we are adding to that green agenda, which we just discussed briefly.

Again, it’s a green corridor, Azerbaijan and Georgia, Transportation Corridor, Middle corridor. It cannot be avoided,” he added.