Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan hold 1st Supreme Interstate Council meeting

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan on Monday held the first Supreme Interstate Council meeting between the two countries during a two-day official visit by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Baku.

“The decision to establish the Council is historic in itself. This once again proves the high level of our relations and the desire of both sides to strengthen the potential for mutual cooperation,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said during the council’s meeting, according to a statement by the country’s presidency.

Speaking about an earlier one-on-one meeting he held with Tokayev, Aliyev said they discussed regional issues in detail and that he informed his Kazakh counterpart about the peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which he hoped would end with the signing of an agreement.

Aliyev thanked Tokayev for his country’s assistance in the reconstruction of the Karabakh region, namely through the construction of a creativity center in the city of Fuzuli named after Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly, a 19th-century Kazakh composer, which will be opened tomorrow.

“We are grateful for the words of solidarity regarding the restoration of Azerbaijan's sovereignty. Of course, I think everyone in Azerbaijan knows that Kazakhstan is our reliable friend and ally,” Aliyev further said.

For his part, Tokayev said he and Aliyev have reached “common conclusions” during their one-on-one meeting.

“This shows that Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are really strategic partners, allied states. Here is the important secret of what happened in our cooperation. The prospects are very good and, of course, the governments will deal with the implementation of the agreements reached today in the form of signed documents and agreements,” he added.
He went on to say that he is pleased they are successfully cooperating in the international arena and are successfully interacting with each other, whether this is at the UN or other international organizations.

Both presidents later attended a ceremony where their delegations signed multiple documents aiming to deepen bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in fields such as business, communications, transport, education, oil and culture.