BAGIS, MINISTER FOR EU AFFAIRS AND CHIEF NEGOTIATOR, WELCOMED HASIMOV, THE AMBASSADOR OF AZERBAIJAN

Zakir Hasimov, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Ankara, paid a courtesy visit to Egemen Bagis, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator.

Bagis welcomed the Ambassador Hasimov in the Secretariat General for EU Affairs and in his speech, he stated "The relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan are coveted by other countries." "For us, Azerbaijan is a country which we can carry out our relations under the slogan 'one nation, two states'. This cooperation provides many significant contributions to the region." He added.

Noting that the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations had a very important dimension in the EU negotiations, Bagis stated that Turkey had not only been striving for 70 million Turkish citizens' progress towards EU but also it played a significant role in this process for the Turkish world and for all nations in the region.

Bagis emphasized that the Islamic world, in the amount of one and a half billion, had been closely following the EU negotiations and had been supporting the process as well. Bagis said " The EU's relations with Turkey could give very important messages to this great population in this huge geography." Bagis added that EU should evaluate those messages consciously.

Hasimov, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Ankara, stated that no one would be able to destroy the understanding of "one nation,two states" that existed between two countries. He pointed out that they wished for Turkey's full membership to EU.