The 6th Summit of the Caspian littoral states was held in Ashgabat on June 29.

APA reports that President of Turkmenistan Sardar Berdimuhamedov welcomed President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and other heads of state.

The heads of state took a joint photo.

Then the heads of state met in a limited format.

Then a meeting was held in an expanded format within the framework of the Summit.

Opening the summit, President of Turkmenistan Sardar Berdimuhamedov gave the floor to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

- Distinguished heads of state.

Distinguished members of the delegations.

We continue our meeting in an expanded format.

With your permission, I give the floor to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, His Excellency Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev.

Come on.

The head of state addressed the summit.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

speech

- Dear Sardar Gurbangulyevich.

Distinguished Heads of State.

Distinguished Summit participants.

First of all, I thank Sardar Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for the hospitality shown to us and for the high-level organization of the VI Caspian Summit.

Our meeting coincides with the anniversary of the former President of Turkmenistan, my dear friend and brother, Chairman of the People's Council of the Parliament of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Malikguluyevich Berdimuhamedov.

Under his leadership, brotherly Turkmenistan has achieved significant success in strengthening its independence, increasing its prestige in the international arena, improving the welfare of its people and economic development.

On behalf of myself and the people of Azerbaijan, I personally congratulate Gurbangulu Malikguluyevich and wish him good health, peace and prosperity to the brotherly people of Turkmenistan.

Sardar Gurbangulyevich, I once again congratulate you on your election as President of Turkmenistan.

I am confident that under your leadership, Turkmenistan will achieve new successes.

Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the interaction of our countries in the Caspian Sea.

The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, signed in Aktau in 2018, is of historical significance.

This document, signed as a result of many years of work, defines the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

The imminent entry into force of the Convention will create a solid legal basis for further effective measures aimed at further comprehensive interaction and cooperation between our states.

The legal framework for cooperation between the Caspian littoral states is being strengthened.

Agreements have been signed and entered into force in the fields of security, hydrometeorology, transport, conservation and efficient use of water biological resources, prevention and response to emergencies, as well as in other areas of mutual interest.

Work has begun on new draft agreements on cooperation.

These projects are under discussion and will be ready for signing.

Legally binding agreements on the borders of the Caspian Sea have been signed in bilateral and multilateral formats.

Friendly and good neighborly relations between the Caspian littoral states, including the UN, OSCE, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Organization of Turkic States,

I am glad to note that the basis of our interaction is the consideration of the interests of all parties, respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence of the Caspian littoral states and non-interference in each other's internal affairs.

The Caspian Sea is an important part of many international and regional projects aimed at improving the welfare of the peoples of our region.

The development of mutually beneficial economic cooperation, improvement of the investment climate, establishment of reliable and secure communications, creation of favorable conditions for attracting high-profit and environmentally friendly technologies remain the main priorities of the littoral states.

Development of transport infrastructure, improving the quality of transport services and multimodal transport are important areas of cooperation.

Today, Azerbaijan is one of the important transport and logistics centers of Eurasia.

Our country plays an important role in the development of East-West and North-South international transport corridors.

We strive for the efficient use of the Trans-Caspian international transport route.

This route will allow to make maximum use of the transport potential of the Caspian littoral states and create conditions for the implementation of new projects for the development of transport infrastructure.

We observe an annual increase in freight traffic on the East-West and North-South routes through Azerbaijan.

The volume of transit cargo from the New Alat International Sea Trade Port is growing.

The construction and commissioning of this port was another important contribution of Azerbaijan to the development of transport and logistics infrastructure in the Caspian Sea.

The 8th meeting of the North-South International Transport Corridor Coordination Council is also planned to be held in Azerbaijan this year.

After the victory in the Great Patriotic War and the settlement of the conflict with Armenia, Azerbaijan began to carry out large-scale work on the reconstruction and restoration of Karabakh and East Zangazur, as well as the development of international transport links.

The Zangazur corridor is already becoming a reality.

We share the concerns of the littoral states about the current state of the environment.

Azerbaijan is interested in expanding cooperation to address the environmental problems of the Caspian Sea.

Successful interaction of the Caspian littoral states continues within the framework of the commission on conservation and efficient use of biological water resources of the Caspian Sea.

At the end of this year, Baku will host the VI Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.

Today, in a limited meeting, we exchanged views with our colleagues on issues of particular concern, in particular the shallowness of the Caspian Sea.

We have been observing this for many years, and, unfortunately, the dynamics of shallowness is worrying.

So we exchanged views and probably

In conclusion, let me once again thank the Turkmen side for the effective organization of our Summit.

I am confident that this Summit will create conditions for the consolidation of efforts to address the important common issues facing the Caspian littoral states.

Thank you for your attention.

xxx

President

Ilham Heydar oglu, thank you for your in-depth speech and congratulations.

xxx

Speaking at the summit, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyed Ibrahim Raisi, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kasim-Jomart Tokayev and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin stressed the importance of the summit.

***

16:37

The 6th Summit of the Caspian littoral states was held in Ashgabat on June 29.

APA reports that President Ilham Aliyev addressed the meeting.

***

16:13

The 6th Summit of the Caspian littoral states kicked off in Ashgabat on June 29.

APA reports that President of Turkmenistan Sardar Berdimuhamedov welcomed President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and other heads of state.

The heads of state took a joint photo.

Then the heads of state met in a limited format.

At present, the meeting is being held in an expanded format within the framework of the Summit.

***

15:58

The 6th Summit of the Caspian littoral states has started in Ashgabat.

APA reports that the leaders of the Caspian "five" - ​​President of Turkmenistan Sardar Berdimuhamedov, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Iran Ibrahim Raisi, President of Kazakhstan Kasim-Jomart Tokayev and President of Russia Vladimir Putin are taking part in the summit.

The heads of state will discuss issues of cooperation between the Caspian littoral states.

At the same time, the leaders will exchange views on current issues of international and regional agenda of mutual interest.

Bilateral talks of the Caspian littoral states are also planned within the VI Summit.