BAKU - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Saturday that they, as Turkish world, were proud of Turkey's gradually gaining importance in the world politics.
Aliyev and Turkish State Minister Besir Atalay opened the new building of Ataturk Research Center in Baku.
Delivering a speech at the ceremony, Aliyev recalled that Turkey was the first country which recognized independence of Azerbaijan and noted that Turkey always supported Azerbaijan. He added that bilateral relations had been improving in political, economic and military fields for 10 years.
Aliyev said that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project which aimed to transport Azerbaijani oil via Turkey to world market further improved bilateral relations.
Stating that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of Turkish Republic, was a great politician, Aliyev said that Turkish Republic was the biggest trace of Ataturk and Azerbaijan was the trace of Haydar Aliyev.
Aliyev said that Ataturk's important place in history of countries speaking Turkish language would be taught to new generations at Ataturk Research Center.
Turkish State Minister Atalay said that Turkey was continuing to support Azerbaijan.
Atalay said that Ataturk Research Center was a concrete bridge between two friendly countries.
Stating that projects including BTC pipeline project would bring prosperity and peace to the region, Atalay said that they believed that political conflicts which prevented regional developments should be solved peacefully on the basis of Ataturk's principle; ''Peace at Home, Peace in the World.''
(EÖ-BRC) 10.04.2004