President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev expressed gratitude to the leadership of Turkmenistan for supporting Azerbaijan's decision to join the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia as a full participant during the 7th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia held in Tashkent.

The Azerbaijani leader wrote this in letters to President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and National Leader of the Turkmen People, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, published on November 27 in the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper.

"Azerbaijan consistently attaches particular importance to significantly strengthening and expanding dynamic partnerships with Central Asian countries united by common historical, religious, and cultural roots," Ilham Aliyev noted in a letter to President Serdar Berdimuhamedov.

The Azerbaijani leader expressed confidence that "this decision will strengthen cooperation and collaboration across a vast geographic area”.

"The consultations held during the meeting, as well as the decisions adopted within it, clearly demonstrated the countries' commitment and desire to expand multilateral partnerships in the areas of politics, economics, transport, energy, security, and humanitarian affairs, as well as in other areas of mutual interest, in a spirit of mutual respect," Ilham Aliyev noted.

In a letter to Hero Arkadag, the Azerbaijani leader emphasized: "We consistently attach great importance to strengthening regional cooperation, particularly the rapidly developing partnerships with the Central Asian states, which share common historical, religious, and cultural roots. In this regard, we are firmly committed to significantly deepening and diversifying mutually beneficial cooperation with fraternal Turkmenistan in all areas, as well as with other Central Asian countries”.

Ilham Aliyev congratulated the leadership of Turkmenistan on the occasion of our country's chairmanship of the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in 2026. Expressing gratitude to Hero Arkadag "for the invitation to the Consultative Meeting of Heads of State, which will be held next year in the new format of 'Central Asia and Azerbaijan,'" the President of Azerbaijan emphasized: "I accept it with great pleasure”.

The Azerbaijani leader expressed confidence that "the upcoming summit, chaired by a fraternal country, will contribute to the realization of the existing partnership potential of the Central Asian states, the sustainable and progressive development of the region as a whole, and will make a significant contribution to opening up new horizons for cooperation”.