Official visit of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev to the Republic of Bulgaria(June 29-30, 1995)


The importance of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the Central and the Eastern European countries was underlined only after the election of Heydar Aliyev President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1993 and was included as a direction into Azerbaijan`s foreign policy.

The mutual relations between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria were founded during the official visit of President Heydar Aliyev to Bulgaria in 1995. In his interview prior to the trip, Heydar Aliyev explained the importance of the visit: “Bulgaria and Romania arethe  Eastern European and Balkan countries and possess their own positions in the world processes. These countries are undergoing socio-political changes. Former members of the Warsaw pact, they are experiencing the transition from socialistic economic model to new forms. The changes in these countries and their experience are of importance for us.”.

The meeting of the Presidents of Bulgaria and Azerbaijan took place on the first day of the visit. The main topics of discussions were the directions of development of bilateral relations and regional issues. Then the presidents took part in the ceremony of signature of the documents. Agreements and contracts on friendship and cooperation, on economic and cultural ties were signed between the two countries.

In the press conference following the signature ceremony, the presidents expressed their hope that these documents would give an impetus to the development of bilateral relations.

On June 29, the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Zhelyu Zhelev held an official reception in honor of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. In his speech at the reception, Heydar Aliyev spoke about the democratization and prospects of relations between the two countries.

On June 29, President Heydar Aliyev made ​​a speech at the Bulgarian National Assembly. Informing the Bulgarian MPs about the difficulties facing Azerbaijan, the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, the reforms conducted ni the country, Heydar Aliyev also touched on the history of the relations between the two countries: “There are close relations between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria. These relations have been formed over the past decades. I am talking about economic, scientific, technical and cultural relations. We attach great importance to them and highly appreciate them. While Azerbaijan is a newly independent state and Bulgaria experiences important socio-political processes, our relations can rise to a qualitatively new level. My visit to Bulgaria aims at improving these relations.”

During the visit Heydar Aliyev also met and negotiated with the Bulgarian Prime Minister and other government officials.

Our relations with Bulgaria have been further developed since President Heydar Aliyev's visit. In 1999, Bulgaria opened its embassy in Azerbaijan, and mutual visits have been paid by thepresidents, prime ministers, speakers of the parliaments of the both countries.