Bilateral political relations: Latvia recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in 1992. Bilateral diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1994. The Azerbaijani Embassy in Latvia began to function in 2005.

This is the first Azerbaijani Embassy in the Baltic countries. The Latvian Embassy in Azerbaijan began to function in 2006. The first meeting of the Presidents of Latvia and Azerbaijan took place at NATO summit in Madrid, on July 8, 1997. There was a meeting between the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and the President of Latvia G. Umanis on the same day. The prospects of development of relations between the two countries were discussed during the meeting.

On September 10, 1999, Yalta hosted the international Conference "Baltic-Black Sea Cooperation: Towards integrated Europe of the 21st Century Without Division Lines". During the conference President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev met the newly elected Latvian President V.Vike-Freiberga.

On July 9-12, 2001, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Indulis Berzinsh was on an official visit to Baku. President Heydar Aliyev received the delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Indulis Berzinsh. During the reception, Heydar Aliyev, said: " I want to express my gratitude to you and the Latvian government once again for your support in the process of adoption of Azerbaijan to the European Council. We joined the Council of Europa Union during the chairmanship of Latvia. I am pleased to stress that our joint efforts have yielded such a result. At that time you were presiding over the Council of Europa and you made a good speech there. As you see, we have approached to each other very closely ".

Contracts on cooperation and on road transportations were signed by the ministers of foreign affairs during the meeting. Ilham Aliyev, being elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in October in 2003, had a great role in the development of bilateral relations.

On March 17, 2004, deputy secretary of state of Latvia Andris Teikmanis, and on July 5, 2004, a delegation headed by the secretary of state of Latvia Edgars Rinkevichus paid visits to Baku. On August 15-16, 2005, the Azerbaijani defense minister paid a visit to Latvia and signed an agreement on cooperation between the ministries of defense of the two countries in Riga. The document specifies defense policy and strategy, leadership and management, military reforms, military-technical cooperation and others within the program of "Partnership for Peace".

On October 3-4, 2005, President of Latvia Mrs. Vaira Vike-Freiberga paid an official visit to Azerbaijan. This visit laid the foundation of a new stage in the bilateral relations between the two countries. During the meeting of the presidents of the two countries the importance of development of cooperation between the two countries was emphasized. The Latvian president stated that her country would always support the integration of Azerbaijan into the European structures. It was stressed that Latvia supports the solution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The sides exchanged views on international security, on the resolution of the conflicts in the region and the perspectives of relations between the two countries. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated that the bilateral and regional issues, particularly relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan have an important role in the relations between the two countries.

In the framework of the visit agreements between the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the government of the Republic of Latvia on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation, on the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments, on the cooperation in combating organized crime, terrorism, illegal turnover of drugs and psychotropic drugs, a convention on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters, an agreement on the cultural cooperation between the ministry of culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the ministry of culture of the Republic of Latvia were signed.

They also signed the convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion and joint declaration. The Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga was awarded the diploma of the honorary doctor of Baku State University.

On October 3-5, 2006, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev paid an official visit to Latvia. On October 4, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga had a tête-à-tête meeting. Successful development of cooperation in various fields was stressed at the meeting. The Presidents discussed the useful cooperation within the international organizations and mutual actions in the field of integration to the Euro-Atlantic structures.

Agreements on cooperation in the field of education, information and communication technologies, communication field between the ministries of finance, on cooperation between the ministries of health, on cooperation in the field of health and medical science and a joint declaration were signed.

On April 3, 2008, President Ilham Aliyev paid a visit to Romania to attend the NATO summit, and in Bucharest he met the Latvian President Valdis Zatlers, who was elected in 2007. Development of relations between the two countries in political, economic and other areas was stressed at the meeting. The Presidents made a special emphasis on the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Latvia in the field of energy security in Europe.

On June 26, 2009, President Ilham Aliyev received the delegation headed by the minister of environment of Latvia Raimonds Veyonis.

The Azerbaijani President stressed that the bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia develop not only in political and economic spheres, but they also cover new areas.

On August 9, 2009, the new president of Latvia Valdis Zatlers paid an official visit to Azerbaijan. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev had a tête-à-tête meeting with the Latvian President Valdis Zatlers. The presidents expressed satisfaction with the development of relations in political, economic and other fields between the two countries.

They exchanged views on bilateral relations, on regional and international issues at the meeting. Then, there was a meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Latvia with the participation of the delegations of the two countries. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers signed a joint declaration.

They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on exchanging of information in the field of legal protection of industry property rights, an agreement on the cooperation in the field of youth and sports, an agreement on cooperation in the field of tourism. Then the Presidents answered the questions of journalists. The Latvian President Valdis Zatlers and his spouse Lilita Zatlers visited Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

The Presidents made a statement to the press in connection with the official visit of the President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers to Azerbaijan.

President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers was awarded the Order of "Heydar Aliyev" for his services in the development of friendly and cooperative relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia. In his turn Valdis Zatlers presented President Ilham Aliyev the degree of "Knight of Grand Cross" of the order of "Three Stars" for his outstanding services in the development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

On January 28, 2010 while President Ilham Aliyev was on a business visit in Davos, he met the Latvian President Valdis Zatlers. They stressed the successful development of bilateral relations between the two countries in different spheres. President Ilham Aliyev said that he supports the expansion of cooperation between the Azerbaijani and Latvian companies. They also exchanged views on regional cooperation, bilateral relations and international issues at the meeting.

Economic relations: Despite the low rates of trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Latvia, gradual progress is made in this area. There are about 30 joint Azerbaijani-Latvian enterprises. The world economic crisis has not affected the commodity turnover between the two countries. The growth was recorded on the turnover of goods between Azerbaijan and Latvia in the first quarter of 2009. In October 2006, an Azerbaijani-Latvian business forum was held in Riga. About 100 businessmen participated in the forum from both sides. President Ilham Aliyev and President Vaira Vike-Freyerberga made speeches at the forum and talked about the importance of the business forum.

In August 2009, another Azerbaijani-Latvian business forum was held in Baku. Presidents of both countries attended the forum. Representatives of 120 companies from Azerbaijan and 75 entrepreneurs from Latvia participated at the business forum.

Cultural relations: The Azerbaijani-Latvian cultural relations are developing. An agreement on cooperation between Azerbaijani National Library named after M.F.Akhundov and Latvian National Library, and an agreement on cooperation between Azerbaijann National Library named after M.F.Akhundov and Latvian Academic library State agency were signed in Riga, on January 31, 2007. On May 9, 2007, the concert of the famous mugam singer of Azerbaijan Alim Kasimov was organized in Riga with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan. On May 30, 2007, a sunday school attached to the Cultural Center "Ojaq" of the Latvian Azerbaijanis was opened.

With the organization of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Latvia, on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, a special issue dedicated to Azerbaijan, its development and the Azerbaijani-Latvian relations was published in the most famous newspaper in Latvia, "Telegraph".

There are high-level relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia. Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with Latvia in the framework of regional organizations, including Union of the Baltic States. This cooperation is important for the intensity of the process of integration in the Baltic-Black Sea-Caspian region. Latvia considers Azerbaijan the main country of the Black Sea-Caspian region, which provides Europe with energy resources. Latvia supports the peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.