After Turkiye became a candidate, many countries were admitted to the European Union. But it was not accepted because the population of Turkiye is Muslim, let's be very fair. We are always very open. It is completely unreasonable to say that Turkiye does not meet some criteria. So that was a factor. We also understand that we are Muslims, they will never accept us. Why should we insist? Let's work out a mutually agreeable cooperation mechanism.

Axar.az reports that President Ilham Aliyev said this during his speech at the international forum on "COP29 and Green Vision for Azerbaijan".

"I think we were very close to it. We were very close until we saw attempts to draw dividing lines in the South Caucasus. That is why we expressed our concern about the unprecedented meeting of the chairman of the European Commission, the US Secretary of State and the Prime Minister of Armenia in Brussels. There has never been such a meeting in the history of this institution. There were no such meetings even with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova from the former Soviet Union, but they were held with a country that is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, a military ally of Russia, Armenia, where Russia has a military base, and where Russian border troops are stationed on the border with Iran and Turkiye. With a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which is NATO. We had legitimate concerns about this. We still believe it because we had accurate information that the meeting had a military component. I don't know how much this has been realized, but it is a serious concern. In addition, we know that the European Union plans to allocate significant funding from the so-called European Peace Fund. This is the structure that finances the supply of weapons. It's called the Peace Fund, but it's not peace. So it is against us again and that is a concern. So, this is the main factor of our concern.

Unfortunately, Armenia still interferes in our relations with other countries and institutions. My answer would not be complete and sincere if I did not mention the name of the high commissioner for foreign policy as the person you mentioned, who will be replaced. He said that the European Union is a garden and the rest is a jungle, and this was a public statement. He called us all a jungle: Africa, Asia, Latin America. I would not be surprised if a member of the European Parliament, or even the President of the European Parliament, said so. Because it is known that the European Parliament is one of the centres of Islamophobia and corruption. But this is said by the person responsible for the diplomacy of the European Union, and no one in the European Commission, above him, has corrected it. No one said, Mr. Borrell, go apologize to the whole world. You call us the jungle, okay? But if there was no jungle, your garden would dry up. So how can we go about our business as usual and pretend we didn't hear? We say it and we have said it, I say it clearly. So, these are fundamental issues. Yes, we have energy cooperation. They asked us for help. When there was a break in the gas supply from Russia, they came and asked us for help. In July 2022 - just a few months after the war in Ukraine, we signed declarations. We were asked to increase the supply. We said ok. We started investing, we wanted to help them and we still want to help. Anyone who wants help can count on us. But we also need to see an adequate attitude towards us. Taking our concerns seriously is, in fact, the safety of our country and people. We suffered from the occupation, and Europe turned a blind eye to our refugees. Now they are helping people who moved from Karabakh to Armenia. I supported them, they are doing a good job of helping them. Sixty thousand, maximum, because the rest were military. How about one million Azerbaijanis? Why didn't they help them? What was the reason they did not help them? So we ask these questions and there are no answers. Again, understanding the geopolitics of the region, we should base our steps on the real situation, not on some expectations and imaginations. But at the same time, I think that open discussions with all partners, including the European Union, are necessary. If they want to be more active in the South Caucasus, they cannot ignore Azerbaijan, which is the largest country in terms of territory, population, and economic potential. If they want to keep Azerbaijan out, there will be no cooperation in the South Caucasus. This is clear. We are ready for cooperation, but based on mutual respect and mutual interests," the head of state said.