At the invitation of the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Colonel-General Ramil Usubov, the delegation headed by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, officially visited our country.

On November 4, the Minister of Internal Affairs Ramil Usubov, who received the delegation, welcomed the guests and thanked Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for accepting his invitation and official visit and stressed that the cooperation between our countries has been expanded in all spheres in recent years.

Noting that there are historical, cultural and religious ties between our peoples, the Minister reminded that the basis of interstate relations was laid by the great leader Heydar Aliyev, and that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev officially visited Saudi Arabia in 2005 and international legal documents were signed in various spheres. He stated that thanks to the political wills of the President, His Excellency Ilham Aliyev and the King, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the bilateral relations are developing dynamically, and that Saudi Arabia fully supports Azerbaijan in the international arena and expressed confidence that this visit, in particular, the reception of Mr. Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud by the Head of our state will give a new impulse to the further expansion of the cooperation between the Ministries of Internal Affairs.

The Minister Ramil Usubov gave information about the problems faced by Azerbaijan in the early years of independence and the occupation of our lands, reforms in all spheres of life, including internal affairs bodies, the positive results achieved in the fight against crime and protection of public order after the return of the great leader to the supreme power. It was noted that full control of criminogenic situation, restoration of stability created favourable conditions for realization of a number of global infrastructure projects, a large amount of foreign investment in the economy, creating a safe and secure environment for people to live and work in Azerbaijan, as well as increasing the number of Saudis coming to our country as tourists every year.

He further stated that the processes taking place in the region created the need for strengthening the fight against transnational organized crime and emphasized the importance of expanding cooperation to effectively fight against such crimes, in particular international terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal arms trade and human trafficking, the importance of increasing the intensification of more information exchange, the strengthening of relations between the Ministries of Internal Affairs and the establishment of a perfect legal and normative framework. The Minister evaluated signing of the Protocol “On cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the fight against crime” during his official visit to the friendly country at the invitation of his Saudi colleague on February 19 of the current year as an important step in this direction and emphasized that mutually beneficial relations meet the interests of both countries and the interests of our peoples.

Mr. Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud thanked the Minister of Internal Affairs R.Usubov for the invitation and high hospitality and expressed his confidence that this visit would serve to further deepening the cooperation relations.
Expressing his satisfaction with his first official visit to our Republic, its dynamic development and great construction work going on here, Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud noted that the friendly and brotherhood relations between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia located in the sensitive region based on a solid foundation, provision of stability and peace in both countries will have a positive impact on the general security in the region, and that the law enforcement agencies of the Kingdom are always interested in cooperation.

During the meeting held in a friendly and business atmosphere, views were exchanged on the current status and priorities of the relations in the security sector, and a number of other issues of mutual interest were discussed.

The reception was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Shahin Abdullayev.