Azerbaijani president meets Iranian counterpart

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here on Monday, the Azeri president's website reported on Monday. Both sides stressed the importance of the 12th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and expressed confidence that this event would further contribute to expanding cooperation among the regional countries. The Iranian president noted that ECO has achieved significant cultural and economicgrowth in recent years, adding that expansion of cooperation among the ECO members is an important factor in dealing with the effects of global economic problems. The presidents praised development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Iran in the fields of politics, economy and culture. They emphasized both countries have a good potential for enhancing bilateral ties in various fields, including economy, trade, energy and transport. The presidents said close cultural and historical contacts between the two countries could serve as a basis for developing bilateral relationship and boost regional cooperation even more. They also discussed a number of issues of mutual interest. The Iranian president arrived in Azeri capital of Baku on Monday to attend the 12th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). The ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey with the aim of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the member states. Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan later joined the organization.