To His Excellency, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Dear Ilham Heydar oglu! Dear brother! On behalf of the people of Uzbekistan and on my own behalf, I wholeheartedly congratulate You and brotherly people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of the national holiday of your country – Independence Day. Your forward-looking domestic and foreign policy, rapid economic and social reforms are producing worthy results today, and Azerbaijan’s international position and prestige are steadily growing. In this respect, I would like to state that we fully support Your fair and decisive efforts to ensure peace and sustainable development in the region. As a result of close and brotherly relations, which were established between us in recent years and are the expression of hopes of our brotherly peoples, open and productive dialogue, exchange of visits at the highest and high levels, our strategic partnership was elevated to a completely new level. Dear Ilham Heydar oglu! I am sure that our visit to Azerbaijan in the near future will become the beginning of a new historical landmark in our multi-faceted and long-term ties, elevate our cooperation to a much higher level in line with our wishes and existing possibilities. Availing myself of the opportunity, I wish Your excellency, on this remarkable and joyous day in the life of Your country, robust health, family happiness and great successes in your invaluable activity for the sake of development of Your country, and brotherly people of Azerbaijan peace, steady progress and welfare. Sincerely,   Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan