AZERTAC reports that President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev welcomed the heads of state and government participating in the Summit. Earlier, regional leaders had arrived for the event — President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev arrived at the Congress Center in Gabala to take part in the 12th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, Kazinform reports. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had arrived in Azerbaijan on October 6.

On October 7, within the framework of the OTS Summit in Gabala, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. During the meeting, the sides highly appreciated the level of Azerbaijan–Turkmenistan relations based on the principles of brotherhood, good neighborliness, and mutual cooperation. It was emphasized that Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are successfully developing interaction in the political, economic, transport, energy, parliamentary, humanitarian, cultural, and educational spheres, and are also effectively cooperating within international organizations.