Heidar Aliyev prepares to return home

During a telephone interview live on the Azeri state television, the country's ambassador to Turkey, Mamed Aliyev, said that President Heidar Aliyev was feeling okay and his condition was normal.

The ambassador stressed that he had met the president in hospital at 10 a.m. local time (11 Moscow time).

The ambassador talked about the president's health with this doctor, Professor Ekhsan Demirtash who confirmed that Aliyev's examination and treatment were proceeding as normal.

President Heidar Aliyev will return to Azerbaijan at a time agreed with his doctors, the diplomat said.

Mamed Aliyev also said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wanted to meet the president. According to the minister, this meeting could take place in the near future.

When commenting on a series of media reports in Turkey and Azerbaijan about a deterioration in the president's health and even death, the diplomat said that "various comments, words and publications" should not be believed.