Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavushoglu have discussed large-scale joint transport projects, the Foreign Ministry’s official website has reported.

The meeting was held in the framework of the eighth Trilateral Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, which is being held in Tbilisi on December 23.

The ministers have also mulled issues of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on the prospects for further cooperation.

On the same day, Mammadyarov met with Speaker of the Georgian parliament Archil Talakvadze within the eighth meeting of the Azerbaijani, Georgian and Turkish foreign ministers in Tbilisi where they signed an action plan and adopted the Tbilisi Declaration.

High on the agenda of the meeting were the cooperation between the Azerbaijani and Georgian parliaments as well as the views on the prospects for further cooperation.

The declaration covers issues related to energy, transport and other spheres, as well as the cooperation in the field of food safety.

The importance of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, implemented on the initiative of the presidents of all three countries, was emphasized during the meeting.

The sides underlined that this project plays an important role not only in economic and social development, strengthening of the sovereignty and independence of countries, but also in the implementation of the further tripartite projects foreseen in the future.

The parties also touched upon the situation related to security in the region and also emphasized the importance of cooperation between the countries in this sphere.

Moreover, Mammadyarov spoke about the current situation surrounding the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is a threat to regional security.

In turn, Georgian Prime Minister Georgi Gakharia said that his country highly praises the level of relations with Turkey and welcomes the deepening of strategic partnership.

"We value our special relations with Turkey and welcome further strengthening of strategic partnership,” Gakharia stated.

At the meeting, importance of trilateral format of cooperation between Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan was stressed. It was noted that the eighth Trilateral Meeting of Foreign Ministers of three countries in Tbilisi confirms the uniqueness of this format.

As reported, Mammadyarov, Gakharia and Cavusoglu also discussed regional energy and transport projects, including the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

The parties also stressed the importance of cooperation in the field of culture and noted the dynamics of visits at a high level, which is another highlight of the strategic partnership between the countries.

Following the eighth trilateral meeting of the Azerbaijani, Georgian, Turkish FMs, the full text of the statement adopted has been released.

The ministers emphasized their commitment to the Trabzon Declaration, the Batumi Joint Communiqué, the Ganja, Kars, Tbilisi, Baku and Istanbul Statements adopted in the previous Trilateral Meetings of the FMs as an important platform for both political dialogue and implementation of specific trilateral projects.

They reconfirmed the mutual respect and strong support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of the three states. The FMs also reaffirmed the importance of trilateral cooperation in the defense sphere.

The sides agreed to further strengthen economic-trade cooperation, to use the existing potential for promotion of investments and trade.

The parties underlined the strategic partnership in the field of energy and reaffirmed their full support for TANAP, other important components of the SGC, as well as for energy projects aimed at increasing volumes of natural gas transported from the Caspian region to Europe.

They emphasized the important role of “Baku Process” as an important international platform for promoting intercultural dialogue, tolerance and respect for diversity;

The sides expressed satisfaction on successful implementation of the provisions of the Trilateral Sectoral Cooperation Action Plan for 2017-2019 and underlined the importance of the adoption of the Trilateral Sectoral Cooperation Action Plan for 2020-2022;

At the end of the document, the parties agreed to hold the next trilateral meeting in Azerbaijan.

Meetings in a trilateral format of cooperation were initiated by the foreign ministers of the three countries in 2012.

The seventh meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey took place in Istanbul in October 2018.

The first trilateral meeting took place in 2012 in the Turkish city of Trabzon.

The three countries have been actively cooperating within the TANAP project carrying gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas fields through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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