Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a deal in Istanbul Wednesday to establish a strategic cooperation body.

The agreement on the Supreme Strategic Cooperation Council was signed on the sidelines of a summit of Turkic countries’ leaders.

The parties told a news conference after the meeting that the agreement on the strategic cooperation council will help to further take relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey to a higher level.

Prime Minister Erdogan said the document builds on the initiative put forth during Azerbaijan’s late national leader, former President Heydar Aliyev’s tenure, which successfully concluded with its signing.

Erdogan noted that owing to this agreement, Azerbaijani-Turkish relations will develop further. "The subcommissions to be established will serve to considering our relations in any given field."

President Aliyev said the strategically important agreement clearly indicates the alliance between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Aliyev also said it will assist his country in resolving its long-standing conflict with Armenia over Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh.

"Today is a truly historic day…I am confident that the historic document signed by Turkey and Azerbaijan will ensure future development of relations between the two countries."

Prior to the signing, President Aliyev met with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. The talks focused on bilateral relations, as well as regional and international issues. Most of the meeting was sealed off to the press.

Turkic leaders are holding their tenth summit in Istanbul focusing on cooperation in such key areas as the economy, energy, the environment, cultural and humanitarian relations, regional projects as well as conflicts. The two-day meeting of the Turkic-speaking Countries Cooperation Council brings together leaders from Turkey, Azerbaijan and Central Asian countries.

The Turkic countries’ summit began to take place in 1992, and nine such meetings have been held to date.

The idea to set up the council was floated by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2006, at the Turkic summit in Antalya, Turkey. The council will be the basis for the new regional Turkic union, designed to strengthen the unity of the nations living in similar linguistic and cultural environment, and to strengthen political and trade relations.