Azernews.Az

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday for talks on issues spanning from economic cooperation to political and regional issues.
During the one-on-one meeting in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic where Erdogan arrived late on Tuesday, the two focused on bilateral relations and the current state of political and economic relations. Aliyev and Erdogan also mooted energy and transport projects that play a great role in the socio-economic development of the autonomous republic, including the Erzurum-Nakhchivan gas pipeline and opening of flights between Istanbul and Nakhchivan.
President Aliyev told a joint news conference after the discussions that his talks with Erdogan were of both political and historical magnitude as the Nakhchivan enclave is the only Azerbaijani territory bordering on Turkey.
"Turkey played a great role in the life of Nakhchivan which faces a blockade during the emergence of a crisis in the 1990s," Aliyev said.
The head of state emphasized that according to reports, new opportunities are emerging to extricate Nakhchivan from blockade and the issue was discussed during his meeting with the Turkish premier. These concern its joining the Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki-Gars railway and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline projects that link Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
Armenia has been keeping Nakhchivan in blockade, with the air link being Azerbaijan's only means of communication with the region.
The president said his country's economic relations with Turkey were on a high level. Referring to the latest data, he said Azerbaijan's greatest investments abroad were placed in this country.
Prime Minister Erdogan agreed with the Azerbaijani leader's statements on the two mentioned projects, saying relevant technical issues were being solved. If possible, Nakhchivan will be able to join the projects, he said.
Erdogan further focused on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict. He said Ankara backed resolution of the dispute within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. He spoke in favor of re-establishing peace in the South Caucasus region as a whole, pledging all the needed support to accomplish the goal.
Erdogan also expressed gratitude to President Aliyev for Baku's support on the issue concerning the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Touching on economic ties, Erdogan said Turkey has made investments worth about $5 billion in Azerbaijan's non-oil sector. The trade turnover between the two countries currently makes up $1.2 billion, he said, voicing hope that the indicator would more than double in the next two years to reach $3 billion.
President Aliyev described Turkey as a strategic partner, saying Baku was fully content with Ankara's position in the UN and other international organizations.
Erdogan said Turkey and Azerbaijan could apply visa-free regulations and work was under way to make this possible.
The Turkish prime minister said the groundbreaking ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki-Gars railway will be held in July and invited President Aliyev to attend the event.
Erdogan was accompanied on his visit to Nakhchivan by a broad delegation that included the country's energy and transport ministers.