Turkmen president, Azerbaijani PM praise ties
By Aynur Jafarova
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov held a meeting with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, who arrived in Ashgabat to participate in the CIS summit on Wednesday, according to Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary state news service. Both sides praised the level of relations between the two countries.
Rasizade conveyed greetings of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to the Turkmen leader, expressing continued commitment of Azerbaijan to the friendly relations with Turkmenistan, based on mutual respect, equality and common aspiration to progress and development.
President Berdymukhamedov, for his part, said the Turkmen state, firmly pursuing the policy of peace, good neighborhood and broad and fruitful cooperation, attaches great importance to strengthening and developing the traditionally friendly relations with Azerbaijan, with which mutually beneficial partnership has been established.
Rasizade noted the high level intergovernmental dialogue in the cooperation between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, which is described by mutual support in the international arena, and said comonality of the goals, a great resource and economic potential, and the desire for common progress and prosperity are the basis of comprehensive deepening of cooperation between the two countries.
The status, priorities and prospects of bilateral cooperation as well as international issues of mutual interest were discussed during the meeting. The sides stressed the high level of trust and understanding in Turkmen-Azerbaijani dialogue and reaffirmed mutual commitment to further enhance and strengthen the fruitful cooperation in all areas both bilaterally and within international organizations.
Similarity of political views on many priority issues of world politics, which is an important factor in ensuring regional and global security, was stressed at the meeting.
Azerbaijan supports Turkmenistan's foreign policy initiatives that address the pressing problems of today, including in the areas of preventive diplomacy, the formation of a new architecture of global energy security, global disarmament, and turning the regions of Central Asia and the Caspian basin into an area of peace and stability, the Azerbaijani prime minister said.
It was noted that Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are reliable trade partners and closely cooperate in various sectors of the economy.
Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan were established on June 9, 1992. Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan broadly cooperate in the energy, economic, educational, and humanitarian aid fields under their intergovernmental agreement. The trade turnover between the two countries was $568 million in 2011.