Speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov at the Fifth Trilateral Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Türkiye
Speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov at the Fifth Trilateral Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Türkiye
Tbilisi, 19 February 2016
Distinguished Ministers,
Expressing my delight for participating in today’s trilateral meeting, I greet the Ministers and the delegations of friendly Georgia and Türkiye and I avails myself of this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Government of Georgia for extending warm hospitality.
The high-level of bilateral and trilateral relations, regular meetings in such format play an important role in deepening of strategic partnership between our countries and give us a chance to revise our cooperation in different fields.In this regard I would like to emphasize the trilateral projects envisaged by the Trilateral Sectoral Cooperation Action Plan for 2013-2015.
It is important to highlight that geographic location of our countries provides an ample opportunity to benefit from our countries’ competitive transit potential. Therefore, I believe that developing transport infrastructure, and most importantly, interconnectivity and infrastructure in our geography should remain one of key areas of cooperation.
As you are aware, Azerbaijan has always offered its infrastructure for the transit of the Caspian energy resources to Western markets. Starting now successfully implemented the BTC project, we has initiated a number of important projects in the region. Azerbaijan connects the most important regions of Eurasia via implementation of the projects of the Southern Gas Corridor, the main lines of which are the Trans Anatolian Pipeline -TANAP, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project and new Baku international trade port. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and new Baku International Trade Port will be the main segments of the East-West Corridor.
Alongside, there are obstacles to peace and development in the region. There is a need to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of states, as well as the rejection of the policy of aggression in order to maintain peace and stability in the region. Failure in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict is the greatest threat to peace, stability in the region and regional cooperation. And due to its occupation policy Armenia is out of all regional projects.
At the end I would like to express my hope that our mutual efforts will contribute to the development of our countries in different fields.
Thank you!