Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Türkiye, who paid a working visit to Azerbaijan. The Ministers had a tete-a-tete meeting and continued the discussions with the participation of delegations.

At the meeting it was noted that the political relations between Azerbaijan and Türkiye are developed at the level of strategic partnership based on the will of our fraternal nations and shared values, such as linguistic, cultural, traditional and historical commonalities.

The sides emphasized the friendship of the leaders of two countries and their mutual visits, including the visit of H.E. Mr. Rejep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Türkiye, to attend the 7th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations held in Baku on April 25-26 and the visit of H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan to Istanbul to take part at the World Humanitarian Summit held on May 22-24, 2016.

The Ministers mentioned that the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Türkiye contributes to enhancing the peace and development in and beyond of region and plays a stabilizing role. They also stressed that bilateral cooperation between the two countries is developing in trilateral Azerbaijan-Georgia-Türkiye, Azerbaijan-Iran-Türkiye, Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan-Türkiye formats as well.

Touching upon Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Elmar Mammadyarov underlined that the existence of the Armenian armed forces in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan remains as a main source of threat for the whole region.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu reaffirmed Türkiye’s position on the resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and stated that this conflict must be resolved through negotiations based on the relevant UN Security Council resolutions which demand withdrawal of Armenian forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan and within the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

It is mentioned that the operation of the Metsamor nuclear power plant in Armenia and the cases of smuggling of nuclear and radioactive materials from this NPP poses nuclear threat to the region. 

The Ministers condemned all forms and manifestations of terrorism. Taking the opportunity, Elmar Mammadyarov reiterated his heartfelt condolences to the brotherly people of Türkiye and families of those who lost their lives during the latest terror acts and shared their grievances.

At the meeting the sides also noted fruitful cooperation in the fields of defense, security and military industry and the regular military exercises between the armed forces of two countries. Along with that the Ministers commended the service of the soldiers of both countries shoulder-to-shoulder with other partners in international peacekeeping operations for the sake of peace and stability.

The Ministers underlined the existence of the wide legal basis regulating different fields of cooperation between the two countries adding that more than 200 bilateral documents have been signed on different aspects of cooperation. 

At the meeting it was expressed with satisfaction that our countries continue the mutual support and joint efforts in the framework of international and regional organisations such as the UN, Islamic Cooperation Organisation, Economic Cooperation Organisation, Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation and other bodies.

The Ministers stressed that the regional transportation infrastructure and energy projects implemented with Azerbaijan and Türkiye’s initiative and common efforts substantially contribute to the development and prosperity in the region and beyond. In this sense, they added that as an important segment of the East-West transportation corridor Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line will be operational very soon. 

Touching upon the special role of the parliamentary diplomacy in the relations, the sides reviewed the activity of Azerbaijan-Türkiye inter-parliamentary working group.

Mentioning that Türkiye occupies the first place in the foreign investment of Azerbaijan, it was stressed that only SOCAR plans to invest 18 billion US dollars in Türkiye till 2018 and more than 2400 Turkish companies operate in Azerbaijan and more than 1000 Azerbaijani companies function in Türkiye respectively. An important role of Azerbaijan-Türkiye Joint Intergovernmental Commission in promoting the sustainable, stable and long-term development of trade-economic relations between the two countries was also mentioned.

Noting the cooperation in the fields of science, culture and student exchange, the Ministers also emphasized the particular role of cooperation within TURKSOY and Turkish Culture and Heritage Fund.