President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered remarks at a joint press conference with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan at the Presidential Complex.
“I would like to congratulate my dear brother Ilham Aliyev once again on the occasion of his election as the president of Azerbaijan for the 5th time with the high favor of his people. I am very pleased that my brother Ilham made his first official visit abroad to Türkiye immediately after his election as president,” President Erdoğan said. “As you know, the presidential elections held on February 7 have a historic significance because they were held for the first time in all sovereign territories of Azerbaijan. I wish that the results of the elections will be auspicious for Türkiye-Azerbaijan relations and the brotherly Azerbaijani people. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan was subjected to some unfair practices during the election process. We strongly reacted to the decision of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to prevent the Azerbaijani delegation from participating in this year's meetings. We will continue to underscore that this assembly should be a platform for dialogue to strengthen parliamentary democracy, not conflict. We will continue our support to Azerbaijan and our initiatives in this direction until the decision is overturned.”
“OUR TOTAL TRADE VOLUME REACHED $7.5 BILLION”
“During the meetings with my dear brother, we reviewed all aspects of our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international issues. We see that our cooperation with Azerbaijan is progressing on the basis of “one nation, two states” as pointed out by the late National Leader Heydar Aliyev,” President Erdoğan underscored. “Our total trade volume reached $7.5 billion for the first time last year. We are determined to increase our efforts to reach our $15 billion target. At a time of critical challenges, it is obvious that our countries need to develop their potential in the fields of transportation and energy. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line is one of the most concrete examples of this. In order for us to get the most out of this line, the renovation work must be completed urgently. It was with this understanding that President Aliyev and I signed the protocol of intent on the Kars-Nakhchivan railway project during my visit to the Turkish gateway Nakhchivan in September. Increasing the capacity of TANAP and transferring Caspian natural gas to Türkiye and Europe are among our priorities. I would also like to remind that we have added a new dimension to our energy cooperation with the Iğdır-Nakhchivan natural gas pipeline project, the foundation of which was laid during my visit to Nakhchivan.”
“SIGNING OF A LASTING PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA WILL BE A NEW SOURCE OF HOPE”
Noting that they also discussed the steps taken for peace and stability in the South Caucasus, President Erdoğan said: “There is no doubt that the signing of a lasting peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be a new source of hope for peace, tranquility and stability in our region and the world. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Azerbaijan in this process. With the end of the occupation in Karabakh, a historic window of opportunity for lasting peace in our region has opened. It is very important that this window of opportunity is not closed. I believe that Armenia should think long-term and evaluate this process with a strategic perspective. We invite third parties to make constructive contributions instead of poisoning the process. I would like to take this opportunity to express our hope that the recent incidents on the border of the two countries will not happen again. I wish a speedy recovery to our injured brother in the Azerbaijani army.”
“We also discussed Israel's massacres in Gaza, which trample on all human values and international law, and other conflicts concerning our region,” President Erdoğan said.
“We continue to work for the further institutionalization and strengthening of our unity in our family council, the Organization of Turkic States. I am especially pleased to note that the extraordinary summit of our organization will be held in July in Shusha, one of the cultural capitals of the Turkic World. In the upcoming period, we will continue to move forward with Azerbaijan in line with our brotherly ties and the spirit we set forth in the Shusha Declaration. In the person of my dear brother, I would like to thank all Azerbaijani people for their solidarity with our nation in the aftermath of the February 6 earthquakes. In addition to other assistance, Azerbaijan is building a thousand houses and 799 workplaces on 320 decares of land in Kahramanmaraş. During our visit to Kahramanmaraş last week, we were briefed about the works carried out on Azerbaijan Boulevard,” President Erdoğan said.
