Azerbaijan, Turkey, Pakistan lay foundation for new trilateral cooperation format
Baku hosted another significant event of regional importance -- trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan, which for the first time got together to direct efforts to expand multilateral cooperation in many areas.
The first trilateral meeting of Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov, Turkey’s Mevlut Cavusoglu and Pakistani Khawaja Muhammad Asif was held on November 30 with major point messaging the strategic partnership, mutual respect and trust.
The meeting is an important milestone in the relations of regional states, which meets the requirements of today's geopolitical and geo-economic agenda. The parties are interested in strengthening ties in the sphere of trade, economy, military-technical and cultural cooperation.
Prior to the meeting President Ilham Aliyev received delegations led by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and by Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Khawaja Muhammad Asif.
At the meeting with Pakistani FM, President Aliyev stressed the high level of Azerbaijan-Pakistan relations, noting the importance of partnership and mutual support between the two countries as well as the role of high-level reciprocal visits in strengthening the bilateral relations.
The head of state said Azerbaijan and Pakistan always support each other on all issues, adding that political, economic, trade and military cooperation between the two countries develops at the level of allies. President Ilham Aliyev said Pakistan is one of the closest allies and friends of Azerbaijan.
Mohammad Asif said the two countries enjoy very close brotherly ties. Saying the relations between the two countries successfully develop in a variety of areas including political, economic, military and others, he stressed favorable opportunities for expanding cooperation.
Following their trilateral meeting, the foreign ministers adopted the Baku Statement and agreed to hold next meeting of the three countries’ foreign ministers in Pakistan in 2018.
The three top-officials underlined the firm determination of their states to explore the ways to develop trilateral cooperation particularly in the areas that would ensure prosperity for the people of the three countries through economic growth and sustainable development.
The foreign ministers agreed to intensify all efforts to improve their economic and commercial cooperation, emphasized the importance of trilateral energy dialogue to enhance energy supply security, underscored the importance of defense and security, social and humanitarian spheres, as well as reconfirmed their mutual respect and strong support for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of international borders of states.
"We held very intensive consultations," said Mammadyarov at a joint press conference with the FMs.
“This first trilateral meeting is another milestone in our relations. We agreed to increase the trade turnover. We support each other in international organizations and also intend to intensify cooperation in the defense sphere,” noted the Azerbaijani minister.
Mammadyarov added that the Baku Statement, adopted following the trilateral consultations, defines a “roadmap” for future cooperation between the three countries.
“We held discussions on cooperation in various fields. We also discussed the conflicts in the region and agreed that conflicts undermine stability and security. We touched upon the issues of cooperation in the fight against terrorism: all the three countries condemn any form of terrorism,” he said.
The Azerbaijani minister noted that during the meeting, the sides discussed prospects for cooperation in the energy sector: “Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR operates in Turkey. SOCAR Trading has already signed several agreements with representatives of Pakistan. In general, there are big opportunities for cooperation in the energy sphere.”
Touching upon recently opened Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway built on the basis of the Azerbaijani-Georgian-Turkish interstate agreement, Mammadyarov said that Pakistan can use the railroad to transport various goods, adding that the corresponding agreement was reached during the tripartite meeting.
The maximum volume of cargo transportation along the BTK corridor is projected at the level of 17 million tons per year. At the initial stage, this indicator will be at the level of 6.5 million tons of cargo. Also up to one million passengers will be transported.
Mamamdyarov also said that Azerbaijan and Pakistan will sign an agreement on the purchase of trainer aircraft: “We should examine availability of opportunities for the development of cooperation in various spheres, including the defense industry, at the expert level.”
Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force Sohail Aman during his meeting in Baku this September with the commander of the Air Force of Azerbaijan, Lieutenant General Ramiz Tahirov said that Pakistan had undertaken commitments of the contract for the timely delivery of Super Mushshak aircraft to Azerbaijan.
During the meeting in Baku, Sohail Aman and Ramiz Tahirov also discussed prospects of training Azerbaijani military pilots in the institutes of the Pakistan Air Force.
Earlier, the Pakistan Air Force said in a statement that Azerbaijan purchased 10 Super Mushshak trainer aircraft from Pakistan.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, for his part, confirmed the need for deepening the cooperation in the defense sphere: “We intend to bring the trilateral relations of Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey to a higher level.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, noted that Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey have great potential for increasing the trade turnover.
Muhammad Asif announced that a joint industrial complex can be established in defense sector. Bilateral meetings The top-diplomats of the three countries held bilateral meetings ahead of the key event.
Mammadyarov and his Turkish counterpart expressed satisfaction with the high level of development of cooperation between the two brotherly countries in all fields and in various formats, as well as the strategic nature of political relations.
Furthermore, the ministers stressed the importance of high level visits by the heads of state, particularly the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev as special guest at the 9th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (D-8) in Istanbul on October 20, which was followed by the visit of President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Azerbaijan to attend the opening ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway.
The ministers stressed the importance of the West-East transport corridor and expressed confidence that the launch of the BTK railway will make significant contribution to the development of the region and cooperation among the countries. It was noted that the project will provide ample opportunities for the growth of trade turnover and people to people contacts.
The ministers emphasized the importance of the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process and the 7th Ministerial Conference within the framework of the Process hosted by Azerbaijan.
The ministers also noted that Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkey and AzerbaijanTurkmenistan-Turkey trilateral formats are developing successfully and expressed hope that Azerbaijan-Turkey-Pakistan format will also promote the development of cooperation among the countries and will become an important platform.
At the meeting between Mammadyarov and Pakistani FM Muhammad Asif, the sides underlined that the year 2017 is remarkable for the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan and expressed satisfaction with the level of friendly relations and partnership between the countries.
Given the potential for development of economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Pakistan, it was emphasized that the two countries should increase joint efforts to increase trade turnover and promote investments. The activity of the Joint Working Group on Trade Cooperation and Joint Commission between Azerbaijan and Pakistan was highly appreciated in further development of bilateral economic relations.
It was also stressed that the International North-South Transport Corridor promises new and interesting opportunities. The sides reviewed possibilities of holding a meeting of transportation experts. The ministers also touched upon the importance of resuming flights between Azerbaijan and Pakistan.