Development of Nakhchivan-Turkey ties have encouraging effects

The meeting of Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Vasif Talibov and the Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic Binali Yildirim was held in Nakhchivan on December 20.

During the visit to Nakhchivan the Turkish Prime Minister was accompanied by the Family and Social Policy Minister Fatma Bethul Sayan Kaya, the head of the Department for Religious Affairs Ali Erbash, and the deputy head of the Turkish Justice and Development Party Ravza Kavakchi.

Touching upon the history of education and modern development of the Autonomous Republic, Talibov said that Nakhchivan was formed on the basis of the international Kars Treaty signed in 1921. The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which is an autonomous state within the Azerbaijan Republic, has its own constitution, parliament, executive and judicial power, he noted.

“On the ancient land of the Azerbaijani Turks, Nakhchivan, there are more than 1,200 Turkic-Islamic cultural monuments. The city of Nakhchivan, which has a 5,000 yearold urban culture, was elected as the Capital of Islamic Culture for 2018,” he added.

It was noted that, despite the blockade conditions that have been going on for more than 25 years, food and energy security has been ensured in the Autonomous Republic, opportunities for using alternative energy sources and the volume of local production have been expanded.

Chairman of the Supreme Assembly noted that friendly and fraternal relations between the two countries, which have risen today to the level of strategic partnership, were developing in accordance with the will of the presidents of the two countries and served as an example for the whole world: “Azerbaijan and Turkey were constantly supporting each other in the international arena, and are taking the same position.”

Noting that the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic also plays an important role in the development of the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations, Talibov stressed that the development of ties in the fields of education, health, culture, trade, economy and army construction had encouraging effects.

“The share of the Republic of Turkey in the foreign trade turnover of Nakhchivan has increased by $2 million over the 11 months of this year compared to last year and amounted to $7,685,000,” Talibov noted. “According to the new decision on regulation adopted by the government of Turkey, the production enterprises of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic are given the opportunity of free trade in the export of products to Turkey, which is also important in terms of increasing the foreign trade turnover.”

Stressing that the peoples of Azerbaijan and Turkey had historically been together, Talibov said that the visit of the Turkish Prime Minister to Nakhchivan was an indicator of the high level of these ties.

Yildirim, expressing his satisfaction with the fact that he was again in the ancient Nakhchivan after nine years, said that over the past period Nakhchivan had achieved great development.

He noted that relations between the two countries had developed rapidly over the past 15 years, the recently commissioned Baku -Tbilisi -Kars railway line occupied a special place in the further development of ties. The high level of cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan in the field of economy, education, military and other spheres was also highlighted. During the conversation, the parties also held an exchange of views on the prospects for development of cooperation between Igdir and Nakhchivan airports.

The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which forms the sole link between Turkey and Azerbaijan, has a specific place in terms of the bilateral relations of the two countries. Nakhchivan is physically separate from Azerbaijan can be described as “Turkish Gate”, which forms the point of direct connection between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

In general, Azerbaijan and Turkey are successfully cooperating in the political, economic, energy, military, scientific, technical, cultural and other spheres. The trade turnover between the countries amounted to $1.96 billion in January-September 2017, which demonstrated a significant increase as compared to the same period of last year.