ERDOGAN AND ALIYEV HOLD A JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE

Turkish Press, MI
Aug 26 2008

BAKU – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday
Azerbaijan supported Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform.

Erdogan had a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in
Baku. Erdogan and Aliyev held a joint press conference after their
meeting.

There has been an important cooperation platform among Turkey,
Azerbaijan and Georgia and it should be improved more, Erdogan said.

Erdogan said he brought up Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform
in the meeting and he was pleased that Aliyev also welcomed the
proposal of Turkey.

"We believe that steps will continue in order to make Caucasus region
a stability, peace and prosperity center," he said.

"It should be a geography-based platform. It must target regional peace
and security, and include economic cooperation and energy security,"
Erdogan told a joint news conference with Azerbaijan`s President
Ilham Aliyev in Baku.

"It must be based on the principles of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe and cover a joint mechanism of problem
solving and management," Erdogan said.

Erdogan said Russia and Georgia welcomed his proposal, adding that
Turkey was pleased as Azerbaijan joined these countries too.

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia has carried out Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, Erdogan recalled and said
these projects could be described as "historic" and biggest projects
of the century.

"Peace and stability are of vital importance for our region. Recent
developments could affect or even threat peace, stability and
prosperity," he said. "Recent conflict also showed once again how
volatile is the security climate in southern Caucasia. We believe
that we should concentrate our energy on ending hostility between
the peoples of the region."

In his part, Azerbaijani President Aliyev said his country had good
relations with Russia and Georgia, and expressed his wish for friendly
relations between these two countries.

Following the news conference, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan left
Azerbaijani capital Baku for Turkey.