TRILATERAL MEETING

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
27 Sep 2008
Armenia

The trilateral meeting of the Armenian, Azeri and Turkish Foreign
Ministers Edward Nalbandyan, Elmar Mamedyarov and Ali Babacan took
place yesterday in New York.

The Turkish Foreign Minister announced that there had been a discussion
over regional issues during the trilateral meeting. "We do believe that
the Caucasus has a great potential, and we can do more if there is
peace and stability in the region. It will contribute to the welfare
of our citizens, as well as enhance the geopolitical situation and
regional stability.

In our meeting today, we discussed the idea of a Caucasian platform
and spoke about separate regional issues which are quite familiar
to you. My colleagues and I have agreed to continue these trilateral
meetings with the purpose establishing a platform for a dialogue and
mutual understanding," A. Babacan said.

E. Nalbandyan expressed gratitude to his Turkish counterpart for
proposing the idea of the meeting and said that they had had a very
constructive discussion over the situation in the region. "We welcome
the idea of a Caucasian platform because it is based on the idea of
the stability, security and cooperation in the Caucasus.

Before the trilateral meeting, I had met with my Turkish counterpart,
and we touched upon the steps discussed by both countries’ Presidents
for achieving the full regulati on of the bilateral relations,"
E. Nalbandyan said.