By Trend
The fourth trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan is being held in Baku July 19.
The agenda includes the issues of developing cooperation in the political, economic, energy, transport and humanitarian spheres and implementing of regional projects.
Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, addressing the meeting said that Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Turkey have a great desire to develop strong cooperation in a trilateral format.
Meredov noted that the parties express a desire to particularly develop cooperation in the political sphere, energy, trade and expand cultural ties.
He said that there is a strong intention of the three countries to hold a summit of the heads of the three countries in Turkmenistan until the end of 2017.
“Our main goal for today is the preparation for the summit of the heads of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Turkey,” noted Meredov.
The minister added that the issues of preparation for this summit were discussed during the Baku meeting, and he expressed hope that all the draft agreements prepared for today will be signed during the meeting.
Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, hosted the 4th meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan, Elmar Mammadyarov, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Rashid Meredov on July 19.
Speaking at a briefing on results of the trilateral meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan intend to bring the three countries’ economic relations to a new level.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway will be used to develop cooperation in the transport sector, noted Cavusoglu.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Cavusoglu noted that Turkey calls on the OSCE Minsk Group to strengthen its activity on the conflict’s settlement. Turkey supports the territorial integrity and fair position of Azerbaijan, said the Turkish minister.
Cavusoglu again emphasized that Turkey condemns the provocation committed by the Armenian armed forces against the civilians of the Alkhanli village of Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district.
It should be recalled that on July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces again violated ceasefire and, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled Azerbaijani positions and territories where the civilian population lives, namely the Alkhanli village of the country’s Fuzuli district, thereby grossly violating the requirements of international law, the Azerbaijani defense ministry said earlier.
As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan’s FM Elmar Mammadyarov said that the FMs have agreed to develop a Road Map for Future Cooperation for 2017-2020.
“We had fruitful and interesting negotiations. The three countries are carrying out numerous regional projects and we have discussed the progress in their implementation,” said the Azerbaijani FM.
A declaration has been signed following the trilateral meeting.
The three FMs also discussed the issues of preparation for the summit of the presidents in Baku.
“The summit will be held in Ashgabat till late 2017," Cavusoglu told reporters.
The first tripartite meeting of the three countries’ foreign ministers was held in Baku on May 26, 2014, the second meeting – in Ashgabat on January 29, 2015 and the third meeting was held in Antalya on August 28,