Turkey and Azerbaijan are aiming to consolidate bilateral judicial cooperation, according to Turkish justice minister on Tuesday.
Abdulhamit Gul met his Azerbaijani counterpart Fikret Memmedov as part of his official visit to the country.
Gul said the projects that are realized with the view of “one nation, two states” — such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project and Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) — were part of efforts to boost Turkish-Azerbaijani relations.
Stressing that political and economic stability provides growth, he said both countries achieved much to become stronger. “We hope the cooperation to be in the best level.”
Speaking about Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Gul said: “We believe that Azerbaijan’s demands in this issue are rightful. Turkey supports Azerbaijan in this regard and it will continue to do so.”
Azerbaijan and Armenia remain in dispute over the occupied Karabakh region. Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan in 1991 with Armenian military support, and a peace process has yet to be implemented.
“Our biggest problem is Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We have always seen support from Turkey in this matter,” said Azerbaijani Justice Minister Memmedov.
He also touched on the issue of Turkey’s defeated coup in July 2016 and said the incident shook them as well, but the Turkish nation had shown that they were on the side of democracy, development and justice.
Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Noting that Azerbaijan is benefitting from Turkey’s experience in judicial subjects, Memmedov said around 220 agreements have been signed between the two countries in different fields.
There are 30 more agreements in preparation phase, he added.
– 'Turkey's strength is Azerbaijan's strength'
Justice Minister Gul also met Azerbaijan’s President of the Court of Cassation Ramiz Rzayev.
Expressing his pleasure with the fact that his first official visit abroad was to Azerbaijan, Gul said: “We will increase cooperation in the field of judiciary like in all other fields.”
Turkish-Azerbaijani brotherhood is going to last forever, he added.
Rzayev, for his part, reiterated that both countries support each other. “Turkish education institutions have big role in educating, especially, our judges,” he added.
Rzayev also praised Turkey’s success in Syria’s northwestern Afrin, as its center was liberated from terrorists during Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch. “Turkey’s strength is our strength.”
Turkey on Jan. 20 launched Operation Olive Branch to clear terrorist groups from Afrin, northwestern Syria, near Turkey's border, amid growing threats from the region.
On March 18, Turkish-backed troops liberated the town of Afrin, which had been a major hideout for the terrorist organization PYD/PKK since 2012.
The Turkish Armed Forces are working to restore normal daily life in Afrin by providing necessary humanitarian aid to the region.
A total of 1,096 terrorists were “neutralized” in March as part of the operation, enabling civilians to return to their homes.