Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.17
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Azerbaijan to attend the meeting of the Azerbaijan-Turkey High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council became one of the most discussed topics in the world media.
It is a remarkable event, since today, Azerbaijan and Turkey are among the important countries in the region from the political and economic point of view.
Azerbaijan and Turkey succeeded not only to use their potential for ensuring their own development, but also to create close cooperation for the region's benefit.
The two countries are bound not only by common culture, but also by important joint energy projects.
Today, there are a number of trilateral formats such as Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Iran and Turkey-Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan and Turkey plays a key role in all of these formats.
It is expected that mainly issues of energy, transport, economy, as well as regional problems will be discussed during the meeting of the presidents to be held Feb. 18.
Regarding energy projects between Azerbaijan and Turkey, there is no doubt that one of the most important projects is the TANAP, which, unlike other energy projects, is the most real at the moment.
One can say that Europe's energy security is in the hands of Azerbaijan and Turkey. All this further increases importance of the two brotherly countries for Europe.
The TANAP's importance lies not only in the fact that it is an alternative energy supply route to Europe, but also in the fact that in case if other gas suppliers to European countries emerge, they won't be able to bypass the Azerbaijani project.
The importance of Azerbaijan and Turkey is not limited only to this project.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, which will be an important transport corridor between Asia and Europe, will be constructed in 2016.
The Trans-Caspian transport corridor is becoming a priority in transit after the problems between Moscow and Ankara and Tehran and Ankara with the transportation of goods from Turkey to the Central Asian markets.
Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication Binali Yildirim's statement testifies to this.
In an interview with Trend, he said that the Trans-Caspian transport corridor stretching through Azerbaijan, must be a priority in cargo transportation to the Central Asian countries, rather than an alternative in case of problems with the transportation of goods.
With the commissioning of the BTK railway Azerbaijan and Turkey will give a unique opportunity for freight traffic to the world.
With regard to regional issues, the discussion of which is expected during meetings of heads of states, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is undoubtedly the most important of them, during the settlement process of which, unfortunately, double standards are being applied.
Turkey has always supported Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and included this issue on the agenda at all international events.
There is no doubt that this issue is among Turkey's national priorities today.
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu