Abdullah Gul's quotes added in last three paragraphs (the first version was posted at 15:02)
France, Strasbourg, Jan.25 / Trend, A.Maharramli
"Ankara wants to see the Caucasus as a security and cooperation arena," Turkish President Abdullah Gul said at a press conference jointly held today with PACE Chairman Mevlut Cavusoglu in Strasbourg.
"I am the first Turkish president, who visited Armenia. My desire is the creation of a platform, based on security and cooperation in the Caucasus, with the participation of Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and, of course, Russia. Work is underway in this direction," Gul said.
He noted that the spread and promotion of all the values of the Council of Europe in the Caucasus is important not only for the region, but also for Europe.
President Gul said that in those years he insistently supported Azerbaijan's membership in the Council of Europe.
"I, being then MP, very insistently supported membership of Azerbaijan and other Caucasus countries in the Council of Europe. Today we are pleased to observe that all the values of the Council of Europe are adequately spread and promoted in the Caucasus. It is important not only for the Caucasian region, but for whole Europe. The Caucasian countries can receive more from the Council of Europe, and the CE has a very great power and potential to direct to here," Gul said.
Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe in 2001.