Azerbaijan, Baku, July 28 /Trend/
"Our position and thoughts related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is a bleeding wound for Azerbaijan and one should know that it is a bleeding wound for us," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a joint press conference after a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in an enlarged format on Wednesday in Baku.
"We cannot have another position," Erdogan said. "We follow this issue and will further follow it until the very end,".
"We were able to consider in detail the bilateral ties and regional issues at a face-to-face meting with my dear brother. Particularly, we discussed energy issues that a key point on our agenda.
We, of course, have today mulled all areas - military, political, economic, commercial and cultural. We feel like at home here, like at Motherland. We consider this to be true. Our next step will be, particularly, a meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan Supreme Strategic Partnership Council, for which we really look forward with excitement. After meeting with each other, our foreign ministers will make the first step, and we Insha'Allah, will carry out a large-scale meeting," Erdogan said.
Erdogan said the trade turnover amounted to approximately $2.5 billion in 2010 and the figure reached $1.4 billion in the first five months of 2011. We, Insha'Allah, will record a level of $ 3 billion by late 2011 with these paces, he said.
He underscored that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan natural gas pipeline is of great significance in the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations. "I think the steps, to be taken in connection with the Shah Deniz-2 project, will be the strategic moves of the two brotherly countries. In this regard, the agreement between me and my brother is clear. We had a discussion on this issue, and our energy ministers will continue their activity.
In addition, indeed, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, as Mr President noted, is of great importance. It has continuation. This is the first phase of the work. We have a goal to extend it further - to Central Asia. Such a goal, such a large project, and its realization with great pace strategically bind us together. I find it necessary to note, "Erdogan said.