Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 27
By Orkhan Quluzade – Trend:
Ankara expects not only economic, but also political results from trilateral formats of cooperation, new Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Erkan Ozoral said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
He said that trilateral formats will provide strong support for regional development by raising political and economic ties between three countries to a new level.
Having noted the importance of trilateral formats of cooperation being implemented by Azerbaijan and Turkey with other states, the diplomat said that the bilateral co-operation carried out earlier by these countries will be of great benefit to peoples if implemented in a trilateral format.
“The trilateral format of cooperation of Azerbaijan and Turkey with Georgia is the best example of this,” he said. “The benefits of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline brought to the three countries are obvious.”
“Everyone knows what kind of benefits the project of Baku Tbilisi-Kars railway, the construction of which is in the final stage, will bring to the three countries, as well as the whole Eurasia,” he said.
Ozoral noted that cooperation of Azerbaijan and Turkey in the same format with Iran will also benefit all three countries.
He said that with the diversification of routes leading to Central Asia by Turkey, Azerbaijan will become a main point in this direction.
All this has a positive impact on the transportation by vessels through the Caspian Sea, Ro-Ro transportation and rail transportation in the region, noted the diplomat.
Ozoral added that the trilateral cooperation, on the one hand, will support the development of trilateral economic ties, on the other hand, will strengthen the three countries’ relations and bring them together for their political point of view.
All this will play a major role in ensuring peace and prosperity in the region, said the ambassador.
He also noted that work on creation of the Turkey-Azerbaijan-Russia trilateral format is being carried out.
Earlier, during the meeting in St. Petersburg with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia may form a trilateral cooperation mechanism, and both Moscow and Ankara have a very positive attitude towards the proposed scheme.
Currently, there are several trilateral formats in the region such as Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Iran and Turkey-Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan.
It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan and Turkey are key states in all those interstate structures.
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