Baku, Azerbaijan, July 24
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Fraternal relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey are of great importance for stability, security and development in the region, Azerbaijani Prime Minister Novruz Mammadov said at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Baku July 24.
“The relations between the two countries are at the highest level,” he added. “There are very strong and close ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey.”
Speaking about joint projects being implemented by Azerbaijan and Turkey, Mammadov stressed that the implementation of such projects as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline testifies to unbreakable fraternal relations between the countries.
“These projects will contribute to the welfare of not only Azerbaijan and Turkey, but also the region as a whole,” he said. “The projects will also contribute to the strengthening of international cooperation.”
“Both countries successfully cooperate in all international organizations,” Mammadov said. “Turkey is always close to Azerbaijan and renders great support for the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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