BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 18. Turkmenistan, always a supporter of constructive dialogue on current global issues, takes various initiatives within the framework of international organizations to preserve peace in the world and the region, the country's extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to Azerbaijan, Gurbanmemmet Elyasov, said at the event titled “Multifaceted Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan: Achievements and Prospects,” Trend reports.
He noted that the happenings and currents of recent years paint a picture of shifting sands in international and interstate relations, with tensions rising like bread in the oven and misunderstandings popping up like weeds in various corners of the globe.
“The cause-and-effect relationships of these events are diverse, but it is clearly evident that the current state of world politics is due to a lack of trust in a certain model of the world order and serious differences in views and opinions,” he explained.
The ambassador stated that in the current situation, as a neutral state, Turkmenistan supports the unification of international efforts on a creative platform to overcome the existing crisis and the adoption of appropriate political and diplomatic measures for this purpose:
“Based on this, during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Turkmenistan initiated the resolution titled ‘2025—International Year of Peace and Trust,’ adopted with the co-sponsorship of 86 states.
Turkmenistan regards the decision to hold the International Year of Peace and Trust in 2025 as a global event and a real opportunity for a new qualitative transition in international relations. In fact, Turkmenistan’s initiative is an invitation and a call for all states to jointly work on implementing the idea of peace and trust as a fundamental principle of the world order, including its political, ideological, and practical aspects,” he mentioned.
Elyasov emphasized that one of the main directions of Turkmenistan’s international cooperation policy is the consistent strengthening of relations with brotherly Azerbaijan.
“Relations between our countries are developing upward in political, economic, transport and logistics, oil, and gas sectors. We highly appreciate and value Azerbaijan’s support for Turkmenistan’s initiatives on international platforms. Azerbaijan is a brotherly country and people to us, and we will consistently strengthen our relations by utilizing all existing potential. Now I would like to inform you about the main prospective directions of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan,” the ambassador stated.
He noted that cooperation in the transport sector opens great prospects for both our countries and our neighbors. More precisely, the modern infrastructure created at the Turkmenbashi International Sea Port and the Baku International Sea Trade Port operates in close cooperation and ensures the transit of cargoes through our territories.
“This is because transit issues cannot be resolved without mutual coordination with neighboring states. Today, the high level of transport-logistics infrastructure demonstrates the purposeful activities of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan in this field. It is important to note the greater capacity of our ports, as compared to our neighbors on the Caspian Sea, we have great potential for cargo transportation, which shows our readiness to respond to current challenges related to increasing transit cargo flows both from China to Europe and in the opposite direction. In this regard, I consider it necessary to further strengthen mutual cooperation in all transport and logistics sectors,” the official noted.
Elyasov said that the oil and gas sector has very close trade-economic relations between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.
“As is known, there is constant constructive exchange of views on strengthening cooperation and the prospects for interstate relations, including their development paths. Currently, Turkmenistan is actively diversifying its export potential in various directions, including increasing the transportation of energy resources through the Caspian Sea and the territories of our brotherly countries Azerbaijan and Turkey to the markets of third countries. Communication and digital services.
Currently, expert-level work is underway to develop a technical and economic justification for laying a fiber-optic cable between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea seabed. The basis for this project is the Memorandum of Understanding between the telecommunications company TurkmenTelekom and AzerTelecom LLC on joint construction, ownership, and operation of a fiber-optic communication line along the Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan route across the Caspian Sea seabed. This area is also of great importance for creating digital services in the South Caucasus, the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia,” he pointed out.
The ambassador said that overall, there are great prospects for trade-economic relations between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Even without considering non-oil cooperation, the volume of trade turnover between the two countries is increasing year by year, which can be considered an indicator of close economic cooperation.
“Nevertheless, considering the great potential of our countries, it is necessary to actively develop cooperation in small and medium-sized businesses, find new prospective areas for partnership, evaluate mutual investment projects, and organize business forums and international exhibitions for each other, which I am sure will contribute to intensifying trade-economic cooperation and expanding business relations,” he added.
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