Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 21
By Huseyn Hasanov, Rashid Shirinov – Trend:
Turkmenistan will continue to strengthen good-neighborly relations with Azerbaijan, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said at a government meeting, Trend reports citing the Turkmen Altyn Asyr TV channel.
Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan were established in June 1992. During the recent Turkmen-Azerbaijani high-level talks in Ashgabat, directions and opportunities for cooperation in various fields were identified.
The two Caspian countries are exploring opportunities for cooperation in the transport and energy sectors. In particular, it is the implementation of the Agreement on Transit and Transport Cooperation (Lapis Lazuli Route Agreement), signed by Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey at the 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) on November 15, 2017 in Ashgabat.
According to this project, railways and highways will connect the city of Torghundi in the Afghan province of Herat with Ashgabat, and then with the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi, Baku, Tbilisi, Poti, Batumi, Ankara and Istanbul cities.
Turkmenistan, which ranks 4th in the world in terms of natural gas reserves, has been actively promoting the project to build a pipeline to Europe through the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan. Turkmenistan has recently stated that the EU expressed its readiness to help attract investment in the implementation of this project.
Relevant negotiations between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have been conducted since 2011.
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