Azerbaijan and Turkey, the states which had predetermined the energy map of the region, held the third session of the Turkey-Azerbaijan high-level strategic cooperation Council. The main issues concerning the Azerbaijani-Turkish energy dialogue, the East-West transport corridor, economic cooperation, as well as strategically important issues for development of the two countries were discussed on the highest level. The foundation of the Europe’s future energy map, which now relies on gas lines coming from the Caspian, has been laid.
Energy corridor
The brotherhood relationships that Azerbaijan and Turkey have maintained over the past two decades predetermined the economic development of the whole Caspian-Black Sea region. The oil and gas pipelines built between the countries facilitated the stability. Long negotiations of the European energy players resulted in emergence of new projects (TAP and TANAP) on the map.
Both of the states managed to achieve big success within a short period of time. They turned their political and social stability into an economic and common heritage of the mankind. Considering the National Leader Heydar Aliyev’s saying “One nation, two states” our countries combined their efforts for the good of our peoples and the region in whole. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum projects called the projects of the century during the implementation are the results of this thought and dynamism. From the Caspian region where the tranquility prevails these pipelines are transporting not only oil and gas but also peace, welfare and stability”, President of Turkey Abdullah Gul said at the meeting held with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Ankara early in November.
The future of the energy projects was considered at the third session of the Turkey-Azerbaijan high-level strategic cooperation Council held with participation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Addressing the media, I.Aliyev said: “Big achievements lie ahead of us. We are ready for them. The implementation of the TANAP project is going to fully change the energy map of Europe. Turkey and Azerbaijan will play a particular role in this map as TANAP is one of the largest energy projects on a global scale and we are in process of its realization. Turkey and Azerbaijan assumed this obligation, political and financial load. We are demonstrating leadership through our joint efforts in this matter as well. Many countries will benefit from our leadership as it is impossible to separate an energy policy from the external policy today. The essence and the advantage of the high-level strategic cooperation Council is based on solution of many issues during these sessions. I am sure that we will make new decisions today just like we did in previous and will do in the following session to be held in Baku”.
The Prime Minister of Turkey said that Azerbaijan and Turkey are regularly taking and will continue taking energy-related measures of strategic importance for our countries. “TANAP is one of those projects that is under discussion now. The foundation of this project will be laid early in 2014. Along with TANAP, there are many other operations underway now. As you know, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project has earlier been realized. It was a project for transportation of Azerbaijani oil from the port of Ceyhan to the world markets. This project had a successful start-up and is still implemented successfully”, the head of the Turkish government said.
Speaking about the energy cooperation, R.T. Erdogan said that the Shahdeniz was another important project and is successfully realized now. Meanwhile, the forth coming work associated with the construction of the gas pipeline from Igdir to Nakhchivan was discussed.
According to Erdogan, the Council also touched upon the energy projects that are of big importance for the future of Eurasia. “We considered the joint work that we can carry out in the Balkans and especially in the countries of the region to which Azeri gas will flow.”
“Turkey and Azerbaijan displayed a serious position and expressed their opinion about the implementation of the Trans-Anatolian and Southern corridor projects. We exchanged opinions that this issue, one of the main projects of our strategic cooperation, was in the center of attention”, R.T.Erdogan said.
Touching upon the energy cooperation President of Turkey Abdullah Gul noted: “We have to realize the Trans-Anatolian pipeline project as soon as possible since it is a part of the Southern gas corridor. According to him, this project will strengthen the connection of the Caspian region with the world and it is worth being considered as an important event of the 21st century.
East –West
“We have not limited our work on supply of Azeri oil to Turkey after building the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. The opening of the corridor enables implementation of large projects today. I once again would like to congratulate you on the implementation of the Marmara project. It is your historical achievement. It will remain in the history as one of your merits before the Turkish people. You connected continents, peoples and ensured long-term interests of Turkey via realization of this project. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is certainly a component part of this big project”, President Ilham Aliyev said.
“Another step is the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project realized at a fast pace. The work on this project is at stage of completion. We will link our countries through the railways network by launching this project. This road will be linked with Marmara. A railway communication will be created from Beijing up to London after joining the Marmara project. It will also include the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad. An issue of creation of the railway network between Igdir and Nakhchivan has been discussed as well. The work in this direction is Inshallah beginning. We take decisive steps in this regard as well”, Prime Minister of Turkey R.T.Erdogan said following the outcomes of the Turkey-Azerbaijan high-level strategic cooperation Council.
“Today I would like to note with satisfaction that our political relationships are developing in excellent manner without any problems. Together with the Marmara project, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad will let the trains run from the Western Europe to reach the Caspian coast, head toward the ports of Aktau and Turkmenbashi and further towards Beijing. It is also an important step”, he emphasized.
Economic cooperation
“Turkey and Azerbaijan are the closest countries to each other on a world-wide scale. There are probably no other countries in the world that would be so closely supporting each other. This support is strengthening us”, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said following the outcomes of the session of the Turkey-Azerbaijan high-level strategic cooperation Council. “Successful development of Turkey means our development. The Turkey’s strength is our strength. These are historical, big achievements”, President Ilham Aliyev said. “Turkey has been through a long and glorious way over the past 10 years and managed to overcome the difficult economic situation with credit. Today Turkey has become one of the strong states in the world and is a member of G20. Turkey’s influence over processes, occurring in the world, is growing gradually and will grow even higher in future. No single initiative can be realized in our region without Turkey’s consent. We in our turn are also trying to ensure further development of the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations. Today’s session of the strategic cooperation Council is also demonstrating this unity”, the President of Azerbaijan continued.
“Meanwhile, I would like to say a few words about mutual investments. It is a prefect indicator. Turkey is the destination of Azerbaijan’s big investments which have been made or will be made abroad. Investments flowing from Turkey into Azerbaijan are accelerating our economic development. These are investments made on basis of mutual trust, faith, friendship and brotherhood. My words about the brotherhood that underlies our relations are acknowledged by underway projects. The brotherhood and friendship are eternal and will last forever. The 21st century will be the century of the Turkic world. Turkey and Azerbaijan assumed a leading role in this direction and I am sure that in future we will gain big success through joint efforts as well”, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized.
“Nowadays, the volume of trade between the countries has reached $4.2bln. “We will speed up our work in order to increase this figure up to $15 bln in future. In particular, I would like to note that while getting familiarized with our important strategic facilities President Abduallah Gul and President Ilham Aliyev have once again exchanged opinions about the work that we have to carry out in this area”, R.T.Erdogan emphasized.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a joint statement at the end of the session of the Council. Besides, among the signed documents we can mention a protocol about cooperation between the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey in the field of science and technologies, a Memorandum of mutual understanding between the Ministry of Communication and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technologies of Turkey in the field of science, technologies, industry and entrepreneurship; an Agreement between governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey on cooperation in the field of security; an Agreement between the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey on mutual labor activity of the workforce, as well as an Agreement between the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey on cooperation in the field of labor, social protection and employment.
