Presidents of Azerbaijan and Türkiye hold extensive meeting in Ankara

On February 19, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, had a comprehensive meeting in Ankara with the President of the Republic of Turkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

According to reports from the Azerbaijani news agency SİA, during the meeting, Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated:

Dear Mr. President, Respected Brother, Respected members of the delegation,

I greet you with my sincerest feelings and love. I am delighted to welcome you to Ankara on your first official visit following your historic victory in the elections held on February 7. I firmly believe that our cooperation, already at an excellent level, will reach even greater heights in this new era.

A short while ago, I had a very productive meeting with my dear brother, where we discussed our relations, particularly in trade, energy, and defense industries. We exchanged views on regional processes, including relations with Armenia. Our bilateral trade volume has increased by more than 16% compared to the previous year, reaching a level of $7.5 billion. Our goal is, of course, $15 billion. We have strengthened our commitment in this direction with my esteemed brother.

The 11th meeting of the Joint Economic Commission to be held in Ankara in May will contribute to the determination of the "Road Map." The signing of the "Agreement on the Elimination of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Tax Evasion Regarding Revenues," which will take place today, will be a gift to achieving our goals.

Processes such as the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the Ukraine war have highlighted the importance of the Middle Corridor as a reliable route. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, opened in 2017, has become a strategic stage in the Middle Corridor. The completion of works on this line and putting it into full operation as soon as possible serves our common interests. The unplanned interruptions due to repairs have put freight carriers in a difficult situation. In addition, a long-closed line loses its attractiveness internationally. It is crucial to bring transit shipments by the dry route into free circulation as soon as possible. I trust in your support on this matter.

During our meeting, we also discussed our cooperation in the energy sector. We emphasized the importance of increasing joint initiatives in projects that transcend Europe. I attach great importance to the rapid completion of projects such as the export of electricity from Nakhchivan territory of Azerbaijan and the Igdir-Nakhchivan natural gas pipeline.

I am pleased with the development of our relations in the field of education. In this context, the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the Turkiye-Azerbaijan University to be signed shortly will be a new turning point in cooperation in higher education. Our university will elevate our relations in the fields of science and technology to a new level, increasing our exchange of experience, especially in health, engineering, and technology.

On the other hand, I am delighted to announce that Azerbaijan will host the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Dear delegation members, you are well aware of the importance I attach to our cooperation within the Turkic States Organization. Our next extraordinary Summit will take place in Shusha, hopefully. I thank Azerbaijan for its sensitivity and support in participating in the events of the Summit of the Turkiye Republic of Northern Cyprus. We expect the same sensitivity from other members of our organization. I believe that we will continue our joint efforts for further development within our organization.

The Economic Cooperation Organization, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, and D8 are other important regional organizations that strengthen our cooperation in economic and trade fields. I especially believe that we will benefit more from the potential owned by the Economic Cooperation Organization.

Our support for the upcoming Summit meeting to be held in your country is complete. We strongly support Azerbaijan's membership in D8, despite some reservations among D8 members, including Egypt. I have proposed and will continue to propose initiatives in this direction among D8 members.

Ending my speech with these thoughts, I thank my brother Aliyev and his esteemed delegation once again for this visit. I wish the upcoming period to be beneficial for Turkiye and Azerbaijan.

X X X

President Ilham Aliyev, speaking during the meeting, said:

Dear Brother, Mr. President. Dear friends.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to you for the invitation and hospitality. As you mentioned, this is my first official visit to our brother Turkiye after the presidential elections. This is natural. The relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, with no analogy, are unique, and these relations strengthen every day.

During our one-on-one meeting today, we discussed many issues, reviewed the "Road Map" for this year and the coming years. There have been significant developments in the defense industry, military, energy, education, and other areas, and we also discussed the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkiye in the Middle Corridor issue, the further enhancement of our partnership, and the increasing transit capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line. We highlighted the importance of joint projects and recent documents, including projects in the direction of Nakhchivan, the construction of the Qars-Nakhivan railway.

It was especially noted that the Shusha Declaration elevated the relations between our countries to the level of alliance.

We touched upon the deepening of cooperation in the defense industry and the issue of joint military exercises of the Armed Forces of both countries.