Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

An international conference titled "Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey Trilateral Relations: A vision for Future" kicked off in Baku on June 5.

The conference is organized by the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Azerbaijan (SAM).

Addressing the event, Assistant to the President for Foreign Policy Issues, Department Head Novruz Mammadov hailed the contributions of the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey cooperation format to the relations.

He underlined the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars projects as the examples of this cooperation. Mammadov hailed good prospects for trilateral relationship.

Mammadov added that Turkey's membership in NATO and signing of the Association Agreement between Georgia and the EU do not hinder the development of this cooperation, but rather contribute to the security, stability and sustainable development in the region.

Mammadov went on to say that the North-South corridor cooperation format created two years ago between Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran, has a great future as well.

“These formats are effective because national, economic and political interests coincide,” he said.

Speaking at the conference, the Director of the SAM under the President of Azerbaijan, Farhad Mammadov, brought to the attention of the conference participants that the trilateral cooperation of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey has great experience and history.

The SAM director stressed that the recent projects – the transport agreement, the construction of ports, the signing of the agreement with China, the securing of Turkey's access to the Central Asian region, the role of Azerbaijan in the development of the West-East corridor – create new opportunities for cooperation.

Mammadov underlined that the cooperation of the three states in ensuring peace and stability in the region is of great importance.

"History shows that this cooperation has strengthened our independence. Ensuring our security is not directed against other states. However, some circles abroad say that this format is directed against someone. In this matter, they pursue their goals. We must protect this format," Mammadov added.

Chairman of the Center for Strategic Studies under the Foreign Ministry of Turkey Mesut Ozcan also stressed the importance of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia trilateral cooperation.

The chief research fellow at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies Kakha Gogolashvili, while speaking at the event, noted that the geopolitical location of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey allows ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

"Political changes in our countries in no way affect the relationship between our states. The format of tripartite cooperation allows us to discuss our problems and relies on the interests of our countries. All three countries support each other's territorial integrity,” he said.

Gogolashvili also stressed that Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey support each other in the process of European integration.

“Georgia has signed an associative agreement with the EU, Turkey discusses membership in the European Union, Azerbaijan is negotiating a new agreement - all three countries in the broad sense of this word are part of the European community. Our cooperation in this direction is very important," he said.

“Turkey supports Georgia in its membership in NATO, and we believe that we will become a member of the Alliance. This is important for Azerbaijan. It will be a guarantee for Georgia in terms of protecting its territories and will impact the entire region," Gogolashvili concluded.

The conference continued with panel discussions.

The event features discussions on the development of cooperation between the three strategic allies as well as security challenges for trilateral relations, security aspects of relations and tools for fighting non-traditional threats.

The conference brings together acclaimed experts from Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, including chairman of the Strategic Research Center under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, director of Center for EU Studies at Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, director of Political, Economic and Social Studies Foundation, chief research fellow at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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