Azernews.Az

By Vugar Khalilov

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stated that the Azerbaijan-Turkiye-Kazakhstan trilateral format will play an efficient role in strengthening regional security, stability, and cooperation, Azernews reports.

Bayramov made the remarks at the first trilateral meeting of the foreign and transport ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkiye, and Kazakhstan on June 27 in Baku.

“Against the background of growing threats to global security, our trilateral cooperation is of great importance. Transport and communication are areas where we will interact more closely,” Bayramov said.

The minister stressed that Azerbaijan's new goal is to achieve stability in the region.

Underlining the importance of the first meeting of the foreign and transport ministers, Bayramov stated that the meeting gave an opportunity to explore the potential for furthering cooperation in the fields of transportation and communications between the three nations, which have a strong bilateral and multilateral collaboration.

"During the discussions, we focused on the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor) and the existing freight traffic in this direction. We paid special attention to the existing problems, the directions of expanding our transport and communication cooperation in this region in order to eliminate the narrow straits, on the other hand, very interesting new valuable ideas and proposals were voiced," the minister said.

He added that the parties discussed regional issues and exchanged views, especially in the field of transport and communications.

"In the context of the discussions, the potential expansion of the Baku-Tbilisi gas pipeline was also discussed. Various projects with the European Union, including the Trans-Caspian fiber-optic project, were put forward. Transport issues in Eastern Zangazur and Karabakh were also discussed. It is in this context that the full support to this project was given. The Baku Declaration signed today will make a great contribution to the development of serious cooperation," Bayramov highlighted.

Addressing the event, Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi stated that efforts would be made to further promote and facilitate transit traffic through the Trans-Caspian to increase the role of the Middle Corridor.

He stressed the importance of the achievements in cooperation aimed at attracting additional volumes of cargo to the Middle Corridor, including the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway.

Speaking about the importance of developing relations between the three brotherly countries in the region, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the trilateral meeting is very important in terms of creating new opportunities.

“Relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye are developing in all areas. We want to further expand opportunities in the energy sector with Azerbaijan," he stressed.

A joint Baku Declaration was signed at the end of the trilateral meeting. It was noted that the Baku Declaration will bolster cooperation between the three countries in the field of transport and communications, as well as contribute to expanding the transit potential of our countries.

The new trilateral format, created by the joint efforts of the three countries, will prove to be an efficient mechanism for strengthening security, stability and cooperation at both the regional and broader levels, the ministers emphasized.

The first trilateral meeting of the foreign and transport ministers of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkiye was held in Baku on June 27, at the initiative of Azerbaijan.

The next trilateral meeting between Azerbaijan, Turkiye, and Kazakhstan will be held in Kazakhstan.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor was established in February 2014 with the participation of relevant structures of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. Later, Ukraine, Romania, and Poland joined the project.

At present, the route starts at the Chinese-Kazakh border, passes through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, and extends to Europe. A single tariff, the "one-stop-shop" principle is applied along the entire route.

In the current context of growing threats to global security, stability, and economic development, strengthening cooperation between the three countries in the transport and communications sectors is of great importance in terms of preventing and reducing risks and challenges at the regional level.

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