President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on being elected President of Azerbaijan for the 5th time with the high favor of his people.
Wishing that the election results will be beneficial for Turkey-Azerbaijan relations and the brotherly Azerbaijani people, President Erdoğan said, “Unfortunately, Azerbaijan was exposed to some unfair practices during the election process. We expressed our strong reaction to the decision taken by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to prevent the participation of the Azerbaijani delegation in the meetings to be held this year. We will continue to emphasize that this parliament should be a platform for dialogue that will strengthen parliamentary democracy, not conflict. "We will continue our support to Azerbaijan and our initiatives in this direction until the decision taken is invalidated," he said.
TRANSPORTATION AND ENERGY PROJECTS
President Erdoğan stated that they reviewed all aspects of bilateral relations and evaluated regional and international issues during their meetings with President Aliyev, and emphasized that they saw that cooperation with Azerbaijan progressed on the basis of "one nation, two states" as pointed out by the late "National Leader" Heydar Aliyev.
President Erdoğan said, “Our total trade volume reached 7,5 billion dollars for the first time last year. We are determined to increase our efforts to reach our goal of 15 billion dollars. It is obvious that we need to develop the potential of our countries in the fields of transportation and energy in a period when critical challenges are experienced. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line is among the most concrete examples of this. In order for us to get the highest efficiency from this line, the renovation works must be completed urgently. With this understanding, we signed the protocol of intent regarding the Kars-Nakhchivan Railway Project during my visit to Turkish Gate Nakhchivan in September. Increasing the capacity of TANAP and transferring Caspian natural gas to Turkey and Europe are among our priorities in this field. I would also like to remind you that we have added a new dimension to our energy cooperation with the Iğdır-Nakhchivan Natural Gas Pipeline Project, the foundation of which we laid during my visit to Nakhchivan.” said.
“A HISTORICAL WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY IS OPENING FOR LASTING PEACE IN OUR REGION”
President Erdoğan stated that they also discussed the steps taken for the peace and stability of the South Caucasus during the meetings.
“There is no doubt that the signing of a permanent peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be a new source of hope for peace, tranquility and stability in the region and the world.” President Erdoğan said, “We are acting shoulder to shoulder with Azerbaijan in this process. With the end of the occupation in Karabakh, a historical window of opportunity opens for permanent peace in our region. It is very important that this window of opportunity does not close. I believe that Armenia should evaluate this process with a strategic perspective and think long-term. We also invite third parties to make constructive contributions rather than poisoning the process. I would also like to take this opportunity to state that we hope that the actions that took place on the border of the two countries in the past few days will not happen again. “I wish a speedy recovery to our injured Azerbaijani army brother.” said.
President Erdoğan emphasized that during the meetings, they also evaluated Israel's massacres in Gaza, which trampled on all human values and international law, and other conflicts concerning the region.
