Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan seek stronger ties through cooperation

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan exchanged views on strengthening mutual cooperation at the fourth trilateral meeting in the Azeri capital Baku yesterday.

"This trilateral meeting will strengthen the ties between the three countries," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said after meeting with his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov.

Çavuşoğlu said that the ministers exchanged views on bilateral and regional cooperation and added that the trilateral talks will continue in the upcoming years.

He said that there were projects to boost economic ties between the three countries and all parties were "resolute" about enhancing cooperation in the energy sector.

"Test drives of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway begins today [Wednesday]," he said, adding that the project was completed and train service will "hopefully" start in autumn.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is a regional rail project linking Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. It is expected to increase the flow of containers and other types of cargo from Asia to Europe.

In other developments, Çavuşoğlu reiterated Turkey's support for Azerbaijan and called on Armenia to act responsibly under international law.

"The Upper Karabakh dispute needs to be resolved as soon as possible within the framework of international law and with respect for Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are at loggerheads over the occupied Karabakh region, which broke away from Azerbaijan in 1991 with Armenian military support. No peace process has so far been initiated to bring an end to the standoff.

Earlier yesterday Çavuşoğlu was received by Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and the pair discussed bilateral relations and regional developments.