Baku Statement on the outcomes of Sixth Trilateral Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Turkey

BAKU STATEMENT 

Sixth Trilateral Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Turkey

6 September 2017 

At the invitation of H.E. Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and with participation of H.E. Mr. Mikheil Janelidze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, the Sixth Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the three countries was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 6 September 2017. 

Ministers, 

Emphasized their commitment to the Trabzon Declaration, the Batumi Joint Communiqué, the Ganja, Kars and Tbilisi Statements adopted in the previous Trilateral Meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, as an important platform for both political dialogue and implementation of specific trilateral projects; 

Expressed their satisfaction with the growing bilateral and trilateral cooperation among their countries and reaffirmed their strong commitment for further enhancing their cooperation based on the strategic partnership, good neighbourliness, mutual respect and trust;

Reconfirmed their mutual respect and strong support for sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of states;

Stressed that the existing conflicts in the region undermine peace, stability and economic development and require peaceful resolutions based on the mentioned principles of international law; 

Reiterated the utmost importance of the earliest peaceful settlement of the conflict in and around Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the conflict in Georgia on the basis of principles and norms of international law, particularly, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of states, as well as in accordance with relevant resolutions, declarations and decisions of the UN, the OSCE and the CoE;

Underlined the firm determination of their states to explore new ways to expand trilateral cooperation particularly in the areas that would ensure prosperity for the people of the three countries through economic growth and sustainable development;

Decided to intensify all efforts to improve their economic and commercial cooperation so as to meet actual potentials to promote investments and trade; and to further strengthen cooperation in the field of energy, transport, agriculture, telecommunications, industry, environment, education, science, culture, tourism and sports through joint projects and programs;

Emphasized the significance of the Fifth Meeting of Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey Business Forum (TAGIF) with the participation of relevant ministers of three countries held in Istanbul on 17 February 2017;

Underlined the importance of cooperation within the context of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in line with the spirit of the 25th Anniversary Summit Declaration, which was adopted on 22 May 2017, in Istanbul;

Highlighted the strategic partnership in the field of energy, reaffirmed their full political support for Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), other important components of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), as well as for energy projects aimed at transporting hydrocarbon from the Caspian basin to Europe and enabling role of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in assuring successful completion and functioning of those projects. Emphasized the readiness to continue the energy dialogue and importance of diversification of energy resources for enhancing security of supply, including security of energy transportation routes within the region and beyond; 

Highlighted the importance of trilateral cooperation along the Great Silk Road route in order to revive and conserve the Road, and underlined further enhancing cooperation in the fields of transport, energy, trade, culture and tourism, and people-to-people contacts across the Silk Road route; 

In this context stressed the importance of the high level participation at the “Tbilisi Belt and Road Forum” to be held on November 28-29, 2017 in Tbilisi;

By expressing confidence that large-scale transport projects of strategic importance will favour the economic development of the three countries and facilitate competitive transportation between Asia and Europe, reiterated in this regard the utmost importance of the earliest start of operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway; 

Reaffirmed the importance attached to the full realization of the East-West/Middle Transport Corridor crossing the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Turkey in order to create more favourable conditions for trade and economic development as well as to ensure increase in the volume of international passenger and cargo transportation. In this context agreed to encourage all international and regional financial institutions to contribute to financing the development of relevant transport corridors and routes;

Emphasized that the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route has great development potential, which aimed to facilitate cargo transportation from China to Europe through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and enhance transport connectivity between Asia and Europe; 

Stressed the importance of strengthened and continued cooperation among three countries to build and run information infrastructures in order to bridge the digital divide in the region and in this regard reiterate their commitment to contribute to earliest realization of the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway Project, including the development the Trans-Caspian route of the Highway; 

Underscored the necessity to improve further intermodal transport services in Caspian Region with effective integration of sustainable modes of transport such as rail and sea in order to achieve sustainable development goals concerning improved traffic safety, enhanced performance for the environment, energy efficiency and safer transport activities;

Underlined the importance of strengthening communication and exchange of information and experience in the fields of environmental protection, forestry, land use and management of water resources to maintain ecological balance in the region; 

Underscored the importance of trilateral cooperation in the defense sphere, highlighting trilateral trainings, exercises and high level meetings already conducted in the past years and expressed their readiness to continue active cooperation in the future; 

Reiterated their firm commitment to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism and separatism in all their forms and manifestations, transnational organized crime, narcotic drugs and their precursors, illicit trade in arms, human trafficking, crimes against cultural and historical heritage, cybercrime and migrant smuggling; 

Azerbaijan and Georgia once again condemned the action of the perpetrators of foiled coup attempt of 15th of July 2016 in Turkey, and both countries reiterated their strong cooperation with Turkey and also reaffirmed their resolute support to Turkey’s democratically elected President and Government; 

Condemning all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on ethnicity, race, religion and belief and underlining the importance of nurturing tolerance, respect, dialogue and cooperation among different cultures, civilizations and peoples, emphasized the significance of the 7th Global Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations of the United Nations held in Baku, Azerbaijan on 25-27 April 2016; 

Underlined the importance of the adoption of Trilateral Sectoral Cooperation Action Plan for 2017-2019 and encouraged relevant Ministries and Agencies to make efforts towards the implementation of the provisions of the Action Plan; 

Underscored the importance of cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, including culture, education, health care, youth exchange, tourism and sports, which will further expand people-to-people contacts between their countries and expressed their readiness to initiate and promote joint projects and events in these spheres; 

Reconfirmed their determination to further intensify trilateral dialogue on regional and global issues of common interest, as well as enhance coordination within the frames of the international organizations; 

Agreed to hold their next trilateral meeting in Turkey.

Attachment: The Trilateral Sectoral Cooperation Action Plan for 2017-2019.   

H.E. Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov
Minister of Foreign Affairsof the Republic of Azerbaijan

H.E. Mr. Mikheil Janelidze
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia

H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
Minister of Foreign Affairsof the Republic of Turkey