Azerbaijani, Turkish, Turkmen FMs to work on cooperation roadmap

Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (L) and his Azerbaijani and Turkmen counterparts, Elmar Mammadyarov (C) and Rashid Meredov (R), shake hands during their 4th ministerial meeting in Baku on July 19, 2017. (AFP PHOTO)

BAKU, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Azerbaijani, Turkish and Turkmen foreign ministers have agreed to develop a 2017-2020 cooperation roadmap, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said on Wednesday. 

He made the remarks at a news briefing following the meeting with his Turkish and Turkmen counterparts Mevlut Cavusoglu and Rashid Meredov in Baku. 

A declaration has been signed following the trilateral meeting.

According to Elmar Mammadyarov, the three sides conducted productive and interesting negotiations in Baku.

Touching upon the implementation of various regional projects, Mammadyarov said the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project will be completed by the end of this year and will bring enormous opportunities for cooperation.

Stressing the importance of the railway project, the Azerbaijani foreign minister said that the related countries also intend to use other ways of cargo transportation, including sea.

"This issue was discussed today at a trilateral meeting, and it would be right to discuss it also at the level of other ministries and departments," Mammadyarov said.

The minister said that expansion of the port in Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan) will be completed next year, and it will increase cargo transportation between the port of Alat (Azerbaijan) and Turkmenbashi up to 25 million tons per year.

The Azerbaijani, Turkish and Turkmen foreign ministers held the fourth trilateral meeting in Baku on July 19.  

They discussed development of cooperation in the political, economic, energy, transport fields and as well as the implementation of regional projects.