Baku, March 15, AZERTAC

The full text of the Baku Declaration of the Ninth Trilateral Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Türkiye, has been disclosed.

The declaration reads: “At the invitation of H.E. Jeyhun Bayramov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and with the participation of H.E. Hakan Fidan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye and H.E. Ilia Darchiashvili, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the Ninth Trilateral Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the three countries was held in Baku on 15 March 2024.

The Ministers,

Emphasizing the existing strong ties among their countries, based on friendship, and historic bonds, mutual respect and trust;

Desirous of deepening further cooperation at the level of strategic partnership in all areas of mutual interest, including political, economic, trade, peace and security, science and technology and cultural fields;

Mindful of the significant contributions made by their respective states for promotion of peace, stability and development in the region and the mutual desire of their peoples to further advance these ideals for shared prosperity and security in the broader region;

Conscious of the challenges and emerging threats confronting their countries including but not limited to threats of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, cyber-attacks and hybrid forms of warfare;

Realizing the importance of acceleration in trade and investment activities for boosting regional economic profile;

Acknowledging regional connectivity as cornerstone for sustainable and resilient economic growth and development in the region;

Expressing solidarity with the government and people of Azerbaijan in their efforts to rebuild and rehabilitate its conflict-affected territories;

Reiterating their solidarity with the Turkish people for the two devastating earthquakes took place since their last trilateral meeting, which claimed thousands of lives and left thousands more injured and caused heavy destruction in the southeastern region of Türkiye on 6 February 2023, as well as the wave of terrorist attacks perpetrated against Türkiye over the last 6 months;

Have declared the followings:

Reiterated strong and unequivocal support of their respective states for each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders;

Welcomed the full restoration of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan within its state borders, and reaffirmed their support to the post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts of the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan;

Reaffirmed their support to the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia on the basis of mutual recognition of and respect for each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders, and expressed their conviction that the soonest establishment of relations between them will significantly contribute to regional stability and security and pave the way for full realization of the region’s potential for cooperation, and in this regard, acknowledged the positive role of Georgia and Türkiye as regional countries;

Reiterated the significance of the Montreux Convention and Türkiye’s fastidious implementation thereof which has been instrumental in engendering a successful escalation management in the Black Sea;

The importance of immediate ceasefire leading to an end to hostilities, provision of urgent, unhindered, sustained and sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza and resumption of a genuine peace process towards a lasting peace in the Middle East is underlined.

Reiterated the utmost importance of the restoration of Georgia`s territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders;

Renewed their resolve to strengthen cooperation in line with relevant international and regional instruments to combat all forms and manifestations of terrorism, transnational organized crime, illicit trafficking in weapons, drugs and their precursors, trafficking in persons, migrant smuggling, money laundering, crimes against cultural and historical heritage and cybercrimes;

Stressed the significant steps taken to strengthen the transit potential of their countries, including the Trans Caspian East-West Middle Corridor, railway-based multimodal transportation corridor passing through the territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye, as well as the efforts to integrate into the international transit system;

Highlighted the key role of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway (BTK) and Marmaray project as a part of Iron Silk Road in facilitating competitive transportation between Asia and Europe;

Stressed the importance of the early completion of the rehabilitation, reconstruction and expansion works at the “Marabda- Kartsakhi” section of the BTK and to make the railway line fully operational again in 2024;

Underlined the importance of development of transport and communication infrastructure;

Determined to enhance cooperation on transport, trade, energy, including green energy and low carbon technologies, as well as people-to-people contacts, education, social and cultural exchange, tourism, and ICT, including through improving and strengthening air, rail and road links and regional connectivity;

Underlined the strategic partnership in the field of energy and reaffirmed their full support for the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), as well as for energy projects aimed at increasing volumes of natural gas;

Supported the coordination of measures in the field of sustainable growth, including the efficient use of renewable energy;

Encouraged to cooperate and exchange know-how and expertise regarding security of supply, liberalization of the energy sector, establishment and/or operation of markets;

Ensured continued and enhanced cooperation in the economic areas of common interest through effective and result-oriented projects;

Expressed their readiness to further encourage investments in the areas of mutual interest, as well as to maintain direct contacts in this direction through the business circles, chambers of commerce and industry, as well as the industry and business associations of the three States, including by exploring export-import opportunities and new modalities of promoting economic cooperation;

Appreciated the active cooperation of the states, including through supporting their respective candidacies at international organizations, where possible;

Stated their willingness to strengthen the bonds of friendship, brotherhood and kinship among the youth and athletes of the countries through trilateral events and projects;

Welcomed the election of the Republic of Azerbaijan to host the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 11-22 November 2024.

The Ministers expressed profound thanks to H.E. Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, for successful organization of the meeting.

Emphasized the importance of regularly holding trilateral meetings and decided to hold the Tenth Trilateral Meeting in Türkiye on mutually agreed dates in 2025”.

The declaration was signed by the Foreign Ministers of all three countries.