President Erdoğan: We will increase our trade volume with Azerbaijan to $15 billion by 2023
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan held a joint press conference in Baku following the Turkey-Azerbaijan High Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting.
“WE WILL DEEPEN OUR COOPERATION WITH AZERBAIJAN IN EVERY AREA”
Referring to the 8th meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High Level Strategic Cooperation Council, which he co-chaired with President Alivey prior to the press conference, President Erdoğan stated that possible steps to further strengthen the bilateral relations in every area were discussed during the meeting.
Drawing attention to the 14 documents signed at the end of the meeting, President Erdoğan singled out the preferential trade agreement among these documents as of critical importance, and continued: “In 2019, we had a trade volume of nearly $4.5 billion. Our goal is to increase this amount to $15 billion by 2023. We should achieve this. In this respect, the preferential trade agreement we have signed today is of great significance. We will deepen our cooperation in every area from customs to agriculture, energy to transportation, and technology to tourism.”
“TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN STAND OUT AS BEACONS OF STABILITY”
Stating that Turkey and Azerbaijan stand out as beacons of stability even though the regions adjacent to them are in the grip of terror and security problems, President Erdoğan described the two countries’ solidarity and cooperation in the fields of military and defense industry as the strongest guarantee of their independence, and added: “In this regard, it is crucial for us to enhance our cooperation in defense industry. With Operation Peace Spring, the entire world once again saw that Turkey and Azerbaijan, along with their governments and peoples, are ‘one nation, two states’.”
“THE KARABAKH ISSUE IS OF AS MUCH CONCERN TO TURKEY AS IT IS TO AZERBAIJAN”
Underscoring that the Karabakh issue is of as much concern to Turkey as it is to Azerbaijan, President Erdoğan said: “It is our biggest desire that the Nagorno-Karabakh problem be solved on the basis of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We will continue our support for Azerbaijan’s rightful fight.”
Recalling that the Khojaly Massacre will be commemorated tomorrow on its 28th anniversary, President Erdoğan stressed that in Khojaly was committed one of the gravest atrocities of the 20th century, and added: “I once again condemn the Khojaly Massacre on its 28th anniversary on behalf of myself and my nation.”
