Azerbaijani, Turkish, Georgian FMs come together in Ganja

Ganja, February 19 (AzerTAc). Ganja has hosted a meeting of the Azerbaijani, Turkish and Georgian ministers of foreign affairs. FMs Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan, Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey and Maya Panjikidze of Georgia held bilateral and trilateral meetings, which culminated with the adoption of Ganja Declaration. Following the meetings the ministers gave a joint press conference. FM Mammadyarov said the Ganja meeting was the third gathering of the three countries` foreign ministers after they had met Trabzon and Batumi. He said they had fruitful discussions on ways of developing relations between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia. Mr. Mammadyarov said a meeting of the presidents of the three countries was expected to be organized. The Azerbaijani FM said the ministers discussed energy issues. He noted the launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway would be of profound importance both from political and economic points of view and also contribute to regional development. Mr. Mammadyarov pointed to possibility that NATO would pull its troops out of Afghanistan through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in 2015. The Azerbaijani FM also noted the importance of the Declaration. He said it stressed the necessity of solving conflicts in compliance with territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders of the countries. “The Declaration also says that preparations will begin for the trilateral meeting of the Azerbaijani, Turkish and Georgian presidents.” Georgian FM Panjikidze said trilateral meetings of foreign ministers were of great importance in terms of strengthening strategic partnership between the countries. She said they praised Azerbaijan`s role in ensuring European energy security, and stressed the importance of the Shahdeniz-2 and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway projects. Turkish FM Davutoglu praised relations between the three countries. He underlined the importance of the fact that Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia were supporting each other in international organizations. Mr. Davutoglu said the next meeting would be organized in the Turkish city of Kars. The press-conference continued with a question-and-answer session with the FMs. In response to a question on Turkey-Armenia relations, Mr. Davutoglu said official Ankara would not open its borders with Armenia until the dispute was solved. Following the press conference the three ministers attended a ceremony to inaugurate Georgia`s Consulate General in Ganja.