ALLIES COORDINATE POSITIONS

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan presided over a session of the Council of Strategic Cooperation between the two countries in the town of Qabala. The sides discussed development of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on the situation in the region. A number of documents were signed as a result of the session.

The Council of Strategic Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey was formed in 2011 and its first session was in Izmir. The session in Qabala was the second one.

The main objective of the Qabala meeting was to set up working commissions for cooperation in the military, political, economic and other spheres, as was planned back in Izmir. They paid special attention to the project of the trans-Anatolia gas pipeline project (TANAP), which will be used to export Azerbaijani gas to Europe.

The working groups will also look into measures to increase the volume of trade between the two countries, as well as into the conditions for the realization of the agreement on building the 7-bn TANAP gas pipeline to deliver Caspian gas to the European borders of Turkey.

According to reports in the Turkish mass media, TANAP was among the most important issues on the agenda of Erdogan's visit. It is noteworthy that a meeting of high-ranking officials of Turkey, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan was carried out quite recently in Ashgabat, under the aegis of the European Union, where they discussed Turkmenistan's participation in TANAP and the project of supplying Europe with natural gas. To this end the construction of the trans-Caspian pipeline is envisaged and this does not please Russia or Iran much.

Through the state oil company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Baku became the biggest investor in Turkey. Experts believe that in 2023, that is on the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, SOCAR's investment in the energy sector of Turkey will alone be worth 17-18 billion dollars. Thus, SOCAR will take the third place in terms of capital investment in the Turkish economy, before Turkey and Azerbaijan were close only through the unity of ethnic, cultural and moral values, now these factors will be augmented by the mutually beneficial economic cooperation.

During the meeting they also discussed settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh issue. Expressing support for Azerbaijan Erdogan said at the concluding news conference that for the start Armenians have to withdraw troops from the occupied districts around Nagornyy Karabakh. Although international bodies stress that this land belongs to Azerbaijan, they have yet to be "handed over to the owners", Erdogan said. "Our position here is clear: our steps with Armenia will remain the same they were before. And in this process we will always stand by Azerbaijan", Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

The clear-cut position of the Turkish prime minister is especially important for Azerbaijan considering the fact that lately Turkey has come under pressure of Western countries that demand Ankara open the Turkish-Armenian border.

For relations between the two countries the topical issue has to do with the issue of visas, or rather with the insistent attempts by some Turkish mass media to turn this matter into a problem. By cancelling the visa for the citizens of Turkic-speaking countries Turkey expects a response in kind on the part of Azerbaijan. However, despite the mutual wish and because of objective reasons that the sides are aware of the visa-free entry of Turkish citizens to Azerbaijan so far remains unfeasible. That said, Azerbaijan has introduced simplified visa regulations for Turkish citizens that are in essence pure formalities. During the Qabala meeting the sides agreed on stage-by-stage solution of this problem. The Azerbaijani president promised to do away with visa requirements for a certain category of Turkish citizens and said that a decision was made "on gradually reaching this target".

Earlier some Turkish news agencies reported about the interference of Iran in the visa issue between Azerbaijan and Turkey. They reported that Iran put the condition that if Azerbaijan cancels visa requirements for Turkey, then it has to do the same with regard to Iranian citizens. Otherwise, Iran threatens to close the land communications with the Naxcivan Autonomous Republic, an Azerbaijani exclave. Considering the vital nature of the land link with Naxcivan Turkey treats Azerbaijan's position on the matter with understanding and perceives it as a national security issue for the brotherly country. 

Experts believe that it is the security in the region that was one of the main topics for discussion between the Azerbaijani and Turkish leadership. In addition, during the meeting they discussed the situation with the Iranian nuclear programme; disagreements between Turkey and Iran concerning Syria that are capable of spoiling the already fragile relationship between the countries; and other matters.