Azerbaijan’s “close cooperation” with Tbilisi on both political level and collaborative projects was lauded by the country’s President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday. The positive impact of the “mutually beneficial” partnership on Europe was also highlighted and optimism for a further integration of the South Caucasus region was also expressed.
As the official said in his press comments at Azerbaijan’s ADA University, it is “possible” to create a Benelux-style model for regional integration. A “positive signal” for such an opportunity was made by the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum in October, where the PMs of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia were brought together. Signing of a peace deal concluding the long-running dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region between Baku and Yerevan could realize it.
Aliyev hailed the efforts of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to meditate for peace between the neighbouring states for a “lasting peace” in the region and stressed his latest communication with the head of the Georgian Government concerning the possibility of the integration initiative.
The integration and mutual benefit derived from joint projects were noted by him in comments on the “successful cooperation” between Tbilisi and Baku over the past 30 years. As the Azerbaijani President said, his government was open for Armenia to join the initiatives once they sign a peace treaty. The possibility of collaborative efforts and providing a sense of security for all parties involved were mentioned.
“Full protection” of Georgia’s energy security regardless of what happened between the “big players” was also noted by Aliyev. He cited Tbilisi as a “reliable source of supply” and said that “interconnection and interdependence” between the two states had been upgraded to the level of “friendship”.
Aliyev recognized the close integration of Georgia and Azerbaijan due to common projects for mutual benefit and the cooperation between the two countries. According to him, they have become more important for Europe together than they would be separately.
A “big contribution” for their own and Europe’s energy security already made by the two states was stressed by the president. Projects of oil pipelines, natural gas pipelines, transportation, railways, power cables and security formats (with the initiatives also involving Turkey) had been pointed to.
According to the Government head, absence of an official conclusion of the conflict made Armenia’s potential contribution to the cooperation between the other regional states “unclear” at this stage.
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