By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and Turkey are approaching the goal of bringing the mutual trade turnover to $15 billion in 2023, Turkey’s Present Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a presser in Shusha city in Nagorno-Karabakh on June 15.

Erdogan made the remarks following the signing of the Shusha Declaration on allied relations between the two countries.

Noting that important steps are being taken in bilateral trade, Erdogan recalled that the Preferential Trade Agreement entered into force on March 1 this year.

He reminded that a high-level meeting of the Strategic Cooperation Council will be held in the coming months in Turkey.

“As you know, since April 1, 2021, travels between the two countries have been carried out on the basis of domestic passports only. This step will facilitate our mutual ties,” the president added.

Erdogan also praised mutual investments made by the two countries, stressing that Turkish companies headed by “Türkiye Petrollari” have made a large investments in Azerbaijan.

“At the same time, we are pleased with the investments of Azerbaijani companies led by SOCAR in Turkey. My brother [President Ilham Aliyev] and I have discussed the issue of investing not only in Turkey, but also, if necessary, SOCAR and “Türkiye Petrollari” investing in third countries,” he said.

Touching upon the issue of further expanding the scope of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, the president underlined that two countries together have completed giant projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars and TANAP.

“Along with our own countries, these projects contribute to the well-being and stability of the entire region. Since the completion of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, the TAP project, our country has been supplying Azerbaijan's natural gas passing through its territory to the European market,” the president stated.

Erdogan stated that by signing the Shusha Declaration, both countries have taken a new historic step that will contribute to the further development of ties built on the basis of the “one nation in two states” concept.

“By signing the Shusha Declaration we have outlined a roadmap for our ties at a new stage. The Declaration, consisting of eleven A4 pages, is turning into reality in Shusha today. This is extremely important. The Declaration between Turkey and Azerbaijan covers a number of issues. As we take forward-looking steps, we see that this document expresses a determination that encompasses not only two countries, but also the entire region,” he underlined.

He also announced Turkey's plans to open a consulate general in ancient Shusha in the near future.

“Shusha Declaration on allied relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Turkey” was signed in liberated Shusha following the one-on-one meeting of Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan

It should be noted that so far, Turkey is Azerbaijan’s second largest investor followed by the UK.

Azerbaijan and Turkey cooperate in various fields of economy. Eleven agreements were signed between the two countries within the Azerbaijani-Turkish business forum held in Ankara on February 18. The agreements envisage the development of Azerbaijani-Turkish cooperation in the economic, trade, and other spheres. Moreover, Turkey was one of the first countries that expressed its interest and readiness to participate in the restoration of Azerbaijan’s liberated territories. Additionally, earlier this month Azerbaijan and Turkey have signed a memorandum of understanding in the areas of strengthening international legal cooperation.

In the first five months of the year, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey amounted to $1.8billion. Of the total turnover, export amounted to $1.2 billion, while import was $660.4 million. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $4.1 billion in 2020.