Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey
June 8 2012
TRABZON DECLARATION OF THE MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE
REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY, 08 JUNE
2012, TRABZON
At the invitation of His Excellency Mr. Ahmet Davuto���¸lu, Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, and with the participation
of His Excellency Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Azerbaijan and His Excellency Mr. Grigol Vashadze,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (hereinafter referred to as the
“Parties”), the First Session of the Trilateral Meeting of Ministers
of Foreign Affairs was held on 8 June 2012 in Trabzon, Turkey.
The Parties,
Celebrating their 20th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations;
Affirming their adherence to the Charter of the United Nations, the
Helsinki Final Act and the fundamental principles and norms of
international law, especially respect for sovereignty and territorial
integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes, inviolability of
internationally recognized borders and sovereign equality of states
and refraining from the threat or use of force against territorial
integrity and political independence of states;
Underlining the importance of stability and prosperity of the South
Caucasus region, located at the crossroads of energy, transport and
communication corridors between East and West and North and South, for
the regional and global stability and security;
Declaring their determination to build a better future for the region
characterized by peace, stability, cooperation and increasing wealth
and welfare;
Acknowledging that protracted conflicts emanating from existing
occupations are the main obstacle to peace and stability in the South
Caucasus and pointing out that resolution of these conflicts will help
to build an atmosphere of peace, stability and prosperity;
Believing that exemplary friendship and good neighborly relations
among the three countries, based on common cultural and historical
heritage and traditional spirit of solidarity, are in the interest of
their peoples as well as the peoples of the whole region;
Expressing their satisfaction with the current level of bilateral
relations and political dialogue among the three countries;
Reiterating their firm determination to explore the possibilities to
further expand their cooperation in political, economic, cultural and
humanitarian fields;
Expressing their commitment to the shared values of democracy, human
rights, rule of law, free market economy and reiterating the
importance of sharing the experience of successful reforms in the
sphere of good governance;
Noting the successful realization of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC)
Crude Oil Pipeline Project, the Baku-Tbilisi- Erzurum (BTE) Natural
Gas Pipeline Project and the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars
(BTK) Railway Project as results of efficient, multi-dimensional and
goal oriented high level political dialogue and economic cooperation
among the three countries;
Have agreed to:
Enhance the existing cooperative partnerships among the Parties to
promote common development and contribute to peace, security,
stability and prosperity of the region and the world at large;
Underscore the importance of exchanging views on regional and
international issues of common interest and to further enhance
consultations through the existing mechanisms and under the framework
of the UN, OSCE, CoE, BSEC, NATO, EU and other relevant organizations;
Exchange views on developments in the adjacent regions including the
Middle East;
Continue to support each other’s candidacies in international organizations;
Express their support to the Republic of Azerbaijan as a non-permanent
member of the UN Security Council to continue to contribute to common
interests of the region;
Support each other’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations and uphold
the inviolable right of States to choose their own destiny;
Stress the importance of continued cooperation within the
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, “Partnership for Peace” program,
and other areas of cooperation with NATO;
Pay utmost attention the 20th Anniversary of the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation Organization (BSEC) and will ensure high level
participation to this special event which will take place in Istanbul
on 26 June 2012;
Reiterate their commitments to strengthen their cooperation and
coordination within the Organization of the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation (BSEC) during the Turkey’s Chairmanship-in-Office which
will start from 1 July 2012;
Note the importance of the earliest resolution of the conflict in and
around Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the
conflict over Abkhazia, Georgia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia,
Georgia on the basis of respect for the sovereignty, territorial
integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of
Azerbaijan and Georgia respectively and emphasize the right to safe
and dignified return of the refugees and internally displaced persons
to their places of origin;
Reiterate their commitment to strengthen their cooperation and
coordination in the fight against terrorism, extremism and separatism
in all their forms and manifestations, transnational organized crime
and illicit trafficking in narcotics and arms and trafficking in
persons;
Promote further development of their relations in every field,
especially in the field of trade, energy, transport, finance and
banking, environment by means of joint projects and cooperation plans
and if needed through trilateral cooperation mechanisms;
Note the importance of the trilateral Turkish-Azerbaijani-Georgian
Business Forum (TAG-BF) in February 2012, in Tbilisi, Georgia and look
forward to the second TAG-BF to be held on 9 June 2012, in Kars,
Turkey;
Continue to work together in boosting trilateral economic relations in
accordance with the recommendations made by the upcoming TAG-BFs;
Reaffirm their commitment to build a favorable environment for
encouraging the inflow of foreign direct investments;
Underscore the importance of tourism industry as a source of economic
benefit and employment, as well as a source for greater understanding
and networking among the peoples;
Recognize the importance of the agricultural sector for poverty
eradication and food safety issues and cooperate in the sphere of
agriculture in terms of exchange of experience and information on new
technologies and implementation of mutually beneficial projects;
Underline the need to improve the competitiveness of the Southern
Transport Corridor and in this regard note the need to diversify
collaboration among their relevant authorities;
Express their support for the TRACECA (Transport Corridor
Europe-Caucasus-Asia) and work towards restoration of the Great Silk
Road and the full-scale functioning of the Euro-Asian Transport
Corridor as well as other integrated trilateral transport projects
consisting of highways and railways in order to create trilateral
economic integration and contribute to socio-economic development;
Attach great importance to the timely completion of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Project, which together with the
Aktau-Urumchi railway connection form “the Iron Silk Road of the 21st
century”, and declare their commitment to fulfilling their obligations
and concluding their undertakings as scheduled within the framework of
the Project;
Acknowledge the construction of the new Baku International Sea Trade
Port which will become an important gate on the East-West Transport
corridor after the completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway
Project;
Highlight the key role of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in the reverse
transit of personnel and cargoes from Afghanistan and note that the
central route via our region is the shortest and easiest one given the
geography;
Emphasize the already existing successful cooperation between
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and underscore the importance of
further deepening it with the aim to realize new pipeline projects
which would transport energy resources of Azerbaijan and Central Asian
countries to international markets;
Recognize the importance of Southern Corridor initiative for the region;
Highlight the growing importance of the environmental issues as well
as their increasing impact on the sustainable development of the
region and the need to enhance the protection of environment, through
cooperative measures and urge for the continuation of endeavours on
international level in this regard for the prevention and elimination
of the potential risks to human health and environment;
Develop and strengthen co-operation in natural disasters which shall
be conducted considering the interests of the Parties on the basis of
equality and mutual benefit, as well as by strengthening their
cooperation existing within the framework of bilateral and/or
multilateral international instruments;
Continue to cooperate in the field of preservation of historical and
cultural heritage.
The Parties have also decided to set up a joint experts group to draft
an action plan for 2013-2015 to implement the agreed points to be
presented for approval to the three Ministers.
The Second Session of the Trilateral Meeting of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs will be held in the second half of 2012 in Georgia and the
Third Session will be held in the first half of 2013 in Azerbaijan.