BAKU - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Azerbaijan supported Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform.
Erdogan had a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku. Erdogan and Aliyev held a joint press conference after their meeting.
There has been an important cooperation platform among Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia and it should be improved more, Erdogan said.
Erdogan said he brought up Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform in the meeting and he was pleased that Aliyev also welcomed the proposal of Turkey.
"We believe that steps will continue in order to make Caucasus region a stability, peace and prosperity center," he said.
"It should be a geography-based platform. It must target regional peace and security, and include economic cooperation and energy security," Erdogan told a joint news conference with Azerbaijan`s President Ilham Aliyev in Baku.
"It must be based on the principles of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and cover a joint mechanism of problem solving and management," Erdogan said.
Erdogan said Russia and Georgia welcomed his proposal, adding that Turkey was pleased as Azerbaijan joined these countries too.
Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia has carried out Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, Erdogan recalled and said these projects could be described as "historic" and biggest projects of the century.
"Peace and stability are of vital importance for our region. Recent developments could affect or even threat peace, stability and prosperity," he said. "Recent conflict also showed once again how volatile is the security climate in southern Caucasia. We believe that we should concentrate our energy on ending hostility between the peoples of the region."
In his part, Azerbaijani President Aliyev said his country had good relations with Russia and Georgia, and expressed his wish for friendly relations between these two countries.
Following the news conference, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan left Azerbaijani capital Baku for Turkey.
(TÇ-CE)
(GEN)