Sezer, Aliyev And Shevardnadze Hold Joint News Conference

TRABZON (A.A) - 30.04.2002 - President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said on Tuesday that summit meeting the Georgian and Azerbaijani presidents and he had held a successful and constructive summit meeting, adding that such a cooperation had gained more importance after terror attacks on September 11, 2001.
Following signing of cooperation agreement on ''Fight Against Terrorism, Organized Crimes and Other Serious Crimes'', the summit meeting ended with a joint news conference of President Sezer, Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze.
The agreement was signed by Interior Minister Rusts Kazim Yucelen, Azerbaijani Interior Minister Ramil Usubov and Georgian Interior Minister Koba Narchemashvili.
SEZER: OUR INITIATIVE IS NOT AGAINST OTHER COUNTRIES
Sezer said that the summit aimed to contribute to the stability and economic welfare of the Caucasus and thanked Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze for their contributions.
President Sezer noted that they exchanged views about regional and international issues during the summit and said, ''we have agreed to increase and diversify our cooperation during our deliberations which were held in a sincere and friendly atmosphere.''
Sezer stated that they decided to hold regular summit meetings to continue exchange of views among the three countries and said that the following summit would be held in Tbilisi upon the invitation of Shevardnadze.
They were determined to implement Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Shah Deniz natural gas projects, Sezer pointed out.
Sezer noted that they took up the acceleration of the projects.
The meetings among the three countries and the efforts to increase the cooperation among Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia were not against any other third country or group, Sezer reiterated.
When a foreign reporter said that this coalition was closely followed and covered especially by the Russian press and asked about his views, Sezer said that he did not think that it was right to define the summit meeting as a ''coalition.''
Sezer stressed that the searches for security and cooperation among the three countries aimed to contribute to welfare and stability of the region and said that this initiative ''was open to other countries and was not against any other countries.''
Upon a question about the security of the pipelines, Sezer said that the agreement signed by the interior ministers foresaw certain rules regarding security issues.
Sezer added, ''the agreement foresees the signing of a protocol on security of energy lines. It is seen that the three countries have made preparatory works on this issue. The protocol will be signed in the possible shortest time.''
ALIYEV: GROUNDWORK OF TRIPARTITE COOPERATION IS LAID FOR SETTLEMENT SECURITY OF EAST-WEST CORRIDOR
Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev said on Tuesday that the groundwork of tripartite cooperation was laid for settlement security of East-West corridor.
Aliyev stressed the importance of strengthening of regional cooperation and said that Trabzon summit was beneficial and successful in this sense.
Groundwork of tripartite cooperation was laid for fight against international terrorism and especially for the settlement of security of East-West corridor, Aliyev noted.
Aliyev pointed out that fight against terrorism was one of the most important tasks of humanity.
Such a cooperation in security had gained more importance in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Aliyev noted and stated that Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia did their best.
Aliyev pointed out that there were many natural gas reserves in Shah Deniz basin and hoped that the natural gas would start to be transported to Turkey in 2004.
The natural gas would be transported from Turkey to Europe, Aliyev added.
When a reporter reminded him that the Azerbaijani, Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers would meet during NATO meeting in May and asked about his views, Aliyev said that such a meeting would be held thanks to the initiatives of Turkey. He noted that they expected positive results from every kind of meetings.
Aliyev said that the meetings should aim to contribute to settlement of peace and stability.
They hoped that the Armenian armed forces would withdraw from Azerbaijani territories and around 1 million Azerbaijani people who had to live in the camps would return to their lands, Aliyev noted.
Aliyev stated that if such meetings were to contribute to his dreams and were to be beneficial, they did not oppose to those meetings.
Asked if there were problems in joint energy projects among the three countries, Aliyev said that they had earlier faced very important and big problems but that those problems were overcome.
Aliyev noted that whether or not to start those projects were a matter of discussion 5-6 years ago while they had recorded significant progress in the projects today.
There would always be problems, Aliyev said. He stated that there would also be problems when the projects were completed and put to implementation. But, he said, the most difficult stages of their works were over.
When asked how the security of oil pipeline would be ensured, Aliyev said that every country was obliged to ensure the security in its territory under the agreement.
Aliyev pointed out that he did not think that they would face threats which would require the formation of a coalition among the three countries.
Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev added that if any threats occured, the sides would consult to each other and try to solve the problem.
SHEVARDNADZE: THIS COOPERATION SHOWS THAT COLD WAR HAS ENDED AND A NEW ERA HAS BEGUN
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said on Tuesday that the cooperation among Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan had shown that cold war had ended and a new era had begun.
Shevardnadze said that Azerbaijani President Aliyev and Turkish government had exerted great utmost for the implementation of the projects on transportation of Caspian energy resources.
What they had dreamt of a few years ago had become true today, Shevardnadze noted.
Shevardnadze stated that the agreement signed by interior ministers aimed to ensure security of energy resources and underlined that this was not against any third country.
Georgia would fulfil all its commitments for cooperation without any hesitations, Shevardnadze pointed out.
Shevardnadze said that joint fight should be carried out against sources feeding terrorism.
The following summit would be held in Tbilisi, Shevardnadze noted, and stated that the number of signatories of the agreement could increase in Tbilisi summit.
When it was noted that there were some rumors that the terrorist organization PKK was carrying out activities through some associations in Georgian borders, Shevardnadze said that he could not prove that there were such relationships in Georgia.
Shevardnadze noted that there were many refugees in Georgia and that his country had to accept those refugees due to humanitarian reasons.
Upon a question on his words that the number of signatories of the agreement could increase in the summit in Tbilisi, Shevardnadze said that he thought that the number of signatory countries could increase but that it was not right to make a statement before he discussed this issue with other countries.
When a reporter reminded him that the entrance of some U.S. soldiers in Georgia led to some criticisms in Russia, Shevardnadze noted that they had taken a decision in line with the interests of their countries and that he could not make a comment on excitement of the Russian press.
Asked if ''this was an alliance'', Shevardnadze said that they had announced what those meetings and the agreement was.
Shevardnadze noted that he was in favor of publication of the agreement. He said that they had stressed which issues the agreement was covering for several times.
This initiative was not an alliance against anybody, Shevardnadze said.
When asked if the Caspian's status was taken up during talks and if Georgia supported Azerbaijan regarding this issue, Shevardnadze said that they expressed this issue during yesterday's meetings.
Shevardnadze noted that they were far away from Caspian but that they supported Azerbaijan.
Following the press conference, the three presidents visited Ataturk's Palace and took a photograph.
Azerbaijani and Georgian presidents will return to their countries after attending the luncheon hosted by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.