BAKU (A.A) - Justice and Development Party (AK Party) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Haydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan have reached a full consensus of opinion that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline should be finalized before 2005.
Sources told the A.A correspondent on Wednesday that the issue of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was brought onto agenda of yesterday's meeting between Erdogan who is currently in Azerbaijani capital Baku under his tour to Turkish Republics in Central Asia, and President Aliyev.
During the meeting, Erdogan stressed that trade volume between Turkey and Azerbaijan should be further improved.
Meanwhile, President Aliyev expressed his satisfaction over Turkey's attitude about Armenia.
"Even you are not the prime minister, you have a mission beyond the ministers. You are guiding them. You will become prime minister soon. I would like to host you in Baku again when you are appointed as the prime minister. Meanwhile, I will pay a visit to Turkey in coming days," President Aliyev said.
When Erdogan stressed that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline should be finalized before 2005, President Aliyev ordered the Energy Minister of Azerbaijan to accelerate the process.
Meanwhile, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler met with consortium officials about the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
Guler said that the consortium expressed its concerns about a possible military operation against Iraq.