Speech by Ilham Aliyev at the First Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States

- Dear Nursultan Abishevich!

Dear heads of delegations, dear friends!

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to you, Nursultan Abishevich, for the excellent organization of this summit and the hospitality we have enjoyed. I want to indicate with a sense of satisfaction that I have been in your beautiful country for three days. My regular official visit to Kazakhstan was completed yesterday. I want to reiterate that we attach great importance to the efforts to develop bilateral ties with Kazakhstan. Our bilateral relations are multifaceted. At the same time they have a very positive impact on the ties among Turkic states.

Our peoples are linked by common history and roots. But, as Nursultan Abishevich indicated, our independence is only 20 years old. These 20 years have been crucial for our countries. It was in this period that the foundation of statehood has been laid in our countries. Over these years we have conducted fundamental and drastic economic and political reforms. After 20 years we see that our countries have taken their rightful places on the world map. I think it is natural that the First Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States is held in Kazakhstan because Kazakhstan has made a tremendous contribution to the development of integration in the Eurasian space. The organization of this summit further underlines the role of Kazakhstan.

I am very happy that our meetings have become a wonderful tradition. As you know, the summits of Turkic speaking countries were not conducted for some time. But over the last three years these meetings have been held on a regular basis. In 2009, a meeting was held in Nakhchivan, in 2010 it was held in Istanbul and today we are meeting in Almaty. I am confident that this tradition will be continued in the coming years. Every meeting has a great meaning. The decisions made at these meetings further reinforce our unity. We want the relations among all Turkic speaking countries to improve further in both bilateral and multilateral formats.

As for Azerbaijan, we have wonderful business relations and warm ties with all Turkic states. We value these relations. We successfully cooperate in a multilateral format, within various organizations, in international organizations. Mutual support in international organizations, of course, makes us even stronger. We are working well at the UN, the OSCE, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, ECO and other organizations.

The main problem facing Azerbaijan is the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. It has remained unresolved for years. This is the biggest source of threat and injustice not only for us but for the entire region. For many years the internationally recognized territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has been violated. Armenia has carried out a policy of ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijan. As a result of this policy, one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs in their native land, 20 per cent of our land is occupied. All major international organizations have expressed their position on the issue. First of all, the most authoritative international organization, the UN and its Security Council, has adopted relevant resolutions. There are four UN Security Council resolutions stressing the need for an unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijani lands.

Decisions of the OSCE, numerous resolutions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, decisions of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and other organizations have created a strong legal basis for a settlement. But unfortunately, the unconstructive position of Armenia and its attempts to artificially prolong the negotiations have prevented us from resolving the issue. During this conflict Azerbaijan has also been subjected to terrorism. Numerous acts of terror have been committed in our country, claiming the lives of more than 2,000 civilians.

I would like take this opportunity to reiterate our deepest condolences to brotherly Turkey, the Turkish people over the recent act of terror, and wish the bereaved families patience. As always, we stand by Turkey, have always provided and will continue to provide Turkey with support in its fair cause in the fight against terrorism.

The development of economic ties between our countries is also of very great significance. I think we are not using this potential properly. Although bilateral trade is growing, it does not reflect our potential. I believe that in the coming years we have to pay more attention to mutual investment projects. The countries investing abroad should certainly give priority to Turkic-speaking states because this will further strengthen our unity and, at the same time, provide economic benefits.

At present, Azerbaijani companies are actively investing in foreign countries. This investment accounts for billions of dollars. We want this policy to continue. Mutual investment will contribute to the development of countries, lead to the creation of new jobs and strengthen our economic ties. In the near future, Azerbaijani company SOCAR will launch a major investment project in Turkey. The volume of investment to be made over several years will be $5-6 billion. Of course, this is primarily an economic and commercial project. But investment is made in friendly countries, countries where there is stability and an excellent investment climate. I think our countries are at the forefront in this issue. All international financial institutions speak highly of our economic reforms. There are very good business opportunities, our countries are ranked among leaders in all ratings. Along with economic projects, the development of cultural ties is also very important. We can say that these relations form the basis of our organization, because we share a common culture and ethnic roots. Of course, this issue is given special attention.

I am grateful to all Turkic speaking countries for supporting our initiative. There are specific proposals on the establishment of the TURKSOY Fund. I am sure that the launch of this fund will leave its mark in all Turkic countries because the Fund will facilitate restoration of historical monuments, publication of books and organization of cultural events. Everyone will see that the fund has real results. In general, I believe that at the next stage, especially now when the Cooperation Council has been set up, we need to focus more on real projects. A number of serious statements have been and documents signed. This summit will also result in the adoption of an important document. So if we pay more attention to specific projects in the coming years, it will play a positive role in the development of our organization, strengthen the ties between our countries. We are ready for that and will make proposals on specific projects.

Azerbaijan has also contributed to energy security in recent years. At present our energy resources are delivered to world markets by various routes. In this regard I want to emphasize the importance of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the construction of which was initiated and successfully completed by Azerbaijan. The pipeline was built not only to transport oil from the Caspian to world markets, to the Mediterranean Sea. Essentially, this is a new corridor, primarily an energy corridor in which a gas pipeline was subsequently built. Now a railway corridor is under construction. Overall, this was the first serious initiative linking the East and West, Asia and Europe. This pipeline transports not only Azerbaijani oil but also the oil extracted in the eastern part of the Caspian Sea.

We have offered our transit opportunities to our fraternal countries. I am very glad that our transit opportunities are currently used by Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. I am sure these transit opportunities will become even broader in the coming years. For this purpose, Azerbaijan is currently making major investments, logistical centers are being set up, the biggest international trade seaport in the Caspian is under construction and is scheduled for commissioning in two to three years. We currently attach great importance to the creation of a transport infrastructure. We are buying new ferries, tankers, building a modern shipyard in Baku. It is clear that investment in infrastructure will benefit not only us but to also all the littoral countries. Since Caspian is an inland body of water, the vessels and tankers manufactured there will operate only in the Caspian. We do all this work to be prepared to accept large volumes of cargo from the east of the Caspian in our direction and back.

As Nursultan Abishevich has noted, the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is scheduled for completion at the end of next year, and the railway should be put into operation in 2013. In fact, this is a very large economic and political project. When we started it, we first wanted to link Azerbaijan and Turkey by railroad, because there was no such link at the time. However, the implementation of the project has revealed a great interest in it in Europe and Asia.

In essence, this means the creation of a new Iron Silk Way. This road will connect Azerbaijan with Turkey and Europe through Georgia, and Europe with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries and China. I am sure it will be the most profitable route both from the standpoint of time and economic indicators. I am sure that after this road is put into operation, tens of millions of tons of cargo will pass through our territory, and our countries, not only Azerbaijan but all our countries, will contribute to the operation of this transport corridor as transit states. These are concrete, real projects. These projects are both economically and commercially viable. At the same time, they further reinforce our unity.

Turkic world is great. We need to make sure that the Turkic world is even more united. There are all the opportunities for that. First of all, there is a strong political will. Regular summits, the first meeting of the Cooperation Council today and the decisions made demonstrate that there is a strong political will. On the other hand, economic interests coincide with ours.

We, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and other Turkic states, have major natural resources. We use different routes to deliver these resources to world markets. We have a friend such as Turkey. As mentioned, Turkey was the first to recognize our independence. Turkey has a large territory, a large economy, great transport opportunities. We are combining these efforts, and there are already good results of this cooperation. I am sure we will build large and beautiful buildings on the existing solid foundation in the coming years. These will be palaces of our friendship and brotherhood. Our fraternity has a great history and a great future.

I want to thank you again, Nursultan Abishevich, for taking this initiative and for the excellent organization of this summit. I wish the summit every success. Thank you!