South Caucasus meeting based on sense of regional ownership: Fidan

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Oct. 18 that the third meeting of the South Caucasus Regional Cooperation Platform is grounded in regional ownership, as the countries of the region are best suited to solving the problems they face.

“Our perspective on the South Caucasus is also based on a sense of regional ownership. We believe that the states of the region know the regional problems best and are capable of solving them,” said Fidan in his opening speech at the meeting, which includes his counterparts from Russia, Iran and the South Caucasus nations of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The South Caucasus platform serves as a consultative ground aimed at establishing lasting peace in the South Caucasus and evaluating cooperation opportunities, he added.

Fidan said the idea of establishing the platform emerged in the weeks after Nov. 9, 2020, when a trilateral statement was signed establishing a ceasefire in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, in which Azerbaijan liberated much of the long-occupied region of Karabakh.

The platform’s primary goal is to respond to the need for a forum where all issues closely related to the South Caucasus can be addressed, he said.

Fidan said that as a reflection of Türkiye's vision, they plan to adopt a joint statement on the main outcomes of the meeting at its conclusion.

The meeting aims to evaluate actions that can be taken to establish stability and enhance prosperity in the region, including concrete cooperation projects to strengthen regional connectivity.

There was an exchange of views on prominent regional and international developments.

Fidan highlighted Türkiye’s efforts to establish peace and stability in the South Caucasus, emphasizing that regional ownership is the most effective method for resolving issues.

The Turkish diplomat stressed that Ankara supports the ongoing peace agreement negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and that a normalization process has also been initiated between Türkiye and Armenia.