No conflict of interest in relations among Türkiye, Pakistan and Azerbaijan, says ambassador

The Türkiye–Azerbaijan Programme was inaugurated under the auspices of the Institute of Regional Studies. Addressing the inaugural seminar, Turkish Ambassador Dr. İrfan Neziroğlu said that there is no conflict of interest in relations between Türkiye, Pakistan and Azerbaijan. He stated that trilateral cooperation among Türkiye, Pakistan and Azerbaijan is increasing, which supports stability, economic cooperation and regional connectivity.

Under the Institute of Regional Studies, the Türkiye–Azerbaijan Programme was formally launched on Wednesday. On this occasion, a seminar was also organized on Pakistan’s relations with Türkiye and Azerbaijan, which was attended by a large number of diplomatic officials and researchers.

In his address, Turkish Ambassador Dr. İrfan Neziroğlu said that relations among Türkiye, Pakistan and Azerbaijan are exceptional and based on mutual trust, shared history and solidarity. He noted that their trilateral cooperation is growing and supports stability, economic cooperation and regional connectivity. Dr. Neziroğlu reiterated that there is no conflict of interest among Türkiye, Pakistan and Azerbaijan.

The Turkish ambassador explained that the world is currently facing global challenges, instability, conflicts, security threats, global rivalries and uncertainty. In such a situation, regional initiatives have become important for small and medium-sized powers.

On this occasion, Azerbaijani Ambassador Khazar Farhadov said that Pakistan and Türkiye were the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan and have continued to provide full support since then. He added that, looking ahead, they want to further strengthen these trilateral relations. He said that there is significant potential to increase bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, and emphasized the need to enhance the existing level of trade between the two countries. He added that the launch of the Türkiye–Azerbaijan Programme is an important need of the time.

Earlier, in his welcome address, President of the Institute of Regional Studies, Jauhar Saleem, highlighted the exemplary relations among Pakistan, Türkiye and Azerbaijan. He said that the Türkiye–Azerbaijan Programme will promote cooperation among scholars and researchers from the three countries and will support research and academic work aimed at further strengthening trilateral relations.

On the occasion, ambassadors participated in a panel discussion and also responded to questions from the participants.

(Anwer Abbas is a Foreign Office & diplomatic activities correspondent for 24 News, Islamabad.)