Today, Ankara hosted the trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
According to the programme of negotiations, bilateral and trilateral meetings have been held with the participation of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov.
Within the framework of negotiations, the perspectives of bilateral and trilateral cooperation have been discussed.
Speaking to Eurasia Diary, Rusif Huseynov, co-founder of Topchubashov Centre, Baku-based think tank, commented on the prospects of the next trilateral format by Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
Azerbaijani analyst pointed out that Azerbaijan has been effective in building regional triangles.
“Our country has been part of several regional triangles. This factor, plus the already deep cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey, enables us to believe a new tripartite format - Oghuz platform, which could be potentially built. In fact, it could and should have been formed earlier, but it had not been yet materialized so far due to divergent foreign policy goals, especially the non-alignment policy of Turkmenistan,” Huseynov noted.
According to his views, the strengthening of closer cooperation among three Turkic states indicates new geopolitical realities in the region.
“The strengthening of closer cooperation among three Oghuz Turkic states coincides with new geopolitical realities in the region, as well as it is against the backdrop of unblocking of transport and communication lines in the Caucasus, a natural bridge between Turkey and Turkmenistan,” he said.
At the end, Huseynov stressed the importance of the settlement of the long-lasting dispute between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan over the oil field in the Caspian Sea.
“The settlement of the long-lasting dispute of an oil deposit in the Caspian Sea can be considered another game-changer in the Caucasus-Caspian-Central Asia. As some argued, this settlement could actually herald large-scale configurations/projects in this vast region,” he added.