Azerbaijan, Turkey ink accord on labor, social protection co-op

By Azernews

Azerbaijan and Turkey have signed a supplementary accord on amending the Procedural Agreement dated May 6, 2004, on the implementation of the agreement on cooperation in the field of social protection between the governments of the two countries, Azernews reports.

The document was signed by Ministers Sahil Babayev and Vedat Bilgin, on behalf of the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey, at the end of the 10th meeting of the joint standing commission on cooperation between Azerbaijani and Turkish Labor and Social Security Ministries.

Moreover, the minutes of the 10th meeting of the joint standing committee was also signed.

The document reflects the areas of cooperation between the two departments in the areas of labor, employment, social protection, and rehabilitation, as well as an active exchange of experience.

After the documents were signed, the ministers held a briefing. They noted that friendly and fraternal relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey are successfully developing in all spheres, and ties are expanding in the areas of labor, employment, and social protection.

Azerbaijan and Turkey collaborate in a variety of economic fields and have completed major energy and infrastructure projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, and TANAP.

Turkey imports Azerbaijani natural gas through the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) and TANAP. Azerbaijan supplies gas to Turkey only from the Shah Deniz field. The supplies have been available since July 2007.

In 2021, Azerbaijan and Turkey signed the Shusha Declaration on Allied Relations, which focuses on defense cooperation, promoting regional stability and prosperity, and establishing new transportation routes.

The two countries' joint goal among others is to bring the mutual trade turnover to $15 billion in 2023. As of 2021, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $4.6 billion. So far, Turkey is Azerbaijan’s second-largest investor followed by the UK.

Additionally, Turkey was one of the first countries that expressed its interest and readiness to participate in the restoration of Azerbaijan’s liberated territories.