Good news from the long-struggling South Caucasus. Brenda Shaffer @ProfBShaffer @ElinSuleymanov
Image: Arrival of Shah Museferdin in Baku. 1902
Elin Suleymanov, @ElinSuleymanov, @azembassyus, ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Washington; Brenda Shaffer: @ProfBShaffer @FDD; Georgetown; in re: Trilateral meeting, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey. I hope one day it will expand to include Armenia. Turkey: completed [negotiations?] on the Southern Gas Corridor. Also coming : railways automobile roads, toward a general cooperation. Azerbaijan is offering Armenia a warm peace—a real opportunity to benefit from some of the regional prosperity. Turkey is an investor upstream in the pipeline; also, think of the millions in southern US with no heat—this underlines the importance of infrastructure. Real, physical infrastructure; basic to our safety such as electricity. Azerbaijan intends to build smart cities in the liberated zone. Because the area is devastated, we can make a leap, utilized new technologies. This is a major opportunity for international firms, including American, to enter commerce and build, in effect, a new country. This is the vision of President Aliyev. We march to the sound of good news.
The 9th trilateral meeting is planned to be held on February 19 with the participation of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
BAKU, Azerbaijani. Azerbaijan is planning comprehensive reconstruction projects which will include the building of smart cities in the territories