At the invitation of H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, and with the participation of H.E. Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and H.E. Mr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran (hereinafter referred to as the “Parties”), the Third Trilateral Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held on 14 March 2014 in Van, the Republic of Turkey.

The Parties,

Confirmed their commitment to establish a belt of peace, stability, security, prosperity and cooperation in the region by further enhancing their relations in all fields and underlined that these endeavors will strengthen the sense of regional ownership through solidarity;

Emphasized their commitment to the Urumieh and Nakhchivan Statements adopted in the previous Trilateral Meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs on 16 April 2011 and 7 March 2012 respectively;

Agreed to continue close consultations on regional and global issues of significant common interests at different levels and platforms and within the framework of international and regional organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, and the Economic Cooperation Organization, with a view to enhancing regional and international peace, security and stability;

Stressed in this context their commitment to principles of international law, including in particular, respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of internationally recognized borders and peaceful settlement of all disputes;

Acknowledged the valuable contributions of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the common interests of the region as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the term of 2012-2013, and extended full support for the candidacy of the Republic of Turkey to the United Nations Security Council non-permanent membership for the term of 2015-2016 and for the candidacy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Economic and Social Council membership for the term of 2017-2019;

Reiterated the importance of the cooperation efforts within the framework of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and underlined the need to focus on its priority areas of trade, transport, communications and energy and to implement concrete projects in these areas in the interests of all member countries;

Reiterated their firm commitment to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremism in all their forms and manifestations, transnational organized crime, narcotics, arms and human trafficking and migrant smuggling;

Decided to intensify all efforts to improve their economic and commercial cooperation so as to meet actual potentials to promote investments and trade; and to further strengthen cooperation in the fields of energy, transport, telecommunications, industry, education, culture, tourism and sports through joint projects and programs;

Underlined the importance of the adoption of the Trilateral Sectoral Cooperation Action Plan for 2014-2016, and emphasized the coordinating role of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs in its implementation; therefore encouraged relevant Ministries and Agencies to enhance trilateral cooperation aimed at practical implementation of the provisions of the Action Plan and make efforts towards its further fulfillment;

Reiterated the importance of holding regular meetings in the trilateral format to further their political dialogue, coordination and cooperation on regional and global issues;

Agreed to hold the next meeting in the Islamic Republic of Iran.