Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are in Khankendi (Stepanakert - the former Artsakh Republic capital) to attend the 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).

The ECO was founded in 1985 at the initiative of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. After the collapse of the USSR, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan joined it.

The main goals of the organization’s creation were the development of trade between member states, the creation of sustainable transport and logistics infrastructure, deepening energy cooperation, support for agriculture, tourism, healthcare, education and science, the development of the private sector and small and medium-sized enterprises and increasing the role of the region in the global economy.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, prior to the summit, held bilateral negotiations with representatives of the participating countries. In his opening speech at the summit, he announced that large-scale construction and reconstruction work is being carried out in the former Armenian region of Artsakh.

Among other issues, Aliyevtouched upon the issue of the “return” of Azerbaijanis to Armenia.

“We highly appreciate the adoption of a resolution by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, held in Istanbul last month, by unanimous decision of all fifty-seven member states, which expresses support for the right of return of Azerbaijanis forcibly displaced from Armenia,” Aliyev said.

Also attending the summit were ECO heads of state and government, ministers from the ten ECO Member State, and representatives from ECO observers, including the Turkish Cypriot State and the Organization of Turkic States.