ISTANBUL, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The third meeting of the 3+3 South Caucasus Regional Cooperation Platform was held here on Friday to enhance stability, prosperity and connectivity in the region, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
The foreign ministers of the Caucasian states of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as their three neighbors of Türkiye, Iran and Russia, attended the meeting, which was chaired by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the Turkish ministry said on social media platform X.
Georgia, another Caucasian state and also a member of the platform, did not participate due to its strained relations with Russia.
According to a video posted on the ministry's X account, Fidan said in his opening speech that Georgia has a permanent place in the 3+3 cooperation platform and is welcome to join the platform's activities whenever it wishes.
Meanwhile, Fidan emphasized the significance of regional cooperation and economic integration for achieving lasting peace, stability and prosperity, and underscored the urgent need for regional dialogue and cooperation in addressing recent conflicts and humanitarian crises, particularly those in the Middle East.
"Our perspective on the South Caucasus is fundamentally based on a sense of regional ownership," he said, adding, "We believe that the states of the region know the regional problems best and are capable of solving them."
Following the meeting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with four visiting foreign ministers, primarily discussing the South Caucasus peace process amid rising regional and global tensions.
Erdogan described the developments of the South Caucasus peace process as "encouraging."
During their meeting, the Turkish leader also highlighted the latest developments in the Middle East, proposing a UN arms embargo on Israel to deter it from further escalating conflicts in the region. ■
