ISTANBUL, August 11. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hailed the joint declaration signed by Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington as a historic step toward lasting peace in the South Caucasus.

"The agreement that was reached in Washington on August 8 is a historic step on a path to lasting peace in the South Caucasus," he said in an address to the nation aired by the TRT Haber television channel. "I expressed my satisfaction with this to my brother [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev. I stressed that Turkey will always stand by Azerbaijan."

He also said that he had discussed the Washington agreements with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan earlier on Monday. "Establishing peace, resuming motor and railway communication routes, opening border checkpoints and ensuring unimpeded movement of goods will meet the interests of all countries in our region," he said.

After a trilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, Aliyev and Pashinyan signed a seven-point joint declaration stating Baku and Yerevan’s commitment to peace. According to the document, the sides initialed the text of the agreement on establishing peace and relations between the two countries. The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders also inked a memorandum on resuming transport communication between their countries.

On August 11, Baku and Yerevan published the text of the 17-point peace agreement. A joint commission will be set up to implement it. Under the document, the sides are dropping mutual territorial claims and refuse from the use of force against each other. They also agreed that no third-party forces can be deployed to their shared border, which will be delimited on the basis of a separate agreement. Azerbaijan and Armenia also agreed to withdraw international lawsuits against each other within a month after the agreement’s coming into force. Diplomatic relations between the two countries will be established after the exchange of instruments of ratification of the agreement.