Turkey , Iran and Azerbaijan pledged closer co-operation Thursday in efforts to resolve regional conflicts and combat terrorism and organized crime, a joint statement said.

The statement was issued after the three countries' foreign ministers--Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey , Ali Akbar Salehi of Iran and Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan --met on the sidelines of a regional economic co-operation summit in Istanbul .

The ministers stressed the need "to achieve peaceful resolution of the unresolved conflicts in the region, based on the principle of territorial integrity," it said.

A major territorial dispute in the region is Azerbaijan 's conflict with Armenia over Nagorny-Karabakh, an enclave that Armenian separatists, backed by Yerevan , seized from Baku in a war following the collapse of the Soviet Union .

"The ministers have agreed to hold regular trilateral meetings," the statement said, adding that the next meeting would be in Iran .

Turkey is a traditional ally of Azerbaijan . Recently it has developed close ties also with Iran , making active efforts to resolve tensions over Tehran 's nuclear program.

Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Armenia , whose position that Armenians were the victim of genocide under the Ottoman Empire have long poisoned ties.
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