PM Gakharia meets with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Friday, November 1
During the meeting, leaders announced that “the Turkey-Georgia Strategic Partnership Council meeting will be held in Ankara soon.”
As a result of the talks, it was also decided that a meeting of the two countries' mixed economic commissions would be held in November. It was noted that this would further deepen trade-economic relations and make the most of the potential available in this area.
Discussions focused on energy and logistics cooperation, including ongoing projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, as well as joint projects in the field of tourism and culture. During the meeting, sides focused on the security of the Black Sea region, which plays an important role for both Georgia and the Republic of Turkey.
During the meeting, President Erdogan reaffirmed Turkey's firm support for Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. The President of Turkey thanked the Georgian Prime Minister for an official visit to Ankara and noted that the high-level bilateral visits would bring new dynamics to the Turkish-Georgian relations.
The President of the Republic of Turkey and Georgian PM also discussed security, bilateral cooperation, and joint exercises, which are regularly held with the participation of Georgian and Turkish troops. Gakharia invited Erdogan to visit Georgia during the spring.
“Georgia's independence, political stability, and territorial integrity are extremely important to us. We continued to hold joint exercises between our armed forces in Turkey and Georgia this year. About 2200 Georgian military personnel participated in training and courses in Turkey. Our efforts for peace and stability in our common Black Sea region continue with the support of Georgia,” noted the president.
Erdogan noted that as Georgia is a bridge connecting Turkey with its ancestral brothers, Turkey is also a strategic bridge for Georgia in establishing a healthy relationship between Georgia and the west.
The Georgian delegation includes the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Economy and Sustainable Development, Davit Zalkaliani and Natia Turnava and the Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Relations, Irakli Chikovani.
The strategic relations between Turkey and Georgia became even more important after opening the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway in 2017, which represents a regional rail link project to directly connect Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. The line is intended to transport an initial annual volume of 6.5 million tonnes, rising to a long-term target of 17 million tonnes.