Georgian PM and Turkish Foreign Minister discuss deeper strategic partnership
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Tuesday, December 24
The Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu. Gakharia noted that Georgia “appreciates special relations with Turkey and welcomes deeper strategic partnership.”
The meeting emphasized the trilateral format bringing together Georgia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, and pointed out that the uniqueness of this format is demonstrated by the fact that the 8th meeting between the three countries' Foreign Ministers in Tbilisi discusses cooperation across a variety of sectors.
During the meeting between the Prime Minister of Georgia and the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey, special emphasis was placed on the next meeting of the two countries' high-level Strategic Cooperation Council to be held in Ankara in early 2020.
The conversation also touched on joint energy and transport projects, including the Southern Gas Corridor, and the importance of its part, the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), recently inaugurated in Turkey, and of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railroad.
The Head of Government thanked the Republic of Turkey for firmly supporting Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The meeting also underlined the importance of the cultural cooperation between Georgia and Turkey, and the dynamic of bilateral high-level visits as another demonstration of the strategic partnership between the two countries.
The 8th meeting of the Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish Foreign Ministerial was held in Tbilisi on December 23. Within the framework of the Ministerial, a joint statement and a new Action Plan for the Sectoral Cooperation of 2020-2022 were signed.
According to the Georgian Foreign Minister Davit Zalkaliani, the format is a comprehensive and successful mechanism for regional cooperation: "This format gives us a good opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues on the agenda of trilateral cooperation in different areas."
According to the Minister, the fact that the meeting is the eighth in a row is an indicator of the solid political dialogue between Georgia and Azerbaijan and Turkey.
During the meeting, special attention was paid to the discussion on joint regional transport-energy projects. The importance of the implementation of the Trans-Caspian pipeline project and the role of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey in the transport of energy from the Caspian region to Europe and in ensuring European energy security were highlighted.
Emphasis was placed on the already successful Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum energy projects.
At the same time, the Ministers reaffirmed their readiness to continue co-ordinating the full realization of the Southern Energy Corridor. The importance of completing Phase 2 of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project was also highlighted.
