Tbilisi Summit 2014 opens

The high Caucasus mountain range is not a wall that separates three countries in the region but is in fact a way that connects them - the Turkish President said at the opening ceremony of the trilateral summit of the Georgian, Turkish and Azerbaijani leaders in Tbilisi.

Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelahsvili opened the summit earlier today and delivered a welcoming speech that noted the relations between the three countries was "impressive” and spanned many years.

"My first visit [as President] was to Turkey and I want to underscore the warmth I received during this visit. I met [Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev] a week ago in Prague and we had a very good meeting in Baku before that,” Margvelashvili said in his welcoming speech.

"At today’s meeting we once more stress the important undertakings we have started in our region,” he added.

The Azerbaijani President said he had high expectations about the summit results.

"We put much effort in our trilateral relations to serve not only our countries and our region, but the whole world, as our cooperation is based on bilateral interests”, he claimed.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul stressed the importance of joint projects by Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

"These three countries do their best to contribute to peace and stability in the region,” he said.

After the opening speeches by the three Presidents, the next phase of the working process continued behind closed doors.

Within the summit, leaders of the three states will discuss ongoing projects and planned endeavours. The Presidents of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan will also hold joint meetings to discuss ways to further their relationships.

The summit will mark a new format of cooperation between the presidents, which was preceded by meetings of Foreign Ministers of the three countries.

The most recent meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey was held in the Azerbaijani city of Ganja in February, 2014. This was the third such trilateral ministerial since 2012 when the format was launched in Trabzon. The second such meeting was held in Georgia’s Black Sea town of Batumi in March 2013.

The guest presidents are being accompanied to Georgia by large delegations of high-level officials and businessmen. Before wrapping up their visit to Tbilisi tomorrow, the three leaders will hold an official tripartite meeting in the Georgian capital city.