Margvelashvili meets Turkish President in Ankara

"Georgia is the gateway for Turkey to the east and Turkey Connects Georgia to the west

The regional and international development issues concerning Georgia and Turkey were the main discussed topics at bilateral and inter-delegation meetings in Ankara with the Turkish and Georgian presidents today.

Turkeys President Abdullah G welcomed his Georgian counterpart to the Cankaya Presidential Palace and stressed that there were several good examples of Georgia-Turkeys cooperation in different fields.

Political cooperation

The Turkish President declared that Turkeys support would continue for Georgia as it continued its journey toward integration with Europe and European-Atlantic institutions.

"Georgia is a gateway for Turkey to the east and Turkey is a country that connects Georgia to the west, G said.

The Turkish President also underlined that Turkey believed the current problems regarding South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two breakaway regions of Georgia, should be overcome as per the principle of Georgias territorial integrity and sovereignty.

"Turkey lends and will continue to lend our support for a resolution in this regard, he added.

President G, starting his speech by evincing his pleasure at hosting President Margvelashvili in Ankara, also shared his happiness with the fact that his Georgian counterpart is paying his first official visit at the bilateral level to Turkey since taking office.

 "[We], during our talks, reaffirmed that Turkish-Georgian bilateral relations are excellent and reiterated our resoluteness to carry further these relations in all areas.

The two leaders at a tete-a-tete meeting at the

Cankaya Presidential Palace in Ankara, January 20.

Photo by Turkish Presidents press office.

The President further said that Turkish and Georgian citizens can visit each others country with their identity cards through the Border-Crossing with Identity Cards System and noted that Batumi Airport is jointly used by both countries, adding that they will soon implement the Single Window System at both customs.

"All of these demonstrate how advanced a level Turkish-Georgian bilateral relations have reached, he said.

Economic cooperation

In the press conference, he also underlined the importance of the joint projects that Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey are implementing.

"The transnational projects including Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi- Erzurum and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway projects proves that the cooperation of these countries is advancing, he said.

On his side, President Margvelashvili highly appreciates Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish transnational projects said that those transnational projects are going beyond the region's borders and in fact are becoming the projects of the whole Eurasian continent.

Pointing to the current volume of trade worth nearly 1.5 billion dollars between the two  

President G (right) and President Margvelashvili (left)

at the joint press  conference in Ankara, January 20.

Photo by President Margvelashvilis Press Office.  

countries, President G underscored the significance of the continuation of investments, and referred to the huge projects Turkish firms are conducting in Georgia, urging Georgian businessmen to invest in Turkey.

For further expanding the business cooperation between two countries Georgian businessmens received the official invitation from the President in Turkey.

Cultural cooperation

President Margvelashvili also emphasized that he appreciated the cultural collaboration between Georgia and Turkey.

"We (Turkey and Georgia) have carefully involved many scientists to study and restore cultural monuments. I want to thank Turkish Government due to the cultural delegation, which arrived last year to observe Oshki and Ishkhani Monasteries. Margvelashvili said.

Both Oshki and Ishkhani were one of the important spiritual centers in the Middle Ages of Georgia. These monasteries were located in Tao-Klarjeti province. Nowadays this territory is a part of the provinces of Erzurum, Artvin, Ardahan and Kars in north-eastern part of Turkey.

Before the joint press conference, the two leaders had a tete-a-tete and chaired the talks between their delegations.

During his two-day visit Margvelashvili also visit the mausoleum of the first President of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, where a wreath laying ceremony was held.

It is also expected Margvelashvili to meet the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Grand National Assembly Chairman, Cemil Cicek.

A wreath laying ceremony at the mausoleum of the President of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, January 20. Photo by Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili's press Office.  

At the end of the day, Margvelashvili will also meet with Georgian diaspora in Turkey.

When his official duties are completed, the Georgian President will visit Tao-Klarjeti, North-Eastern Turkey the birthplace of the medieval Georgian "Golden Era" that lasted from the tenth to the twelfth centuries.