Georgian FM: Azerbaijan “not only good friend but also reliable strategic partner”

Azerbaijan is not only a “good friend” of Georgia, but also a “reliable strategic partner”, Ilia Darchiashvili, the Georgian Foreign Minister, said on Thursday at a joint press briefing after meeting with his counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in Tbilisi, adding the latter’s trip to Georgia was “very important and timely".

Darchiashvili said the meeting with Bayramov discussed relations between two countries, as well as “current processes” in the South Caucasus region and the wider world, noting the strategic partnership between the two states had a “unique character” and was “gradually gaining new important positive” dimensions.

The Ministers reviewed economic cooperation, noting Azerbaijan was in the top five trade partners of Georgia based on figures of the recent years, the Georgian foreign office said.

Darchiashvili also provided information to his counterpart about the “severe social, economic and humanitarian situation” in the Russian-occupied territories of Georgia, focusing on the need to strengthen international security mechanisms.

The Georgian Minister thanked the Azerbaijani side for its “firm support” for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and emphasised the importance of ensuring “long-term and sustainable peace” in the South Caucasus, saying Georgia had “always been in favour of peaceful cooperation and coexistence” in the region.

We are always ready to promote constructive communication between the parties and take concrete steps towards mutually beneficial cooperation”, he added.

The Ministers also discussed  the existing tripartite cooperation format between Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, focusing on the importance and future prospects of joint regional transport and energy projects.

Darchiashvili and Bayramov also highlighted the importance of the Middle Corridor, a logistics route connecting Central Asia and China to Europe via the South Caucasus, and the involvement of their countries in the project.

The meeting also reviewed the Georgian-initiated Black Sea Electricity cable project, an international project that aims to create a new transmission route to deliver green energy from the South Caucasus to Europe, as well as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project linking Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey across the South Caucasus, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway route that passes through Georgia and is a logistical part of the corridor that connects Europe and Asia.

The Georgian Minister said the governments had launched and were “successfully implementing a number of strategically important projects that have qualitatively increased the role and function of our region” with joint efforts.

He also said he was confident the “attractiveness and function of our region” would “increase even more and contribute to the growth of connectivity between the West and the East".