Georgia, Turkey agree to expand relations
By Sabina Idayatova
The level of good neighborly relations between Turkey and Georgia should be an example for other countries in the region, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated after a meeting with his Georgian counterpart Bidzina Ivanishvili in Ankara.
Ivanishvili, accompanied by Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze, Economy Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Defense Minister Irakli Alasania, Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze, head of the state-owned JSC Partnership Fund Irakli Kovzanadze, as well as senior officials from the finance and culture ministries, was on a visit to Turkey on Thursday.
The parties discussed the possibility of further deepening bilateral relations. The government heads of the two neighboring countries also touched on issues concerning regional security and the multilateral projects implemented by Georgia and Turkey.
"We have agreed on actually all the issues discussed [during the meeting] and we agreed to further discuss and resolve positively all those issues on which we have not agreed," Ivanishvili said at a joint press conference.
Erdogan, for his part, said that a broad range of issues was discussed, involving political, trade and economic aspects, as well as issues related to rehabilitation of cultural heritage sites, handing over Turkish citizens serving prison terms in Georgia and repatriation of Meskhetians -- survivors or descendants of Muslim population who were deported by Joseph Stalin from southern Georgia in 1944.
Erdogan said his Georgian counterpart showed a positive attitude towards solving all the outstanding issues. He said further that Turkey was Georgia's largest trading partner with trade turnover between the two countries exceeding $1.5 billion in 2012.
According to the Georgian state statistics body Geostat, Turkey's import to Georgia amounted to $1.39 billion, while export from Georgia to Turkey was only $142.7 million last year.
After the meeting of the premiers, the two countries' governmental delegations held talks that mainly focused on strengthening economic and political relations, as well as the development of good neighborly relations.
During Ivanishvili's one-day official visit to Turkey, the Georgian government delegation also met with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek. The parties discussed issues of cooperation, regional development as well as bilateral and multilateral priorities of the two countries.