Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

Azerbaijan and Turkey are strategic allies for Georgia, Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania said in an interview with Turkish magazine "Turkish Policy".

"We have a relationship with these countries, without which the country cannot survive," said Alasania.

He said the three countries are bound not only to energy projects, but also projects in other areas.

"The future depends on the wider cooperation among these three regional countries. We are going beyond, for example, just economic relationships, and we want to expand this to the military industry as well as foreign policy," the minister noted.

Alasania added that military policies are needed to be coordinated more effectively, "and this is what we want to achieve in the future".

"I have seen the military capabilities that Azerbaijan is now building. I have also been very impressed with the advance of Turkey's military and hardware industry. We can have military joint ventures of industry using the 31st factory here. [Aviation Factory No. 31 in Tbilisi, in September 2013 re-named after Alexander Kartveli] is capable of being the main factory... and there are certain sectors where Georgia has unique niche capabilities," he said.