Turkey is a strong supporter of Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, marking 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
"Cooperation between Georgia and Turkey is of a strategic nature and is successfully developing in the political, trade, economic, health care, infrastructure and cultural-humanitarian fields," the ministry said in a written statement.
"Turkey, as a strategic partner of our country, is a strong supporter of Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. At the same time, Turkey supports Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations. The positive dynamics of the development of bilateral political relations is evidenced by the high-level and high-level intensive visits made over the years," it emphasized.
Reiterating that diplomatic relations were restored on May 21, 1992, the ministry said that Georgie opened its first diplomatic mission in Ankara and that Simon Mdivani, the first foreign ambassador, presented his credentials to Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1921.
"On Dec. 16, 1991, 70 years after the first Georgian diplomatic mission in Ankara, Turkey was one of the first to recognize Georgia's independence," it said, adding that a year later, the two countries signed an agreement on friendship, cooperation and good neighborly relations.
After the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Georgia opened its first embassy in Turkey in May 1994.
The ministry said that Georgian-Turkish relations have reached "a qualitatively new level with the establishment of a new format of cooperation – the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council, the first meeting of which was held in Ankara on July 19, 2016, at the level of Prime Ministers."
It also said that Turkey is Georgia's largest trading partner – according to 2021 statistics, trade turnover amounted to $2.15 billion (TL 34.19 billion).
"From 2021, the so-called agreement between Georgia, the European Union and Turkey was officially launched. The ‘Diagonal Cumulation’ mechanism, which will allow the export of products made in Turkey with Turkish raw materials to the EU market in a free trade regime," it added.
Moreover, citizens of the two countries can freely travel between Georgia and Turkey with just their ID cards.
On growing energy ties, the ministry said: "Regional energy projects implemented through joint Georgian-Turkish efforts, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, are of great importance. Active cooperation continues for the full implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project (TANAP and TAP) and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project."
Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan also cooperate through a trilateral platform established in 2021, which includes coordination at the level of presidents, parliamentary committees on foreign relations and defense ministers, as well as at the level of other agencies. "In terms of deepening tripartite economic relations, there is a practice of holding tripartite business forums," the ministry added.