SAAKASHVILI: AZERBAIJAN, TURKEY IMPORTANT PARTNERS FOR GEORGIA
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Oct 13 2005
TBILISI – Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Wednesday
at a ceremony marking the opening of the Georgian section of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline that Azerbaijan and Turkey were
important partners for Georgia. Saakashvili welcomed his Azerbaijani
and Turkish counterparts at the ceremony in Tblisi.
“We are glad that Azerbaijan is developing very well,” the Georgian
leader said. “It is becoming a rich country with a developed
infrastructure and economy.”
He said Georgia was ready to provide whatever support Azerbaijan
needed.
He also said Turkey had always supported Georgia in hard times and
remained a close partner. “We are one region with a common economy,”
he said.
Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia have good relations in almost all areas
including defence and economic integration. All three countries see
the NATO, the European Union and the United States as important actors
in security and stability of the region.
Dr. Nilgun Gulcan from Ankara-based ISRO said “Turkey-Georgia and
Azerbaijan-Georgia relations are simply perfect. The missing part of
the regional integration is Armenia. However we cannot blame Georgia or
Turkey for that.” According to Dr. Gulcan Armenia has thorny relations
with almost all neigbouring countries except Iran. “Armenia prefers
Russia and Iran in the region. Armenia also has problematic relations
with the EU, US and Israel. The Armenian Diaspora in Europe and US
has secured the Armenian interests till now. However the Armenian
policies contradict with the Western interests. So this balance of
power cannot last any more” Gulcan added.
The only Russian military base in the region is in Armenia. Armenia
does not recognise Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s national borders and
the Armenian separatism in Georgia causes doubts in Tblisi about
Yerevan’s policies.