MIKHAIL SAAKASHVILI WRAPS UP THE VISIT TO ARMENIA
Alisa Gevorgyan

"Radiolur"
25.06.2009 17:33

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili wrapped up his two-day
official visit to Armenia at the invitation of Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan.

Serzh Sargsyan and Mrs. Rita Sargsyan came to "Zvartnots" airport to
see off Mikhail Saakashvili and his spouse, Mrs. Sandra Roelofs.

On the last day of the visit the Georgian President visited
Tsitsernakaberd and the Yerevan State University.

Mikhail Saakashvili confessed during his meeting with the faculty
and students of the University that it was hard to call his visit
official, because Armenian-Georgian relations were far from being
official. He noted that the Armenian culture was an inseparable part
of the Georgian reality.

Mr. Saakashvili does not distinguish between Armenians, Greeks or
Azeri’s, all of them are Georgian citizens.

Mikhail Saakashvili specially emphasized the reforms under way
in Javakhk.

"This is the region where most of the investments have been made over
the recent years. The region is fully gasified; one of the largest
railways is being constructed there."

President Saakashvili also turned to the incident connected with
Armenian MP Shirak Torosyan (the Deputy was not allowed to cross the
Armenian Georgian order on June 19).

"I think that neither Armenians, nor Georgians encourage the steps
targeted at hindering the development of our relations. Such incidents
should be prevented. This has happened deriving from the interests
of both Georgia and Armenia.

"You declare that we are friendly countries, but Armenia pays twice
as much as Azerbaijan for cargo transportation," one of the students
noted.

In response to that the Georgian President stated: "One should accept
that Georgia gets nothing from transportation of Armenian goods. As for
Azerbaijan, the cargoes go to China and the larger Asian market through
Azerbaijani territory. Naturally, the volume is incomparably larger.

It’s clear that the larger the volume, the lower the customs. We should
simply tend to increase the volume of commodity turnover with Armenia."

Turning to issues of security and cooperation in the region, Mikahil
Saakashvili said the Caucasus should be united and it will take place
earlier than many expect.