Georgian PM Visits Azerbaijan, Meets President Aliyev

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia is traveling to Azerbaijan on October 9 in his first foreign visit after assuming power. Meeting with President Ilham Aliyev earlier today, Gakharia said it is not an accidental that he is visiting Azerbaijan first in his new capacity as PM.

“Of course, it is not an accidental when we made a decision to carry out the first visit to Azerbaijan, as we understand and are sure that with this visit we would again prove to our friends and enemies that there are no issues between Azerbaijan and Georgia that cannot be solved in a brotherly, friendly manner,” PM Gakharia stated.

The Georgian PM allegedly referred to the David Gareji Monastery Complex located on the disputed section of the Georgian-Azerbaijani state border. Located about 70 kilometers southeast of Tbilisi, the medieval monastic complex, has been one of the major stumbling blocks in the Georgian-Azerbaijani border talks.

Gakharia also said that Azerbaijan and Georgia are “the closest friends and partners,” that their partnership has exceeded the regional importance and has become “the issue of international importance,” especially in the field of economy. The Georgian PM also added that the two countries firmly support each other in the international formats.

Azerbaijan was Georgia’s third largest trading partner in 2018 following Turkey and Russia. Georgia’s trade turnover with Azerbaijan, according to the State Statistics Office (Geostat), stood at USD 1.1 billion in 2018, with exports at USD 502 million (USD 272.1 million in 2017) and imports at USD 593 million (USD 567 million in 2017).

As part of his visit to Azerbaijan, PM Gakharia will also meet with the new PM Ali Asadov and Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov. According to PM’s press office, Giorgi Gakharia will visit Armenia next week and Turkey by the end on October. He will also travel to Brussels “as soon as the new composition of the European Commission resumes work,” according to Gakharia’s press office.

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