TBILISI
Turkish Minister of National Defense, Ismet Yilmaz, was welcomed to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi with a formal ceremony by Georgian Defense Minister Dimitri Shashkin on Wednesday.
Yilmaz and Shashkin attended a meeting between respective delegations following their tete-a-tete meeting.
During the meeting, Shashkin said that Turkey and Georgia were "strategic partners".
"As in all areas, military relations between our two countries are at a high level. Turkey has fulfilled all its promises to date," Shashkin noted.
"Turkey has always supported Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. Georgia is working to become a NATO member and we always feel Turkey's assistance in this matter," Shashkin underlined.
"We discussed the issues of South Ossetia and Abkhazia both of which declared independence unilaterally. We are trying to solve such problems through peaceful means," Shashkin indicated.
-Press conference-
Speaking at a joint press conference following a meeting between the respective delegations, Ismet Yilmaz said that Turkey and Georgia were two friendly and brotherly neighbors both of which shared a common history.
Turkey wants Georgia to be a happy country preserving its territorial integrity and sovereignty, Yilmaz stressed.
Local problems of Georgia must be solved within Georgia, Yilmaz noted.
"We support Georgia's membership to the NATO and express our support at every possible international platform. NATO membership would make Georgia's future stronger," Yilmaz stated.
"Relations between Turkey and Georgia are well in all fields," Yilmaz said.
"Opening the Batumi Airport to common usage and facilitating mutual visits among citizens by showing only an ID card are crucial to show the level of cooperation between Turkey and Georgia. Such an implementation has developed trade and tourism between the two countries. From now on, we will develop cooperation in the defense sector and military training. I do wish that Georgia's future would be more bright compared to the past. I thank for the hospitality displayed," Yilmaz also said.
Yilmaz visited the Square of Heroes, built for those who lost lives while fighting for Georgia's independence, and laid a wreath there following the press conference.
Yilmaz will attend a luncheon to be hosted by Shashkin on Wednesday and later proceed to the administrative center of the Adjara Autonomous Republic, Batumi.
Ismet Yilmaz will meet Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Batumi.
