Turkish, Georgian officials discuss bilateral relations

TBILISI, Georgia

Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal and his Georgian counterpart Lasha Darsalia met on Monday in Georgia's capital Tbilisi to discuss bilateral relations.

The meeting, which lasted two hours, was also attended by the Turkish Ambassador in Tbilisi Fatma Ceren Yazgan and Georgia's Ambassador in Ankara, George Janjgava.

Following the meeting, Onal told Anadolu Agency that they discussed matters pertaining to bilateral relations, regional developments, transport and energy networks.

Underlining that Georgia is an essential partner for Turkey, he said: "We are trying to launch new initiatives that will contribute to peace, stability and cooperation at the regional level. We had very useful consultations with my colleague on all these issues. We will continue this coordination in the upcoming period."

For his part, Darsalia said: "There is a close strategic cooperation between Turkey and Georgia. This strong relationship between countries is extremely important for Georgia."

Stressing that Turkey strongly supports Georgia's integration process with NATO, he said: "Turkey strongly supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia."

Tbilisi fought a five-day war with Russia in 2008 over Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Georgia lost control of both areas and Russia later recognized both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar