On July 28, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili met with Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, his Turkish colleague, the Press Office of the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported. "The Ministers positively assessed the intensification of high-level relations between Georgia and Turkey. The sides expressed their readiness to work actively in the future and exchange high-level bilateral visits," the Georgian MFA noted. Priority areas of cooperation between Georgia and Turkey, including trade and economic contacts, were also discussed. The sides highlighted the successful results achieved in this regard, including increased trade turnover. The ministers decided to expand trade and commercial links between the two countries at the agency level and to organise the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Economic Council in Georgia and Turkey.
Ilia Darchiashvili thanked his Turkish colleague for his country's steadfast support for Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as for Turkey's clear position on Georgia's most pressing foreign policy concerns. The parties looked over the region's security situation. Turkey's efforts to maintain peace and stability in the area were highlighted in this respect. The Ministers discussed regional developments and emphasised Georgia's critical contribution to the South Caucasus' stability and long-term growth. In this respect, the Foreign Minister of Turkey hailed the first meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, which took place in Tbilisi, and expressed the hope that Georgia would contribute positively to maintaining peace in the region.
The Foreign Ministers commended the cooperation between the two countries in multilateral formats, noting in particular the trilateral Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey framework. During the joint press point, Turkish FM Çavuşoğlu said the parties touched on the important issues of strategic partnership and good neighbourly relations between the countries.
Çavuşoğlu stressed, "We attach great importance to the economic relations between Georgia and Turkey. Our trade turnover is quite impressive. Last year, it surpassed two billion dollars. However, the leaders of our countries set a goal for the turnover to surpass three billion dollars in the coming years. We should activate our cooperation in this regard. We think the free trade mechanism should be more active, and some changes might be made to boost its usefulness and achieve better results for the interests of the two countries. For that, we are planning to hold a meeting of the mixed economic commission shortly. We believe the situation is more in favour of Turkey now, and we should balance it so that these relations are as beneficial as possible for Georgia. Thus, we are going to activate efforts in this regard," Cavusoglu remarked."
