AXIS OF STABILITY

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili paid an official visit to Azerbaijan on 12-13 February. He was accompanied by deputies from the parliamentary majority, the Security Council secretary, the head of the administration and the president's foreign relations secretary. After the official welcoming ceremony at the airport talks between the Georgian president and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, took place at the government's Zugulba residence - first one to one, and then with other officials present.

There was a frank exchange of opinions on questions of mutual interest, during which the sides made special mention of the importance of cooperation in power engineering, transport and the humanitarian sphere. Satisfaction was expressed at the successful development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia. The importance of the global projects that had been carried out not only for the region but also for Europe was stressed. Confidence was also expressed in the further development of political ties between the two countries. "We have very strong political relations. We are working together within the UN, the Council of Europe and other international organizations and we have always supported one another. We have always supported one another in the question of the territorial integrity of our countries," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in his speech at the end of the negotiations.

For his part, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said that "yes, we support Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and we have set out our position in a very organized way at international forums. We hope that the problems which, unfortunately, have arisen between our states will be resolved on the basis of international law and in a peaceful manner". He said that the Georgian and Azerbaijani peoples have shown the whole world an example of strategic partnership for the benefit of the prosperity and future of both countries, the region and the whole world. "The projects we are carrying out are changing the future and will bring a better future and more opportunities and benefits not only for our countries but also from the regional and global point of view. That is precisely why the special partnership that links our countries and the commitment to those energy and transport projects which we are implementing together will bring a better future to the millions of people in the region and the world."

Giorgi Margvelashvili made particular mention of the projects linked with ethnic Azerbaijanis in Georgia and ethnic Georgians in Azerbaijan, in which he sees possibilities for a further strengthening of partnership, and promised that on his return he would meet with Azerbaijanis resident in Georgia and celebrate the Novruz Bayram with them.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili's visit to Azerbaijan was a good response to the speculations by ill-wishers of our countries regarding Georgia's attitude to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars rail project. In his interview with the Trend news agency he described this project as an historic one which is changing the geopolitics of the whole region and a bridge between the two continents of Asia and Europe. "The withdrawal of troops of NATO's ISAF mission from Afghanistan will begin soon and we are offering an opportunity for them to withdraw via, among other things, this transport corridor. But this is just a start," Margvelashvili said.

"Such cooperation creates a background of stability in the South Caucasus region. We hope - and we have spoken about this with President Ilham Aliyev - that this background of stability will be conducive towards our region being regarded only from a perspective of future development and future opportunities," he said.

According to the programme for the visit, Giorgi Margvelashvili met with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizada and the speaker of the Milli Maclis, Oqtay Asadov. In the Alley of Honorary Burial the Georgian president paid his respects to the memory of Azerbaijan's national leader, Heydar Aliyev, and also visited the Heydar Aliyev Centre. An official dinner was given in honour of the Georgian president. On the morning of 13 February, after visiting the historical and architectural monuments of Icari Sahar [Old Town], Margvelashvili left for the north-west of Azerbaijan, visited Qabala and Qakh District where he met with the Georgian population in this district.

No agreements, declarations or communiqu?s were signed during the course of the Georgian president's visit to Azerbaijan. And this is not just because the contractual framework of relations has developed fairy soundly over the past two decades. There are always spheres and new projects which need to be sealed by the relevant inter-state agreements, protocols, and so on. The fact is that according to the new constitution, overall authority in Georgia lies not with the president but the prime minister, whereas the head of state merely "represents the country in the international arena". It is the head of the government, with the help of the foreign minister, who draws up Georgia's foreign political course and carries it out. That is why the significance of President Margvelashvili's visit to Baku lies not in the legal but the political sense, and demonstrates the continuance of the foreign political course towards the all-round strengthening of Azerbaijani-Georgian strategic partnership.

After his election Giorgi Margvelashvili took part as president in the summit of heads of state of the European Union and participants in the "Eastern Partnership" programme in Vilnius. At first Azerbaijan was named among the countries for his first official visit, but this visit, which had been planned for last December, was then postponed for "technical reasons", as it was announced at the time. As a result, the Georgian president made his first official visit only on 20 January and Turkey was the country chosen for this visit. 

One can understand and accept this adjustment. Important as Azerbaijan is as a partner of Georgia, we are aware that Turkey is Georgia's main economic partner, occupying a steady first place in terms of trade turnover and is a major foreign investor. Georgia plays the part of a gateway to the West for Azerbaijan as Turkey does for Georgia. Georgian citizens can travel to Turkey without a visa or even a passport; one merely has to present proof of identity at the border. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians have jobs in Turkey. Ankara consistently expresses its support for Tbilisi's "Euro-Atlantic aspirations" and Georgia's "road map" for entry into NATO.

Furthermore, the sequence of the Georgian president's first visits - to Ankara and then Baku - revealed not just the foreign policy priorities of the new authorities in Tbilisi, but also their commitment to trilateral cooperation in the Turkey-Georgia-Azerbaijan format. This is taken very positively in Baku; after all, all the strategic pipeline and rail projects, of which Azerbaijan was the initiator, have become possible precisely as a result of trilateral strategic partnership and cooperation. So, unlike Yerevan, the alteration in the sequence of official visits by the Georgian president to Baku did not give rise to jealousy.

The close cooperation between the three countries enables one to speak about a de-facto Turkey-Georgia-Azerbaijan strategic axis taking shape. Its material base comprises the strategic projects for the delivery of Azerbaijan's energy resources, which have already been implemented, and also in the future those of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to western markets. The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars trunk railway has entered its final stage. In combination with the Turkish "Marmara" project, as well as the development of highways and ports, the three friendly countries are in fact forming a huge bridge uniting East and West. Ankara, Tbilisi and Baku assume close positions on questions of regional stability and security. Their interests in the international arena do not clash. All this predetermines an orientation towards strengthening trilateral cooperation in the future.

Almost simultaneously with President Giorgi Margvelashvili's official visit to Baku a report appeared in the media that the third session of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, which will discuss questions of mutual cooperation, would be held this week in Ganca. This was reported by Turkey's ambassador to Azerbaijan, Ismail Alper Coskun. The groundwork for this visit was laid out on 8 June 2012 in the Turkish city of Trabzon by the Trabzon Declaration, which was signed by the foreign ministers of the three countries. The declaration reflects the most important directions of mutual cooperation between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in such spheres as the economy, power engineering, the infrastructure, transport, culture and the humanitarian sphere. The second session in such a trilateral format was held last March in Batumi.

During the meeting between the Georgian president and the speaker of the Milli Maclis Oqtay Asadov an initiative was announced to extend the existing format of meetings of foreign ministers to inter-action between the corresponding parliamentary committees of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Like other forms of bilateral and trilateral cooperation, this will also be conducive to strengthening the stability, security and development of our countries and the region as a whole. So, bearing in mind all that has been said, President Giorgi Margvelashvili's visit to Azerbaijan may be regarded as successful.

AT FIRST HAND

"We have very strong political relations. We are working together within the UN, the Council of Europe and other international organizations and we have always supported one another."

Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan

"We hope that the problems which, unfortunately, have arisen between our states will be resolved on the basis of international law and in a peaceful manner".

Giorgi Margvelashvili,  President of Georgia