“All Turkey's strategic and economic regional cooperation projects run through Georgia,” said Savaş Barkçın, a senior advisor for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at the workshop, organized by the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA).
Speaking at the opening session of the seminar, which consisted of four sessions debating Turkish-Georgian relations, Taha Özhan, the director general of SETA, stressed the importance of enhancing Turkish-Georgian relations.
The South Caucasus was not on the agenda until the demise of the Soviet Union, he said, and added that right after the end of the Cold War, the South Caucasus was transformed into a home of various kinds of conflicts, including religious and ethnic conflict along with civil strife. "Currently," he added, "the international arena is closely monitoring the region as major energy lines are at stake." According to Özhan, the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on the Nabucco pipeline, which is planned to transport gas from Central Asian, Caspian and Middle Eastern suppliers to Europe, was an indication that both regional and international actors were looking for stability in the South Caucasus.
Ghia Nodia, from Georgia's Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD), said there is concrete, constructive and successful cooperation between Turkey and Georgia. "However, the missing part of the cooperation was the lack of experts' meeting to discuss and uncover problems.
There are negative stereotypes that need to be destroyed," Nodia said. "There are still persistent problems in the region that are waiting to be tackled between Turkey and Georgia."
According to Barkçın, there are unsolved problems in the South Caucasus that affect not only the region but also have global implications. "These problems are not only regional but also global. The collapse of the Soviet Union made the region special in terms of conflicts and civil wars,” he said.
He argues that "security and democracy in the South Caucasus was always the main goal of Turkey's foreign policy in the Caucasus. The most active border crossing in the South Caucasus is the crossing between Georgia and Turkey. Turkey has certain priorities in its policy towards the South Caucasus. These include granting security to all actors in the South Caucasus, establishing lasting dialogue and mutual interdependence." Barkçın also stressed that there are approximately 500 Turkish firms contributing to Georgia's economy and to the regional economy in a broader scope, and noted that Turkish civil society organizations are also active in Georgia. Barkçın also expressed satisfaction at the fact that an official security doctrine of Georgia described Turkey, Ukraine and the US as the country's most reliable strategic partners.
Emphasizing improving relations between Turkey and Georgia, Barkçın said: "The visa requirement between Turkey and Georgia was lifted in 2006. Trade volume between the two countries stands at $2 billion and Turkish investments in Georgia amount to $500 million.”
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