Trilateral ministerial – defense ministers of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan meet

Minister of Defense of Georgia, Levan Izoria took part in a trilateral ministerial in Gabala, Azerbaijan on June 12. Aside from Izoria, the ministerial was attended by the defense ministers of Azerbaijan and Turkey.

In the capacity of the ministerial, a meeting was held between the defense ministers of Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Izoria and his Azerbaijani colleague, Zakir Hasanov, discussed bilateral military relations of the two countries and expressed their hope that the cooperation will further deepen in the future.

Levan Izoria thanked the Azerbaijani colleague for supporting Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Izoria and Hasanov signed a bilateral cooperation plan between the Georgian and Azerbaijani defense ministries for 2019.

Izoria also met his Turkish colleague, Hulusi Akar. Two parties discussed important aspects of the bilateral defense relations of Georgia and Turkey. Izoria thanked Akar for Turkey’s support of Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

The discussion focused on Turkey’s involvement in Substantial NATO-Georgia Package (SNGP), which is aimed at improving Georgia’s defense capabilities, increasing its resilience, enhancing interoperability with NATO, and supporting NATO membership preparation process.

One of the main topics of the discussion was the Black Sea Region security. Izoria mentioned that Georgia, as an integral part of the Black Sea region, strives to contribute to strengthening the security architecture of the region and continues to work on specific joint activities with NATO in this regard.

The ministerial was concluded with a trilateral meeting of the three defense ministers. The parties discussed various security issues and trilateral cooperation plans.

It was noted at the meeting that the trilateral dialogue mechanism facilitates the growth of stability and preservation of a secure environment in the region.

“The dynamic of the cooperation is expanding, deepening and reinforcing, which serves the main strategic goal – ensuring the peace and security of our citizens and strengthening the strategic partnership,” noted Minister Izoria.

The discussion touched upon the importance of the development of modern military education and training capabilities, conducting trilateral training, and sharing experience in different directions.

Georgian Defense Minister reaffirmed the importance of the trilateral teachings and the desire to increase the scope of the training.

It was also noted that Georgia will continue to offer a range of mountain training courses at the Sachkhere Mountain Training School for Azerbaijani and Turkish sides.

Azerbaijani-Georgian-Turkish cooperation in a range of fields is an excellent example of a regional partnership that is important to secure and develop the South Caucasus region.

The economic implications of this trilateral relationship became evident with the completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in 2006, one of the first fruits of the newly-forged relationship.

However, the relationship goes beyond the economy, with the countries becoming closer and closer in different fields, including security, defense, tourism, and culture. With Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations on the top of the agenda of the country, Turkey poses as the closest neighboring ally from NATO. Therefore, it is not surprising that during the ministerial meeting, the cooperation in this regard was one of the main topics of discussion between the Georgian and Turkish defense ministers.

While Turkey is a strategic partner for Georgia in terms of Euro-Atlantic integration, Azerbaijan acts as another important ally, with the shared Soviet past and wishful European future. The relations between the two countries are based on the principles of strong friendship, good neighborliness, and mutual respect. This can be observed on the countries’ readiness to resolve the dispute over the border at the Davit Gareja Monastery Complex in a timely manner, which has become one of the main topics of discussion after the visit of Georgian President Zourabichvili to the monastery complex in April of this year.

A commission of delimitation and demarcation of the border with Azerbaijan has been working since 1996, but the issue of Davit Gareja remains unresolved.

The cooperation between Georgia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan on the Defense Ministry level began in 2012. The Defense Ministerial in the trilateral format was held for the seventh time this year.