Turkey will remain Georgia’s key ally

A key member of the new Georgian government said that Turkey would continue to remain Georgia’s close ally and strategic partner but that it was Tbilisi’s responsibility to make the country attractive for Ankara.
"It is not Turkey or other big or small countries that need to adjust their foreign or security policies towards Georgia. It is Georgia that is supposed to adjust its foreign policy priorities to the new realities," said Georgia’s foreign minister, Tedo Japaridze, who held talks in Ankara on Tuesday with Turkish leaders.

Japaridze’s visit, the first at such a high level from Georgia since the "velvet revolution" in this key Caucasus nation that ended with the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze, came against a background of criticism against Turkish policymakers for "aloofness" towards critical developments in Georgia.

"I would not blame Turkey, but I would blame my state because in order to make Georgia active in the foreign policy arena, you need to make Georgia a stronger state, a dynamic and functioning state ready to contribute to regional processes. Without all this the interest of your country would be gone, and that’s it," Japaridze said in an interview with the Turkish Daily News.

Georgia is a key ally of Turkey in the troubled southern Caucasus and a transit country in the multi-billion-dollar Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project, set to start transporting Azeri oil to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan en route to Western markets in 2005. But stability in the country is threatened by conflicts in its two breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as by a dispute with autonomous Adjaria province, a Muslim enclave located on the border with Turkey.

Japaridze said Georgia must first successfully tackle problems inside its territory to strengthen its foreign policy position. He said his government was adopting a new approach that takes into account economic means that could bring dynamism to ongoing peace efforts in these troubled regions.

One such method that could be helpful for settling the disputes is a project to transport Russian oil through Abkhazia down to Ceyhan through a pipeline taking an alternative route to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Japaridze said Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had discussed the idea with Russian leadership during his recent visit to Moscow.

"I hope our Russian colleagues will take this seriously and consider different options. I cannot guarantee this will happen, but I hope Russians, Georgians and others will consider different ideas quite seriously and come to a conclusion as to we are going to make this project happen or not," Japaridze said.

In remarks that followed talks with Japaridze on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkey would welcome such a move.

Saakashvili may visit in March
Japaridze also said his talks in Ankara with Turkish leaders had covered plans for a visit by President Saakashvili.

"I hope the president will soon be in Turkey, as soon as perhaps March," he said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The full text of the interview with Georgian Foreign Minister Tedo Japaridze will appear in this Sunday’s edition of Turkish Probe.