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Saakashvili Speaks of 'United Caucasus' in Talks with Turkish FM

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  • Saakashvili Speaks of 'United Caucasus' in Talks with Turkish FM

    Civil Georgia, Georgia
    Feb 12 2011


    Saakashvili Speaks of 'United Caucasus' in Talks with Turkish FM

    Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 12 Feb.'11 / 23:50

    President Saakashvili spoke about "the idea of creating united
    Caucasus" at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu,
    in Tbilisi on February 12, the Georgian President's administration
    said.

    It said that Saakashvili noted importance of "opened borders" in the region.

    "Existence of the united Caucasus is my desire," Saakashvili said. "We
    have shared this opinion with our Azerbaijani and Armenian friends."

    "There is still a long road ahead before materialization of this idea,
    but this a positive step forward," Saakashvili added, referring to a
    decision to simplify border crossing between Turkey and Georgia.

    The Georgian President's administration said that during the meeting
    with the Turkish Foreign Minister it was agreed to simplify border
    crossing staring from this May.

    "It was decided to simplify border crossing between Georgia and Turkey
    so that it will not even be required to leave a car," the Georgian
    President's administration said.

    Earlier on February 12, the Turkish Foreign Minister said at a news
    conference after meeting with his Georgian counterpart, Grigol
    Vashadze, that one-stop procedures would apply while crossing the
    border.

    Before meeting with the Georgian leadership in Tbilisi on Saturday,
    the Turkish Foreign Minister spent first day of his official visit to
    Georgia on Friday in Batumi, main town of Adjara Autonomous Republic,
    which borders with Turkey.

    President Saakashvili told Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu, that Batumi had turned
    into "an economic center not only for Georgia, but for the entire
    Black Sea."

    "Georgia should turn into a major economic link for the Central Asia
    and Caspian region and for Turkey," Saakashvili said. "Turkey is not
    only economically fast developing country, it has also turned into a
    standard of innovations... The fact that we are opening borders is a
    positive example for other countries of the region."

    Restoring Sites of Historic Heritage

    A potential deal between Tbilisi and Ankara on restoration of sites of
    cultural heritage was among the issues raised during the meeting
    between the Turkish and Georgian Foreign Ministers.

    The deal, if signed, will pave the way for reconstruction of four
    Georgian medieval monasteries, now located in north-east Turkey, in
    exchange of rebuilding one mosque in Batumi and restoring of several
    others. The issue has turned into a source of controversy in Georgia
    as the influential Georgian Orthodox Church spoke out against the
    potential agreement.

    Speaking at a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart, the
    Georgian Foreign Minister expressed regret that the agreement was not
    yet signed.

    "I want to say that we have been late; we should have completed talks
    earlier and in this case the cultural heritage, which simultaneously
    belongs to Georgia and Turkey, would have been in better condition,'
    Grigol Vashadze said.

    The similar agreement was close to finalizing three years ago, but at
    the time Georgian government yielded to opposition from the Georgian
    Orthodox Church and the deal was not signed.

    `The key goal of this process is, first and foremost, to save our
    common cultural heritage,' Vashadze said.

    The Turkish Foreign Minister expressed hope that the two countries
    would cooperate positively in the sphere of historic heritage.

    Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu also said that it was an important issue, `since we
    have common history.' He said that the Georgian historical monuments
    located on the territory of Turkey also were part of Turkey's historic
    heritage and vise versa.

    `Cultural monuments existing in Georgia are joint cultural heritage.
    It especially applies to Adjara and Batumi, where Muslim population is
    residing. It is a good example of good neighborly relations and it
    should be assessed and discussed positively,' he said.

    http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=23139




    From: A. Papazian
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