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PM IVANISHVILI: 'THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS IN TIES WITH ARMENIA'
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 17 Jan.'13 / 17:02
PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, who held talks with the Armenian leadership
in Yerevan on January 17, said "there are no problems" in bilateral
relations, called for deepening economic ties between the two countries
and spoke of his readiness to work on restoring a railway link that
would reconnect Armenia with Russia via Georgia including through
breakaway Abkhazia.
The Georgian delegation, led by PM Ivanishvili, pays one-day visit
to Armenia about three weeks after visiting Azerbaijan. The Georgian
PM met his Armenian counterpart Tigran Sargsyan and also held talks
with President Serzh Sargsyan.
"We had a very friendly meeting," PM Ivanishvili said at a joint news
conference with his Armenian counterpart Tigran Sargsyan. He said that
conversation "proceeded so easily" as if the two knew each other for
a long time already.
"Decisions were made on most of the issues discussed during the
meeting. There are several issues which require additional discussions
and I think we will find a compromise over these issues as well,"
Ivanishvili said.
He said that during the talks, the Armenian PM mentioned need for
common market "which I embraced."
"It will be very good if we manage to maximally integrate our
markets; it will make easier to foster growth of economies of our two
countries," Ivanishvili said. "Georgia's new government is maximally
disposed towards deepening of relations between the two friendly
states and first of all economic relations should be deepened."
Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan said that there were no issues in bilateral
relations impossible to resolve.
"There is a huge potential for development of economic cooperation. I
want to thank my Georgian counterpart for voicing his positive attitude
towards almost all the issues," the Armenian PM said.
Asked during the press conference if restoration of the railway link
between Georgia and Russia via Abkhazia was possible, Georgian PM
Ivanishvili responded: "It's possible." He, however, added that the
issue was complicated because of troubled relations between Georgia
and Russian and because of "uneasy relations with our Abkhaz brothers".
"You know that there are no problems in relationships between Georgia
and Armenia," he said.
"But we have huge problems in relationship with Russia. The problems
were huge and they unfortunately still remain. We hope that relations
- and we try it - to restore and mend ties with Russia. Profound and
the most problematic issue is about Georgia's territorial integrity,"
PM Ivanishvili said and added that this issue would not be possible
to resolve in the nearest future.
He, however, also said that the issue of railway could be resolved
in case of a political will from all the parties.
"The Georgian side voiced its readiness in this regard," PM Ivanishvili
said. "On our part there is full readiness for solving all the issues
as soon as possible."
Armenian PM Sargsyan said that the issue of railway link was discussed
and added that Yerevan would make efforts for resolving this issue.
"We are interested in resolving this issue as soon as possible,"
the Armenian PM said. "We will take proactive position in this regard."
Bidzina Ivanishvili first announced about his readiness to look into
possibility of restoring the railway link during his pre-election
campaign in September, 2012.
In a November, 2012 public opinion survey, commissioned by the U.S.
National Democratic Institute (NDI), 68% of Georgian respondents said
they would approve reestablishment of a railway link between Georgia
and Russia via breakaway Abkhazia; 6% disapproved and 24% did not know.
During the news conference a journalist from the Georgian TV channel,
Rustavi 2, asked the Prime Ministers about "misunderstanding over
remarks" of Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze.
PM Ivanishvili, who appeared annoyed by the question, responded:
"There have been thousands of explanations about this issue; even
Rustavi 2 itself explained it; don't you have anything else [to ask]?"
The issue involves misquoting Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze's
remarks on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by media outlets when during her
visit to Lithuania she spoke at an event organized by the Lithuanian
Parliament's European Club and Eastern Europe Studies Center on
January 10.
Azerbaijani news agency 1news.az reported at the time that Panjikidze
said: "Georgia's position on this issue remains unchanged. It is
essential to establish peace in the region. The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict should be settled only in frames of the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan."
This report was seized upon by some media outlets in Georgia, as well
as by some UNM lawmakers who even demanded Panjikidze's resignation.
What Panjikidze actually said was: "We are not involved in the
discussion between Azerbaijan and Armenia. But [the fact] that we
support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan,
I can repeat [it] many, many times."
"They [media outlets] distorted [FM's] remarks, then explained that
it was distorted, but they still are asking about it," Ivanishvili
said during the joint news conference with his Armenian counterpart.
"Rustavi 2 was the most active and enjoying with this issue for
two days and then they saw that there was no mistake [in Foreign
Minister's remarks]."
"The issue [of Nagorno-Karabakh] is very difficult," he continued. "I
had a conversation about this issue with the Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev during my visit to Azerbaijan. I conveyed the position of
the Azerbaijani President to [the Armenian] Prime Minister. I will not
go into details of this issue, but I can say that the issue is very
difficult and as it seems it will be difficult to solve this issue
in the near future. Everything should be done in order to solve this
problem solely through peaceful means."
Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan thanked his Georgian counterpart for
"balanced position" over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"It's not a secret that very often certain statements about Karabakh
are distorted. We are grateful to our Georgian colleagues for a
prompt reaction in order to prevent such interpretations, which
do not correspond to the position of the Georgian government," PM
Sargsyan said.
During the visit the Georgian side signed two agreements with Armenia
- one between the ministries of culture of the two countries and
another one on joint use of customs points on the border between the
two countries, which was signed by the finance ministers.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=25650
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 17 Jan.'13 / 17:02
PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, who held talks with the Armenian leadership
in Yerevan on January 17, said "there are no problems" in bilateral
relations, called for deepening economic ties between the two countries
and spoke of his readiness to work on restoring a railway link that
would reconnect Armenia with Russia via Georgia including through
breakaway Abkhazia.
The Georgian delegation, led by PM Ivanishvili, pays one-day visit
to Armenia about three weeks after visiting Azerbaijan. The Georgian
PM met his Armenian counterpart Tigran Sargsyan and also held talks
with President Serzh Sargsyan.
"We had a very friendly meeting," PM Ivanishvili said at a joint news
conference with his Armenian counterpart Tigran Sargsyan. He said that
conversation "proceeded so easily" as if the two knew each other for
a long time already.
"Decisions were made on most of the issues discussed during the
meeting. There are several issues which require additional discussions
and I think we will find a compromise over these issues as well,"
Ivanishvili said.
He said that during the talks, the Armenian PM mentioned need for
common market "which I embraced."
"It will be very good if we manage to maximally integrate our
markets; it will make easier to foster growth of economies of our two
countries," Ivanishvili said. "Georgia's new government is maximally
disposed towards deepening of relations between the two friendly
states and first of all economic relations should be deepened."
Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan said that there were no issues in bilateral
relations impossible to resolve.
"There is a huge potential for development of economic cooperation. I
want to thank my Georgian counterpart for voicing his positive attitude
towards almost all the issues," the Armenian PM said.
Asked during the press conference if restoration of the railway link
between Georgia and Russia via Abkhazia was possible, Georgian PM
Ivanishvili responded: "It's possible." He, however, added that the
issue was complicated because of troubled relations between Georgia
and Russian and because of "uneasy relations with our Abkhaz brothers".
"You know that there are no problems in relationships between Georgia
and Armenia," he said.
"But we have huge problems in relationship with Russia. The problems
were huge and they unfortunately still remain. We hope that relations
- and we try it - to restore and mend ties with Russia. Profound and
the most problematic issue is about Georgia's territorial integrity,"
PM Ivanishvili said and added that this issue would not be possible
to resolve in the nearest future.
He, however, also said that the issue of railway could be resolved
in case of a political will from all the parties.
"The Georgian side voiced its readiness in this regard," PM Ivanishvili
said. "On our part there is full readiness for solving all the issues
as soon as possible."
Armenian PM Sargsyan said that the issue of railway link was discussed
and added that Yerevan would make efforts for resolving this issue.
"We are interested in resolving this issue as soon as possible,"
the Armenian PM said. "We will take proactive position in this regard."
Bidzina Ivanishvili first announced about his readiness to look into
possibility of restoring the railway link during his pre-election
campaign in September, 2012.
In a November, 2012 public opinion survey, commissioned by the U.S.
National Democratic Institute (NDI), 68% of Georgian respondents said
they would approve reestablishment of a railway link between Georgia
and Russia via breakaway Abkhazia; 6% disapproved and 24% did not know.
During the news conference a journalist from the Georgian TV channel,
Rustavi 2, asked the Prime Ministers about "misunderstanding over
remarks" of Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze.
PM Ivanishvili, who appeared annoyed by the question, responded:
"There have been thousands of explanations about this issue; even
Rustavi 2 itself explained it; don't you have anything else [to ask]?"
The issue involves misquoting Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze's
remarks on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by media outlets when during her
visit to Lithuania she spoke at an event organized by the Lithuanian
Parliament's European Club and Eastern Europe Studies Center on
January 10.
Azerbaijani news agency 1news.az reported at the time that Panjikidze
said: "Georgia's position on this issue remains unchanged. It is
essential to establish peace in the region. The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict should be settled only in frames of the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan."
This report was seized upon by some media outlets in Georgia, as well
as by some UNM lawmakers who even demanded Panjikidze's resignation.
What Panjikidze actually said was: "We are not involved in the
discussion between Azerbaijan and Armenia. But [the fact] that we
support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan,
I can repeat [it] many, many times."
"They [media outlets] distorted [FM's] remarks, then explained that
it was distorted, but they still are asking about it," Ivanishvili
said during the joint news conference with his Armenian counterpart.
"Rustavi 2 was the most active and enjoying with this issue for
two days and then they saw that there was no mistake [in Foreign
Minister's remarks]."
"The issue [of Nagorno-Karabakh] is very difficult," he continued. "I
had a conversation about this issue with the Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev during my visit to Azerbaijan. I conveyed the position of
the Azerbaijani President to [the Armenian] Prime Minister. I will not
go into details of this issue, but I can say that the issue is very
difficult and as it seems it will be difficult to solve this issue
in the near future. Everything should be done in order to solve this
problem solely through peaceful means."
Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan thanked his Georgian counterpart for
"balanced position" over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"It's not a secret that very often certain statements about Karabakh
are distorted. We are grateful to our Georgian colleagues for a
prompt reaction in order to prevent such interpretations, which
do not correspond to the position of the Georgian government," PM
Sargsyan said.
During the visit the Georgian side signed two agreements with Armenia
- one between the ministries of culture of the two countries and
another one on joint use of customs points on the border between the
two countries, which was signed by the finance ministers.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=25650