Georgia's prime minister on Thursday praised Turkey for Ankara's "solid support" of the Caucasus country's integrity and sovereignty.
Following a meeting with Fatma Ceren Yazgan, Turkey's ambassador to Georgia, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili "expressed his gratitude to the Turkish side for the solid support of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia," a statement from the Georgian Prime Ministry said.
Garibashvili also pointed out the "significant contribution" of Yazgan in developing the relations between the two countries, the statement added.
The meeting focused on "the strategic partnership between the two countries and the positive trend of bilateral relations," it noted.
"One of the topics discussed by the dignitaries was the opening of the Turkish sales market and import of high-quality medication with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) to Georgia, which will significantly and quickly drop prices on the pharmaceutical products in Georgia," it added.
Garibashvili and Yazgan highlighted that "current regional projects between Georgia and Turkey serve as a vivid example of effective strategic cooperation, solid development and reliable partnership, which thereby leads to greater economic freedom, security and sustainability."
The Georgian prime minister noted that effective regional cooperation with neighboring countries is a road leading to security, stability and sustainable development.
"Readiness was expressed towards further deepening cooperation, including towards political and economic directions," the statement said.
Attention at the meeting was paid to the upcoming session of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council. Future steps to be made toward concluding a free trade agreement (FTA) between Georgia and the Republic of Turkey were also discussed at the meeting, the statement also noted.
Garibashvili and Yazgan stressed that close cooperation between the two countries will remain high on the agenda in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Turkey and Georgia have taken crucial steps to enhance bilateral ties in the past decade. They are a part of the trilateral mechanism with Azerbaijan, which was initiated by the Trabzon Declaration on June 8, 2012. The framework provides fertile ground for discussions on the consolidations of regional stability and security.
While Turkey ranks as the first biggest trade partner of Georgia, with a bilateral trade volume of $1.85 billion in 2019, Turkish contracting firms have successfully completed 258 projects in the country, Turkey's Foreign Ministry noted.
The bond between Turkey and Georgia has been strengthened through the establishment of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
Both countries inked many significant bilateral agreements, including the free trade agreement and Joint Economic Trade Committee (JETCO), while also increasing the number of joint projects in the energy field.
One of these projects, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline, started delivering gas to the Turkish network in July 2007. By last year, it had delivered 3.4 billion barrels of crude oil shipped from the marine terminal at Ceyhan in southern Turkey to global markets in 14 years. Similarly, the 1,076-kilometer (669-mile) Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline started delivering Caspian oil to Turkey and global markets in 2006.
Another major project, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, opened in 2017 and connected not just Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan but also Europe to Central Asia and China. The 829-kilometer railway line, also known as the "Iron Silk Road," extends from Baku to Kars, complementing a major part of the Middle Corridor with the Caspian Pass line.