Experts summarize first visit of Georgian president to Azerbaijan

Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili has made his first visit to Azerbaijan today and had a closed-door meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev. The meeting was followed by expanded talks with delegations joining them.

Fikret Sadykhov, a Professor of the Western University, reminds that Azerbaijan and Georgia were cooperating within the framework of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Pipelines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway. They have common foreign political positions.

According to political analyst and member of the Azerbaijani parliament Aydyn Mirzazadeh, Azerbaijan gives great value to friendly ties with Georgia. He notes that Margvelashvili wants to study Azerbaijani economic achievements and make use of its experience.

David Berdzenishvili, Chairman of the Republican Party of Georgia, emphasizes that the two countries have always been strategic partners and have maintained positive economic and political relations under any president, be it Gamsakhurdia, Shevardnadze, Saakashvili or Margvelashvili. The expert adds that the new Constitution gives the president more representative functions, so no major innovations should be expected during the visit.

Nana Devdariani, Head of the Center for Global Studies, reminds that the authority of the Georgian president is not as wide as that of his predecessor. The visit, she believes, is a sign of good-neighbour relations. The expert notes that relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia have always been normal. She adds that Georgian ex-Prime Minister Ivanishvili visited Azerbaijan Baku, though he made few visited in 2013.