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Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday in Ankara, in his first official visit to Türkiye since taking office in December 2024.
The two leaders were scheduled to hold a joint news conference after their meeting, where they discussed enhancing bilateral relations, as well as regional and global issues.
Türkiye and Georgia maintain what both sides describe as a strategic, neighborly partnership rooted in deep political, economic and regional ties.
Türkiye recognized Georgia’s independence on Dec. 16, 1991, and diplomatic relations were formalized with the signing of a protocol on May 21, 1992. Both countries have embassies in each other’s capitals; Türkiye also operates a consulate general in Batumi, while Georgia has consulates general in Istanbul and Trabzon, which is located on the border with Georgia.
In recent years, the relations have advanced through high-level visits, shared infrastructure projects and common positions on regional stability.
Türkiye is also active in the Türkiye-Georgia-Azerbaijan trilateral mechanism, launched in 2014, and the Türkiye-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Iran format, inaugurated in 2018, which Ankara says contributes to regional stability, peace and prosperity.
In May 2022, on the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties, Georgia’s Foreign Ministry praised Türkiye’s political, economic and cultural support, citing a 2021 bilateral trade volume of $2.15 billion, the highest of any partner. Türkiye has been Georgia’s largest trading partner since 2007 and is among its leading investors.
The citizens of both countries enjoy visa-free travel using national identity cards under a 2011 protocol.
The nations also cooperate on preferential EU export access through the Diagonal Cumulation mechanism, and collaborate on major energy and transport projects, including the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
Ankara strongly supports Georgia’s territorial integrity, does not recognize the so-called independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and backs Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration. Another issue on the bilateral agenda is the return process of the Ahıska Turks to their homeland, which Türkiye continues to follow closely.
Analysts view Georgia as having a key position in the South Caucasus, providing Türkiye with a critical land corridor to the Caspian Basin and Central Asia. Its infrastructure links bypass Russia and Iran, giving Ankara and its partners a strategic advantage in energy transit and regional connectivity.
