Minister of Defence of Georgia pays an official visit to the Turkish Republic – Georgian MOD reports. Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff of GAF, Brigadier-General Vakhtang Kapanadze and the representatives of MoD accompany Defence Minister.

Irakli Alasania has already held meetings with his Turkish counterpart İsmet Yılmaz. The colleges discussed bileteral relations between the two countries and future plans. The sides also referred to one of the main priorities of Georgia’s foreign policy - Georgia’s NATO integration. As Georgian Defence Minister pointed out the country remains committed to its Euro-Atlantic aspirations, that is confirmed by Georgia’s contribution to the ISAF mission. Defence Ministers also touched upon the Georgia’s participation in post-ISAF period in Afghnaistan.

Irakli Alasania introduced his Turkish counterpart the scheduled reforms in Georgian field of defence. The Georgian delegation members thanked the Turkish side for political support and for the contribution provided in the development of the Georgian Armed Forces.

“We discussed a wide-range of military cooperation issues between Georgia and Turkey. I thanked my Turkish colleague for 20 years of support in strengthening Georgian defence capabilities. We also talked about our common aspiration to accomplish the ISAF mission sucessfully. We outlined a great support of the Turkish side for Georgia’s NATO integration. We referred to such aspects of military cooperation as logistics, as well as different joint infrastructural projects. The Tukish Republic provides assistance to the Georgian military in the education sphere”, stated Irakli Alasania.

Georgian Defence Minister along with Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and the Georgian Government members attended the meetings with Prime Minister and President of Turkey, as well with the Chairman of the Milli Majlis.

Within the framework of the official visit, Irakli Alasania will meet Chief of the General Staff of Turkey, General Necdet Özel and Chairman of the National Defence Committee of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Oguz Kagan Koksal.