ANKARA - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul left on Monday for Georgia to hold official meetings.
Prior to his departure, Gul told reporters that Georgia, which was neighbor and friend of Turkey, was an important country in the Caucasus.
Gul said, ''Georgia is a country we attached importance for security of Caucasus and Black Sea. We attribute great importance to prosperity and political stability of Georgia.''
Recalling that Georgia was an important energy corridor, Gul stated that Georgia played an important role in transportation of Central Asian and Caucasian energy to Europe via Turkey.
Gul said that Turkey attached utmost importance to its economic relations with Georgia.
Stating that there were two significant projects on agenda, Gul said that they expected Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline to be completed at the end of 2004.
Gul noted that Azerbaijani oil could be sold to Europe via Turkey in the first quarter of 2005.
The second important project was the Shah Deniz-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas project, Gul pointed out.
Gul said that the natural gas project was planned to be completed in 2006.
Emphasizing that two countries cooperated in security, Gul said that he would visit Joint Military Academy where Turkey trained military personnel in Tbilisi.
Gul added that he would also visit new building of the Turkish Embassy in Tbilisi.
Foreign Minister Gul will be received by Georgian President Eduard Shevardandze and meet with Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili, State Minister Avtandil Jorbenadze and Minister Without Portfolio Malkhaz Kakabadze.
(BRC-AÖ) 15.09.2003