Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev meets with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Tbilisi © Official Photo
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid an unexpected visit to Tbilisi on Sunday to meet with his counterpart, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili. During their meeting, the two leaders discussed existing cooperation in energy, transport, and logistics, including the construction of a new deep-sea port in Anaklia and regional transportation projects such as the Middle Corridor route connecting China to Europe via Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili also said that Garibashvili would pay a working visit to Azerbaijan.
Speaking at an open-air press conference, the two leaders stressed the importance of regional peace and security, underlining how such projects could build a better and prosperous future for all countries involved. In a surprise invitation, however, Aliyev made specific reference to the one country in the region that remains excluded and in semi-isolation. “If Armenia agrees, the heads of our relevant institutions can immediately come to Georgia for both bilateral and trilateral meetings,” he stated.
The suggestion followed Aliyev cancelling a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the European Political Community summit in Granada, Spain, on 5 October. The reason given was Macron’s presence amid an ever-continuing war of words between Baku and Paris, as well as Macron and Scholz’s rejection of Turkish President Erdogan’s participation.
“Azerbaijan does not need such a format,” APA reported a ‘special source’ as saying, spelling out that any format involving Paris is unacceptable to Baku. It might also indicate frustration with the Michel-facilitated trilateral Brussels platform, though another meeting will take place at the end of the month. “Baku does not see the need to discuss the problems of the region with countries far from the region. Baku believes that these issues can be discussed and resolved in a regional framework.”
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