Georgia’s Zurabishvili Meets Mehriban Aliyeva

Within the framework of an official visit to Azerbaijan, the President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili had a meeting with Vice President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in Baku.

The meeting focused on the importance of strengthening cultural relations between the people of Azerbaijan and Georgia and the need to further promote cultural heritage.

The sides also talked about Zurabishvili’s initiative to include Georgian tolerance in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage. She believes that Georgian tolerance is a common Caucasian characteristic.

“This will be an important message voiced from our region to the world, as tolerance is a value that the modern world lacks,” she said.

Zurabishvili said she is personally interested in developing cultural ties between the countries and believes that Georgians and Azerbaijanis should know more about the culture and history of one another.

It was noted that in June, a direct flight route will be opened between Baku and Batumi that will further deepen Georgia-Azerbaijan ties. Also in June, Azerbaijan Culture Days are planned to be held in Batumi. A similar event was proposed to be held in Tbilisi.

Mehriban Aliyeva said that she is happy to see the Georgian President in Azerbaijan, and expressed confidence that this visit will contribute to the further expansion of relations between the two friendly countries.

Before meeting Aliyeva, the Georgian President met her Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, and discussed mutual cooperation issues with him.

By Thea Morrison