Date of Georgian FM's Baku visit changed - UPDATE

Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze will pay his first official visit in 2011 to Azerbaijan. He will launch the visit on Jan. 18, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend on Monday.

Earlier the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported that Vashadze will launch his visit on Jan. 17.

Vashadze will meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov. He is also expected to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

The sides are expected to discuss economic and bilateral cooperation issues. The issue of delimiting the Georgian-Azerbaijani border is among the issues to be mulled.

Georgia borders seven districts of Azerbaijan over 480 kilometers. So far, the sides have agreed on 65% of the state border line.

The demarcation of the border has been delayed due to the David Gareji monastery complex. The monastery is situated 60 kilometers southeast of Tbilisi.

In July, Baku hosted consultations between Azerbaijani and Georgian deputy foreign ministers Khalaf Khalafov and David Jalagania, who head state commissions on the delimitation and demarcation of the border. After the talks, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported progress in coordinating the border and agreed to hold a joint meeting of the state commission.

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13:35

The fact that the Georgian foreign minister will make his first visit to Azerbaijan this year testifies to the close relations between the two countries, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said at a traditional briefing in Tbilisi today.

"These relations are traditionally friendly. We are implementing several joint projects to be discussed during Vashadze's visit to Baku," she said.

The deputy minister confirmed that the FM will pay a two-day visit to Baku.

"Vashadze will be received by President Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov," she said.


/Trend/