Georgia will not participate in the next 3+3 Caucasus platform meeting to be held in Turkey, the country’s Ambassador to Turkey George Janjgava said Monday.
“Georgia will definitely not attend the 3+3 meeting,” Janjgava told Daily Sabah.
Ankara has made frequent calls for a six-nation platform comprising of Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia for permanent peace, stability and cooperation in the region, describing it as a win-win initiative for all regional actors in the Caucasus.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, on the sidelines of the recent Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Islamabad, said that Turkey hopes Georgia will also attend the upcoming meeting.
Turkey believes that permanent peace is possible through mutual security-based cooperation between the states and people of the South Caucasus region.
Russia last month hosted the inaugural meeting of the regional platform. However, Tbilisi refuses to attend, citing Russian aggression towards the ex-Soviet nation.
Still, Georgia supports enhanced relations and cooperation in the region with other neighboring countries. It has taken effective steps with Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia to ensure lasting peace in the region, the country’s prime minister said last month.
“It is extremely important for us to establish lasting peace in the region,” Irakli Garibashvili said during the online Conference of Ambassadors.
Janjgava underlined that Georgia sees both Turkey and Azerbaijan as “our strategic partners” and views Armenia as a “historical and good neighbor” in a neighborhood also home to Iran.
“But Russia is a country which is occupying 20% of Georgian territory,” the ambassador strongly emphasized.