Saakashvili reaches out to Turkish and Iranian friendship

Saakashvili is reaching out to Turkish and Iranian friendship, according to an article by Newsweek author Owen Matthews. 

Georgia was supported and backed in 2008; however, things are different now: “Today, things are different,” says Owen Matthews. “George W. Bush’s campaign to promote pro-Western regimes in the former Soviet Union -- and to extend NATO membership to Georgia and Ukraine -- is gone. President Obama has instead chosen to prioritize what his aide Michael McFaul describes as ‘a healthy working relationship’ with Russia.”

Tbilisi is as Matthews describes it “awfully isolated.” In a bid to overcome this, “Saakashvili has been reaching out to his neighbors in an effort to shore up support in the region.”

“Last month, he welcomed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the capital, and they talked about more than just joint economic projects (like a railway from Tbilisi to Kars in Turkey, which would link Georgia to Europe): Turkey is already Georgia’s biggest trade partner, and the two countries plan to have visa-free travel this year.

“But maybe more surprising is Georgia’s growing relationship with Tehran,” stresses author pointing at diplomatic visits of Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to Tbilisi in July, followed by an official visit by Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri to Tehran. Parties have views to develop investment programs, free visa-travel regime between the two countries.

“None violate the U.N. sanctions regime. But the Iranians, buoyed by the idea of making friends in the region, offered a reciprocal visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Tbilisi, but so far the Georgians have held off for fear of antagonizing the United States. Iran, in turn, has backed Georgia’s right to recover its breakaway republics from Russian occupation.”