Turkey, Georgia to keep good relations under new president

The presidential elections held on Sunday in Georgia, a neighboring country to the northeast of Turkey, will make barely any change to the country’s relations with Turkey, as the two already enjoy positive relations that are unlikely to be affected by such political changes, experts say.

Georgia’s election on Sunday was its sixth presidential election since independence from the Soviet Union. Supported by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, new Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili took 62 percent of the vote in Sunday’s elections. Unlike ex-president Mikhail Saakashvili, who was known for his closeness to Western countries, Margvelashvili’s turning towards Russia has aroused interest in the country’s future foreign policy. His supporter Ivanishvili is also claimed to have a pro-Russian strategy, standing against the Russophobia that emerged in the country following 2008’s South Ossetia War.

Turkey and Georgia have enjoyed friendly relations since Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union, and ties strengthened in the last decade under the term of Saakashvili. Turkey and Georgia adopted visa-free travel in 2006, and since last May the two countries’ citizens have been able to travel freely with only their national identity documents — meaning that no passport is needed.