Turkish FM to Visit Georgia
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 4 Sep.'09 / 15:03

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will pay an official visit to Georgia on September 7-8 to discuss “important issues” of bilateral and regional cooperation, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Davutoglu will meet with his Georgian counterpart, Grigol Vashadze; President Saakashvili and PM Nika Gilauri, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Reuters reported on September 2, quoting unnamed source from the Turkish government, that Foreign Minister Davutoglu planned to visit Tbilisi to request release of a captain of a Turkish cargo vessel, Buket, which was detained in mid-August while transporting fuel to the breakaway Abkhaz capital, Sokhumi.

The court found guilty Turkish citizen, Mehmet Coskun Öztürk, of smuggling and unauthorized economic activity in breakaway Abkhazia and sentenced him to 24 years in prison.

A Turkish operator of the vessel said that Buket was seized by the Georgian coast guard in the international waters at a gunpoint.

Reuters also reported, quoting Turkish Foreign Minister spokesman Burak Ozugergin: “We think the Georgians violated international maritime law regarding both the letter and the spirit of the law.”

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