Georgian Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia (left) and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (right), Baku, May 16. Photo from the Azerbaijani President’s website.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held separate meetings on May 16 with Georgian Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia and Minister for Regional Development and Infrastructure Ramaz Nikolaishvili in Baku.

“It was emphasized at the meeting that the bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia are developing successfully in various spheres. [Aliyev and Akhalaia] exchanged views over the prospects for cooperation in the defense sphere,” the Azerbaijani President’s press office reported after Aliyev’s meeting with the Georgian Defense Minister.

In a separate press release, the Azerbaijani President’s administration said that Aliyev discussed implementation of bilateral projects, including Baku-Akhalkalaki-Kars railway project, during the meeting with the Georgian Minister for Regional Development and Infrastructure.

Before visiting Baku, the Georgian Defense Minister was in Turkey; in Istanbul on the sideline of the IDEF 2011 defence exhibition, Bacho Akhalaia met on May 12 with his Turkish counterpart Vecdi Gonul to discuss bilateral cooperation. In April Akhalaia was also visiting Yerevan, where he met with his Armenian counterpart Seyran Ohanyan and President Serzh Sargsyan.