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Georgian president arrives on his first two-day official visit to Armenia

YEREVAN, February 27, /ITAR-TASS/. Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili on Thursday arrives on his first two-day official visit to Armenia.

Margvelashvili will hold talks with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan tete-a-tete and after that he will meet with other Armenian top official in an extended format. The agenda will include issues of cooperation and good neighbourly relations between the two countries, the press service of the Georgian head of state reported.

In Echmiadzin, the center of the Armenian Church, Margvelashvili will meet with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

In Yerevan, the Georgian president will lay a wreath to Tsitsernakaberd, a memorial dedicated to the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide that took place in the Ottoman Empire.

Armenia attaches greater significance to the good-neighbourly relations and cooperation ties with neighbouring Georgia. Since Armenia has no border with Russia and no access to the sea, Georgia is the only country, which has railway communication with that country. Grains, gasoline and other cargoes from Russia and other countries are delivered by sea to Georgia’s Black Sea ports of Poti and Batumi and then shipped to Armenia by railway transport.

Armenia “is interested in stability in Georgia,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in 2013, receiving the then Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. “There is not a single issue in the Armenian-Georgian relations that could not be solved through joint discussion,” said Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan.

Yerevan also wants to know more about the socio-economic conditions of ethnic Armenians in Georgia, particularly possibilities to study the native language. According to the Armenian Ministry of Diaspora, about 238,000 Armenians live in Georgia.

Another important area of cooperation between the two countries is tourism. Thanks to its geographical proximity and affordable prices, Georgia is a favourite vacationing destination for Armenian citizens. Thus, more than 1.2 million Armenians visited Georgina in 2013. In terms of tourist flow to Georgia, Armenia ranks second after Turkey.

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