Georgia's aspiration to join NATO coincided with Turkey's national interests

Georgia has been invited to a meeting of NATO defence ministers; and at the upcoming summit, according to the head of the NATO office in Tbilisi, the issue of Georgia's accession will be discussed. Amid Turkish authorities' statements against NATO expansion, Ankara will support Georgia's entry into the Alliance, as this will create additional security guarantees for Turkey, experts believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that for more than 25 years, rapprochement with NATO has been one of Georgia's foreign policy priorities. The membership in the Alliance will allow Georgia to feel more secure and stabilize its relations with Russia, political analysts have stated.

Amid Georgia's desire to join NATO, Turkey has blocked the start of consideration of Sweden's and Finland's applications on joining the Alliance.

However, Georgian foreign relations experts believe that Turkey supports Georgia's NATO membership based on both its own interests and the interests of Euro-Atlantic security.

Giorgi Badridze, an analyst at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, has pointed out that for many years Turkey had been supporting Georgia's entry into NATO, since it is in its national and Euro-Atlantic security interests to have Georgia as a stable and secure country.

Mamuka Zhgenti, an expert at the Institute of Georgia's European Values, has recalled that earlier Turkey had helped Georgia, including when the country had serious foodstuff and energy problems.