“I have seen a lot of manipulated distorted facts,” Turkish Ambassador to Georgia Fatma Ceren Yazgan echoed the Namakhvani HPP project.

Turkish Ambassador stressed the communication problems.

“There has been, I think, a communication problem, a serious communication problem. I have seen a lot of manipulated distorted fact in the communications sphere, information sphere. But it doesn’t mean that other issues should be tackled and could be tackled, but most importantly, the communication of what is being done, what will be done, and by whom, and how should be discussed in a very decent and respected manner,” the Ambassador stated regarding the Namakhvani HPP project.

Fatma Ceren Yazgan also stressed anti-Turkish stances in society.

“This big investor in this project is from Turkey and Norway, but nobody’s mentioning Norway, obviously, everybody’s talking about like how the Turks will be invading, or why the land is sold to Turks. So, for me, it is the tip of the iceberg, because for the three years I’ve been here, I’ve been watching the media very carefully. Because in Turkey, we see Georgia is a friendly country. We believe in the history, 11th century, 12th century, 17th century, 19th century, we had wars as everybody had fought to each other. Since the independence of Georgia, in the past 30 years or so we are doing constantly good relations. And we’re benefiting from these relations. So I didn’t think that there would have been such anti-Turkish stances here. And indeed, with the three years, I’ve seen that there are times when it increases, and there are people who are fuelling it. It starts from certain Facebook addresses, which are connected to different xenophobic websites.

Remember the New Zealand Christ Church killer, the guy who went into a mosque and killed, remember what he has on his weapon, symbols from history. They’re using symbols of history. One thing I’ve heard here, which has surprised, and a bit of laughter for me, they asked me if the Kars treaty expires in 2021. I asked, where did that come from? We don’t discuss this issue in Turkey. So, then I understood they were using the treaty, which is marking our borders, as something to twist public opinion. And that’s why I say, no, the Kars treaty is full-fledged in power. Our borders with Georgia are marked. And these borders mean we respect each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. This idea that we respect and support the territorial integrity of Georgia is disturbing for some people outside Georgia because they would like to cause troubles between Georgia and Turkey.

I cannot tell you who I mean, because I have to. I’m a diplomat. And I’m an ambassador. I can give you documents, I can give you web pages, I can give you names. The world has no more borders, they’re sometimes doing it from a web page in the Balkans, sometimes from America, sometimes from Russia, sometimes from Armenia.

So, I think the Namakhvani project in that respect has been a showcase. We have to discuss and see where the problem is and we have to fight against this because this is about manipulating public opinion in Georgia about Turkey and provoking these ideas so that relations sour. No Georgian or Turkish government would permit that,” Fatma Ceren Yazgan declared.

According to the Turkish Ambassador, Georgia is a country that connects very complex economies and is a natural hub.

“Namakhvani HPP projects is also a very good case to put transparent, accountable, responsible investor, and responsive, responsible and protective government, which protects not only the investor but, of course, the public interests of Georgia. This is developing in Georgia. And in all countries, when it comes to protecting the public interests, different groups think differently on what the future of foresters, energy security should be.

Turkish investors and their partners come to Georgia because they believe they would have less headache, and that they will profit. The investors, private business, they’re not charities, they are not grant-funded organizations, they come here to make money. But in the meantime, responsibility means they will ensure that Georgia, the people of Georgia benefit from them either by employment or being partners or being beneficiaries or sites, fringe benefits, SME development, while they’re making their profit.

So this is how I see the investment environments in Georgia. They have opportunities, and there are opportunities potentials, which are yet to be discovered in this region. And this is why this regional cooperation is very important. Georgia is not a small country, Georgia is a country that is connecting very complex economies. It’s a natural hub. Think about all the opportunities,” Fatma Ceren Yazgan declared concluded.