Turkey and Georgia signed Tuesday a protocol to allow their citizens to cross the border between the two countries without passports

Turkey and Georgia signed Tuesday a protocol to enable their citizens to cross the border between the two countries with out passports as a way to boost trade and tourism, local media reported.

Under the protocol signed by diplomats at the Sarpi-Sarp border gate, Turkish and Georgian citizens can travel across the border with their national identity cards from now on, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili inaugurated the Sarpi-Sarp border customs office in Batumi, a Black Sea city in southwest Georgia near the Turkish border, the report stated.

Erdogan described the protocol as "a meaningful development for us along with a special implementation within the world" at the inauguration ceremony.

He said Turkey and Georgia would soon begin constructing the Cildir- Aktas Border Gate, their third border crossing additionally to Sarp- Sarpi and Turkgozu-Vale gates.

Trade volume between Turkey and Georgia has surged from around 240 million U.S. dollars in 2002 to exceed 1 billion dollars as of 2010, even though 90 percent of their land route trade was conducted via border crossings, Erdogan said.

"Turkey and Georgia are the most essential partners for each and every other within the Caucasus region," he was quoted as saying, noting that their strategic partnership contributed remarkably to regional peace, stability, development and security.

Saakashvili stated Turkey is really a powerful country which plays an essential role in its region.

Earlier Tuesday, the two leaders met at the Batumi airport as Turkey's AnadoluJet airlines started direct flights between Turkish capital Ankara and Batumi, based on Anatolia.

The flights would boost tourism between the two countries, Saakashvili stated.

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