Author: Emil Karabekian

AZG Armenian Daily #186, 15/10/2005
Healthcare
‘GRAND HOLDING’ PRESENTS MODERN EQUIPMENT FOR OPHTHALMOLOGIC CLINIC
Aleksander Malayan, head of Malayan Ophthalmologic Clinic, and Hrant
Vardanian, director of “Grand Holding” signed a cooperation contract on
October 13. According to the contract, Hrant Vardanian will provide the
clinic with equipment that gives the digital image of retina. This is the
last word of ophthalmology. In exchange for the equipment the clinic will
provide the whole staff of “Grant Holding” with medical services free of
charge until the financial sources the company invested will be redeemed.
The cooperation contract is for 30 years. “Grant Holding” will continue
providing the clinic with various medical equipments under the same
conditions. “This contract is in the interests of both the clinic and our
staff and our people,” Hrant Vardanian said. “When I was undergoing
treatment in this clinic I had to leave for Moscow for further treatment at
Fyodorov’s clinic, as we didn’t have that equipment here. Today this problem
is solved,” he said.
According to Mr. Malian, today we should pay more attention to our health,
when each second a man becomes blind and each moment a child loses his
sight. 15 thousand people apply to the ocular clinic and 4 thousand of them
undergo operations annually. If years ago people had problems with eyesight
in the age of 60-65, now the patients apply to the clinic from the age of
50-55. Mr. Malayan conditioned this fact by ecological problems and the fact
that our society is not health conscious.
Mr. Malian said that there are many patients with diabetes and high blood
pressure. This instrument will greatly help in diagnosis of retina even in
the stage when the patient feels no changes in the organism. This example of
cooperation with “Grand Holding” is very important for the fact that the
clinic would be able to purchase the instrument on its on sources only many
years after. Mr. Vardanian assured that he will continue this cooperation,
realizing that the most important wealth of our nation is the health.
By Tamar Minasian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DEMOCRACY WITH DECENTRALIZATION
A1+
| 14:55:40 | 06-10-2005 | Politics |
“Modern democracy is not only division of powers but also their
decentralization,” President of the Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities of the Council of Europe Giovanni Di Stasi stated during
today’s conference.
In his words, it would be illogical to expect Armenia to become a
democratic state within a period of 15 years. Consequently it is
not surprising that the election to the local self-government was
not “absolutely positive” however considerable progress has been
fixed. Mr. Stasi noted that the Congress was glad to know that the
Mayor of Yerevan will be elective henceforth.
To note, the CoE Congress President is in Armenia to propose formation
of a network of local governing bodies of the three South Caucasian
states.
When asked if the formation of such a structure is possible in case the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict is not settled, Mr. Stasi said, “Complicated
situations may be solved via the dialogue established between the
governing bodies”, and addded that the local self-government bodies
can established ties with analogous European structures.
These issues were also raised at the 18th seminar titled “Training
and trans-border cooperation in Europe”, being held in Yerevan October
5-7 with participation of 100 representatives of different countries
including Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
October 5, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
ANCA CHALLENGES STATE DEPARTMENT EFFORT
TO DEFEAT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LEGISLATION
— ANCA Chairman Voices Community’s Concerns in
Letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
“Official U.S. recognition and Turkish
acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide
are not, as the Department argues, obstacles
to improved Armenia-Turkey relations, but
rather essential keys to progress toward the
normalization of relations between these
two states.” — Ken Hachikian
WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
today responded formally to the State Department’s efforts, in the
days leading up to the House International Relations Committee’s
September 15th approval of two resolutions recognizing the Armenian
Genocide, to defeat these measures and prevent official U.S.
recognition of this crime against humanity.
In an October 5th letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian voiced the profound moral outrage of
Armenians over the Administration’s ongoing complicity in Turkey’s
campaign of genocide denial. In his two-page letter, Hachikian
explained the Armenian American community’s opposition, on moral,
geo-political and democratic grounds, to the State Department’s
obstruction of Congressional efforts to reaffirm the Armenian
Genocide. Among the main points raised by Hachikian in the letter
were the following:
* Moral:
“In failing to openly and honestly recognize and commemorate the
Armenian Genocide, the U.S. government dishonors the truth, betrays
the historical record in our very own archives, demeans the
sacrifices of the Foreign Service officers who bore witness to this
crime, and compromises the President’s commitment to ‘moral
clarity.'”
* Geopolitical:
“Official U.S. recognition and Turkish acknowledgement of the
Armenian Genocide are not, as the Department argues, obstacles to
improved Armenia-Turkey relations, but rather essential keys to
reduced tensions and progress toward the normalization of relations
between these two states.”
* Democratic:
“The Department’s assertion that even House floor debate on
Armenian Genocide legislation would harm U.S. interests is both
fundamentally undemocratic and offensive to all those elected to
represent us in our national legislature. A clear bipartisan
Congressional majority supports this legislation and deserves the
right to act upon this matter in a fair and transparent manner.
American interests are served by the open functioning of our
democratic institutions, not by “gag-orders” – imposed by a foreign
government and enforced by our own State Department – regarding
what can and cannot be discussed by members of the U.S. Congress.”
On September 15th, after nearly three hours of debate, the House
International Relations Committee, voted overwhelmingly in favor of
two measures calling for proper U.S. recognition of the Armenian
Genocide (H.Res.316 and H.Con.Res.195) and urging Turkey to end its
decades long denial of this crime against humanity.
The full text of the ANCA letter is provided below.
#####
Text of ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian’s October 5, 2005
letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
October 5, 2005
The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Rice,
I am writing in response to the State Department’s recent letter to
Chairman Henry Hyde, in which Assistant Secretary Matthew Reynolds
expressed the Department’s opposition to legislation under
consideration by the House International Relations Committee
regarding U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide.
Along with all Armenians – here in America, in Armenia, and around
the world – I am profoundly outraged by the Department of State’s
ongoing complicity in Turkey’s campaign of genocide denial. I
would like to briefly share with you our objections to the
Department’s position on moral, geopolitical, and democratic
grounds.
Moral: In failing to openly and honestly recognize and commemorate
the Armenian Genocide, the U.S. government dishonors the truth,
betrays the historical record in our very own archives, demeans the
sacrifices of the Foreign Service officers who bore witness to this
crime, and compromises the President’s commitment to “moral
clarity.”
I can only hope that, through the efforts of men and women of
principle in the U.S. Congress and across our nation, we will, in
short order, witness once again official U.S. recognition of this
crime against humanity, bringing an end to a sad chapter in
American history. When this day comes, all those involved in
perpetuating this denial – particularly those who have lent their
names to this disgraceful undertaking – will, I am certain, look
back in shame on their words and deeds. Just as official U.S.
government apologists for Apartheid in South Africa no doubt regret
their actions today, so too will those who have taken part in
enabling and encouraging Turkey’s hateful denial of the Armenian
Genocide.
Geopolitical: Beyond the moral bankruptcy of the Administration’s
position, the letter reveals a shortsighted and outdated view of
how Turkey’s denial continues to impact the region. Official U.S.
recognition and Turkish acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide
are not, as the Department argues, obstacles to improved Armenia-
Turkey relations, but rather essential keys to reduced tensions and
progress toward the normalization of relations between these two
states.
Democratic: The Department’s assertion that even House floor
debate on Armenian Genocide legislation would harm U.S. interests
is both fundamentally undemocratic and offensive to all those
elected to represent us in our national legislature. A clear
bipartisan Congressional majority supports this legislation and
deserves the right to act upon this matter in a fair and
transparent manner. American interests are served by the open
functioning of our democratic institutions, not by “gag-orders” –
imposed by a foreign government and enforced by our own State
Department – regarding what can and cannot be discussed by members
of the U.S. Congress.
I urge you to reconsider the Department’s failed and profoundly
immoral policy on the Armenian Genocide. I would, of course, be
pleased to meet with you to discuss our views in greater detail.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Sincerely,
[signed]
Kenneth V. Hachikian
Chairman
cc: Members of the U.S. Congress
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
September 24, 2005 Saturday
Armenians living in Georgia demand autonomy for Javakheti district
By Tengiz Pachkoria
TBILISI
Organizations of ethnic Armenians living in southern Georgia have
asked the country’s leadership to consider “a federal structure for
Georgia” and to provide “the status of an autonomous territory” for
Javakheti district.
The appeal was issued at a congress of Armenian organizations of the
Samtskhe-Javakheti region that was held in the town of Akhalkalaki
Saturday.
Ethnic Armenians make up the majority of population in two of the
region’s five districts – Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda, although they
all also live in other parts of the Samtskhe-Javakheti territory.
The congress brought together about 300 activists of the
organizations Virk, Javakh and Young People’s Union, who discussed a
bill wherein the Georgian parliament proposed self-government for
various parts of the country.
The ethnic Armenian activists also asked the Georgian government to
speed up the scrutiny of job-placement opportunities for local
population, since many people are going to lose jobs after Russia
closes a military base in Akhalkalaki.
“Georgian authorities have taken a range of important steps recently
to solve social and economic problems of this territory and to
rehabilitate roads, but they solved far from all the problems,
including jobs for the people,” participants in the forum said.
“The situation with jobs may aggravate after the pullout of the
Russian military base [Russia is due to close its bases in Batumi and
Akhalkalaki in 2008 – Itar-Tass] where thousands of local residents
are working now,” one of the speakers said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Sept 19 2005
RA NA PRESIDENT THANKS GOVENRMENT OF SYRIA FOR GOOD ATTITUDE TOWARDS
ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Issues of the
Armenian-Syrian mutual cooperation were discussed at the September 16
meeting of Artur Baghdasarian, the Chairman of the RA National
Assembly, with Mukhlis Faraun, the acting Charge d’Affaires of Syria
to Armenia.
The Parliament Chairman thanked the Government of Syria for good
attitude towards the Armenians.
As Noyan Tapan was informed by the NA Public Relations Department,
the issue of Syria’s participation in the Arabic cultural center to
open in Yerevan was also discussed.
Artur Baghdasarian presented the process of the constitutional
reforms in Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SEPARATIST S OSSETIA CELEBRATES ‘INDEPENDENCE’
By Giorgi Vashakidze and Susanne Gentz in Tbilisi
ISN, Switzerland
Sept 19 2005
ISN SECURITY WATCH (19/09/05) – The breakaway republic of South
Ossetia on Monday began celebrations for the 15th anniversary of its
“independence” from Georgia, in a ceremony that turned out to be a
gathering of separatist leaders from across the region and beyond,
provoking anger from Tbilisi.
The de-facto leader of the breakaway Georgian republic of Abkhazia,
Sergei Bagapsh, attended the ceremony, as did delegations from
Moldova’s separatist region of Transdniester and Azerbaijan’s
Armenian-occupied breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Notably,
representatives from the Russia State Duma (the lower house of
parliament) were also expected to attend.
The de-facto president of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, announced
that the republic would sign a cooperation agreement on Tuesday with
Abkhazia on economic, cultural, and science exchanges.
In an interview with Russia’s Vremya Novostei newspaper last
Friday, Kokoity accused Georgian special services of masterminding a
provocation against Georgian peacekeepers stationed in the conflict
zone to initiate conflict on the eve of celebration.
Kokoity dismissed Tbilisi’s peace proposal to grant broad autonomy to
South Ossetia within Georgia as lacking constructivism and as a mere
“PR campaign” to please Western countries.
On Sunday, Kokoity agreed with the leader of Russia’s North Ossetian
republic, Teimuraz Mamsurov, to set up a commission to draft a
comprehensive bilateral agreement on “special relations” between
North and South Ossetia. The newly appointed Mamsurov responded by
suggesting that his republic annex Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia.
“I think that there is only one possible way. Ossetia is a divided
nation, which was split within one country [Soviet Union]. That’s
why there can be no other option than reunification,” he was quoted
as saying.
In an interview with ISN Security Watch on Monday, Georgia’s Minister
for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava said: “Any person
crossing the territory of Georgia without state permission must be
considered a criminal and face sanctions according to Georgian law.”
“Kokoity and his government can join whatever country they want,
whether Russia or China does not matter, but the Tskhinvali [South
Ossetia] region is and will remain an integral part of Georgia,”
he said, adding that joining Russia was a “political illusion” that
served to keep the local population appeased.
Dr. George Khutsishvili, head of the Tbilisi-based International
Center on Conflicts and Negotiations think tank, told ISN Security
Watch on Monday that the Russians had far-reaching plans to create a
“small CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States]” comprising Abkhazia,
South Ossetia, Transdniester, and Nagorno-Karabakh.
He said Bagapsh’s visit to South Ossetia for the celebrations was
“no surprise”. “They [the governments of Abkhazia and South Ossetia]
have been traveling to and fro for the last couple of years simply
to show how much they support each other,” he said.
Georgia and South Ossetia were at war from 1990 until 1992, when
the Georgian government was forced to accept a ceasefire with the
separatists in order to avoid a confrontation with Russia. In a parting
shot, Tbilisi also decided to abolish the region’s autonomous status.
In June 2004, after the “Rose Revolution” that ousted veteran leader
Eduard Shevardnadze, the newly elected government under Mikhail
Saakashvili attempted to force Kokoity’s government out of office,
resulting in several clashes that claimed the lives of 17 Georgian
servicemen and an unknown number of Ossetian militiamen that same
month.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]:
PRESS RELEASE
Armenia’s participation in European Heritage Days
August 16, 2005
European Heritage Days Initiative was officially instituted by
the Council of Europe in 1991. Since 1999 this Initiative is run
in co-operation with the European Union under the slogan Europe,
a Common Heritage.
The basic aim of this pan-European campaign is not only to throw open
the doors to historic monuments and sites to the public, but also to
bring citizens of Europe closer to their cultural heritage, to protect
that which is threatened, and to increase public awareness of the
importance of heritage. By respecting cultural diversity, the program
also successfully fights against racism, xenophobia and intolerance. .
This year European Heritage Days will officially begin on September
3 in Prague, Czech Republic. In Armenia, they will be held between
September 3 and September 18, under the title Book for Path, Path for
Book. Several expositions, conferences as well as movie screenings
will be dedicated to the 1600th anniversary of the creation of the
Armenian alphabet. Visits will be arranged to those monuments and
sites where scholars and scribes.
Armenia’s participation in the European Heritage Days is organized by
government departments and public organizations as Yerevan EU Press
office and EU Delegation to Armenia.
The various events will be described in detail during a press
conference at Armenia’s Architect House on August 31st.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse — English
August 8, 2005 Monday 12:59 PM GMT
Bottles and stones fly as pro- and anti-government activists face off
in Azerbaijan
BAKU
Some 300 pro- and anti-government demonstrators in former Soviet
Azerbaijan showered each other with stones and bottles Monday in a
clash over an opposition leader’s alleged contacts with Armenian
secret police, but there were no reports of serious injuries.
A pro-government rally faced off with the opposition across a
traffic-packed street in central Baku just days after prosecutors
announced the arrest of the leader of an anti-government youth group
for his alleged contacts with agents from Azerbaijan’s rival Armenia.
About 150 members of the opposition National Front of Azerbaijan
party chanted “Freedom!” and whistled as an equal number of
pro-government demonstrators shouted into loud speakers just meters
(yards) away, an AFP reporter on the scene saw.
Protestors scattered and regrouped as rocks and bottles thrown by the
opposing sides crashed onto the asphalt.
Police pushed back the opposition supporters, many wearing orange
shirts to echo the “Orange Revolution” that swept Ukraine last year,
until demonstrators from both sides dispersed.
Tensions between the opposition and the authorities have escalated
ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for November 6.
Ruslan Bashirli, the leader of the Yeni Fikir opposition youth
movement, was arrested last week for allegedly planning to overthrow
the government in a plot hatched by Armenian secret police, according
to prosecutors.
A video of a meeting with men prosecutors claim were Armenian agents
posing as democracy activists from fellow former Soviet republics
Armenia and Georgia has been airing on national television in
Azerbaijan since the arrest.
“We’re here because we don’t like what we’ve seen on television.
Bashirli sat at one table with the Armenians,” said 19-year-old Javid
Kerimov who said he supported the government of President Ilham
Aliyev.
One popular TV channel, Lider, has interspersed footage from
Bashirli’s meeting with pictures of Azerbaijanis killed or mutilated
during a bitter war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the early
1990s.
The opposition has denied Bashirli plotted to overthrow the
government, calling the case a state-sponsored smear campaign aimed
at pitting the public against anti-government forces.
“The authorities are creating a situation of civil confrontation, and
they carry responsibility for this,” National Front leader Ali
Kerimli said at a press conference following the demonstration.
“Today the confrontation is small-scale, and we are doing everything
to prevent it expanding any further.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Lunchtimes never sounded so good
By Pat O’Kelly
Irish Independent
Aug 06, 2005
OVER the coming weeks the National Concert Hall presents Summer Sounds
at Lunchtime – a series of events in a variety of styles stemming
from classical, jazz and traditional roots.
Yesterday found the Hall’s organ custodian Peter Sweeney in the
company of trumpeter Eamonn Nolan for a programme of originals and
arrangements.
The latter had HA Fricker’s organ version of the Sibelius tone
poem ‘Finlandia’ seeming to growl and grind more than well-known
orchestral score but an account of the tenor aria from Bach’s ‘Wachet
auf Cantata’, in a trumpet/organ adaptation had Eamonn Nolan producing
velvety mellow tone.
In four marches by Telemann and the majestic ‘Prayer of St Gregory’
by Armenian/American Alan Hovhaness, Mr Nolan was resonantly bright
with accurate pitch against the occasional hesitancy of Peter Sweeney’s
accompaniment.
However, performing on his own Mr Sweeney excelled in the swirl of
Marcel Dupr’s ‘Op 7 Prelude and Fugue’ and encompassed the Finale
from Widor’s ‘6th Organ Symphony’ with the wild abandon necessary to
further its cause.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Czech Rep
July 26 2005
Georgia: Tbilisi Says Russian Officers Behind Gori Bombing
By Jean-Christophe Peuch

A fighter in South Ossetia (file photo)
(AFP)
Georgian officials on 25 July blamed Russian intelligence operatives
for a recent series of attacks in the South Caucasus country. Those
attacks include a fatal car bombing in Gori, the main city of the
Shida Kartli region, near the separatist region of South Ossetia.
Russia denies any involvement in the attacks, and has labeled the
charges a provocation. The accusations are not likely to ease
Georgia’s already troubled relations with Russia.
Prague, 26 July 2005 (RFE/RL) — Georgian Interior Minister Vano
Merabishvili, speaking in Gori on 25 July, announced the arrest last
week of two suspects in a 1 February blast that claimed the lives of
three police officers.
“I would like to express my thanks to the counter-intelligence
department, which has demonstrated an exceptional professionalism in
the past six months, identifying and [eventually] arresting the
people who carried out this terrorist attack,” Merabishvili said.
“The two individuals who parked that notorious car here and then blew
it up have been arrested and will be brought to justice under
Georgian laws.”
Merabishvili said six additional suspects are being sought in
connection with the case. A third man was arrested on 25 July.
Georgian officials had long suspected South Ossetian separatists were
responsible for the blast.
But Georgian analysts have said they believe the blast could be
linked to infighting among rival Gori-based criminal groups
controlling smuggling operations to and from South Ossetia. Several
regional police officials — including Shida Kartli police chief
Aleko Sukhitashvili, the alleged target of the bombing — were
dismissed on suspicion of corruption in March.
Merabishvili on 25 July said confessions obtained from the two
detainees had helped investigators determine the Gori attack had been
planned by a man he identified as Colonel Anatolii Sysoev of the
Russian Army’s Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU.
The interior minister was joined by Givi Targamadze, who heads the
Georgian Parliament’s Defense and Security Committee.
Targamadze accused Russia of using South Ossetia as a base for
carrying out a number of sabotage operations against Georgian
interests — including attacks last year on the country’s electricity
grid that caused severe power outages.
“It is very unfortunate that our suspicions regarding Russia’s
possible direct involvement in our internal conflict [with South
Ossetia] have proved founded,” Targamadze said. “[The Russians] are
directly training groups of saboteurs. We said in the past that we
had information in regard to this. These groups are quite large,
numbering — according to our information — about 120 people. In
addition, there are quite a lot of [Russian] agents on Georgian
territory.”
The Interior Ministry later released a police video purporting to
show one of the detainees admitting to playing a role in the Gori
attack.
Investigators have identified the man as Gia Valishvili, an ethnic
Georgian who said he recently changed his name to Valiev. In the
video, Valiev described how he and his accomplices organized the
attack, planting 70 kilograms of TNT in a car left outside the Gori
police headquarters.”It is very unfortunate that our suspicions
regarding Russia’s possible direct involvement in our internal
conflict [with South Ossetia] have proved founded.” Georgian
parliamentarian Givi Targamadze
Valiev claimed the mastermind of the attack was a Russian, a man whom
he identifies simply as Igor. In the video, Valiev said Igor
suggested the explosives be connected to a detonator hidden in a
cigarette pack in the car’s glove box.
“The explosives had a special detonator that Igor had prepared,”
Valiev said. “The mechanism was hidden in a pack of Yava cigarettes.
Two wires were protruding from the pack and were connected to an
explosive capsule. On the side of the pack was a switch. After the
mechanism was activated, it would go off within 15 minutes if neither
the car nor the pack were moved. If the car or the pack was moved, it
would go off within two hours.”
Valiev never mentions Anatolii Sysoev by name. But Georgian
investigators say the GRU operative is the same man Valiev identifies
as Igor.
In a fresh police video released on 26 July, Valiev told
investigators that Igor and other GRU operatives had established a
headquarters with Russian peacekeepers in the South Ossetian capital
of Tskhinvali.
`In the second half of 2004, around 15 August, the GRU took us to the
Daryal Gorge in [neighboring] North Ossetia,” Valiev said. “We were
trained at the 58th [Russian] army base. Our instructors were
Russian. They taught us how to fire various weapons, assault rifles
in particular, how to lay mines and use various pieces of heavy
equipment. There were some 90 of us from [South] Ossetia at the
base.’
Georgian officials have been careful not to implicate the Russian
government in the attack. But the allegations have still sparked
anger in Moscow.
Yevgenii Ivanov, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi,
rejected suggestions his country could be behind the Gori attack.
“We categorically deny any possible involvement of Russian officials,
or [government] institutions, in any illegal action committed on
Georgian territory,” Ivanov said.
In comments made to Russia’s state-controlled Channel One television,
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Sedov also rejected
Merabishvili’s accusations.
Sedov said Moscow is “accustomed to seeing the Georgians make
mountains out of molehills.” In this case, he added, there wasn’t
even a molehill to begin with.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tbilisi’s claims
“would neither help normalize the situation in South Ossetia, nor
contribute to the further development of Russian-Georgian ties.”
Relations between Georgia and Russia have long been tense, despite
the mild rapprochement that followed Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili’s election in 2004.
Tbilisi accuses Russia of supporting separatist regimes in South
Ossetia and Abkhazia, while Moscow blames Georgia for allegedly
allowing Chechen militants onto its territory.
Addressing an emergency security meeting in Tbilisi, Saakashvili on
25 July praised investigators for arresting suspects in connection
with the Gori bombing. But he said claims that Russian individuals
are involved in the attack should not harm ties with Moscow.
“I would like to stress that although there are clear indications
that foreign citizens were involved in these operations — and we
have ample documented evidence of that — I want everyone to know
that we all have that information, but that we don’t want to use it
for confrontation,” Saakashvili said. “We don’t want cooperation with
Russia [in the anti-terrorism fight] to turn into confrontation. We
want full cooperation with the Russian Federation, with its
appropriate services and their heads, as well as with [its]
government on issues related to the fight against terrorism.”
Meanwhile, Russian media on 26 July said Georgia’s accusations are
likely to prompt increased tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi.
In a commentary, Russia’s state-controlled Radio Mayak said the
claims are “absurd” and that there are no possible motives for Moscow
to be involved.
Other Russian media note that Targamadze and other Georgian officials
have also suggested Moscow might be behind a recent failed grenade
attack on U.S. President George W. Bush during a visit to Tbilisi in
May.
An ethnic Armenian resident of Tbilisi, identified as 27-year-old
Vladimir Arutyunian, was arrested last week on suspicion of throwing
a Russian-made device at Bush and Saakashvili while the two
presidents were addressing a large crowd on Tbilisi’s Freedom Square.
The grenade reportedly failed to go off due to a malfunction.
Although Arutyunian has suggested in a police video that he acted
alone, Georgian investigators on 25 July said they were looking for
possible accomplices.