ARMENIAN SIDE HANDS AZERI CITIZEN OVER TO AZERBAIJAN
Noyan Tapan
Au g 14, 2008
YEREVAN, AUGUST 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian side handed Azeri citizen
Arzu Noradin-ogli Eyubov over to representatives of Azerbaijan at the
Kayanavan-Kazakh section of the Armenian-Azeri border at 2:40 pm on
August 14, NT was informed by the press service of the RA ministry
of defence.
WESTERN DIOCESE CELEBRATES THE RISE OF THE MOTHER CATHEDRAL
Noyan Tapan
Au g 15, 2008
BURBANK, AUGUST 15, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. On September 14,
2008 at the Nazareth and Sima Kalaydjian Hall of the Arshag and Eleanor
Dickranian Diocesan Complex in Burbank a Banquet will be held. During
the evening, organized by the U.S. Western Diocese, the members of
the Armenian Community will have a chance to share in the joy of the
May 3rd commencement of the construction of the Mother Cathedral.
RF AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA: NEITHER RF NOR PROGRESSIVE MANKIND SUPPORTS FORCE SETTLEMENT OF CONFLICTS
arminfo
2008-08-14 15:35:00
ArmInfo. ‘Neither RF nor progressive mankind supports force settlement
of conflicts. Conflicts must be settled at a negotiating table’,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of RF to Armenia Nikolay
Pavlov said at a press conference Thursday.
As regards the settlement of Karbakh conflict, OSCE Minsk Group
is the most successful format. No other format is necessary, the
Ambassador said. ‘The most important is that negotiations are in
process, foreign ministers and presidents meet. It inspires us with
hope that the problem will be settled by peace methods’, the Russian
diplomat said. The Ambassador said that the attempt of Georgian
authorities to settle territorial conflict by force will become a
lesson for other politicians who were thinking of force settlement
of territorial issues.
ARMENIA WINS THIRD BRONZE IN BEIJING OLYMPICS
ARMENPRESS
Aug 13, 2008
YEREVAN, AUGUST 13, ARMENPRESS; Armenian weightlifter, twice champion
of Europe Gevorg Davtian (77 kg) won bronze medal in the Beijing
Olympics, thus bringing the third bronze to Armenia. The winner of
the gold became South Korean San Chzhunyuki.
Armen Vardanian, representing Ukraine in Greco-Roman style wrestling,
also won bronze, defeating Bulgarian Nikolay Gerkov.
VN MASTERS DRAW, DROP DOWN
VietNamNet Bridge
13:28′ 13/08/2008 (GMT+7)
Vietnam
VietNamNet Bridge – Both representatives of Vietnam drew in the World
Junior Chess Championship’s ninth round on Monday, bringing them both
down in ranking.
The ninth seed of the tournament Grand Master (GM) Nguyen Ngoc
Truong Son (Elo 2,579) tied unexpectedly with International Master
(IM) Hrant Melkumyan (Elo 2,507) from Armenia while GM Le Quang Liem
(Elo 2,577) drew with Indian IM Arun Prasad Subramanian (Elo 2,492).
Son now has six points and ranks 11th, one spot lower than the
day before.
The draw has worse consequences for Liem, with 5.5 points, shooting
him down three spots from 20th to 23rd. It was an upset for the master
who was seeded No 10 and considered a potential tide candidate.
In the next round, Son will play Chinese GM Wen Yang whose Elo
rating is 2,487 and Liem will face the Turkish master Atakan Sirin
(Elo 2,107).
Both rivals are considered weaker than the Vietnamese representatives,
with lower Elo ratings.
As for the rest of the international crowd, the youngsters’ fighting
spirits carried on and the top spot changed hands again.
GM Maxim Rodshtein (Elo 2,605) of Israel crowned his comeback with
a victory over one of the joint leaders GM Chao Li (Elo 2,590)
from China.
However, the new sole leader is German IM Arik Braun who scored a vital
win against Chinese Women GM Hou Yifan (Elo 2,557) with white pieces.
England’s GM David Howell, the player with the longest and most
thrilling games, faced GM Ivan Popov (Elo 2,549) at the other side
of the table and defeated him.
Braun now leads with 7.5 points followed by Howell with seven. Fourth
to seventh places went to Li, GM Eltaj Safarli (Elo 2,527) of
Azerbaijan and Filipino GM Wesley So (Elo 2,577) respectively.
On the girls’ side, Indian IM Dronavalli Harika (Elo 2,461) drew with
her fellow patriot Women IM Swaminathan Soumya (Elo 2,293) to defend
her lead with 7.5 points.
WGM Mariya Muzychuk (Elo 2,413) of Ukraine drew with Women FIDE Master
(WFM) Guliskan Nakhbayeva (Elo 2,170) from Kazakhstan, Muzychuk
follows Harika at seven points together with WIM Miranda Mikadze
(Elo 2,258) of Georgia who defeated Russian WFM Zoja Severiukhina
(Elo 2,300) to share second and third places.
The world tournament, which kicked off on August 2 and will close this
Saturday, has drawn the participation of 195 masters from 60 countries.
The championships are under the auspices of FIDE and the organisation
of the Turkish Chess Federation and Sehitkamil Municipality.
The winner of each group will be the player with the most points
after the 13-round-robin format.
GEORGIAN PRESIDENT’S SPEECH AT RALLY OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT
RedOrbit
12 August 2008, 15:00 CDT
TX
The following is an excerpt from a speech by Georgian President
Mikheil Saakashvili at a rally outside the parliament building in
central Tbilisi on 12 August, which was broadcast live by state-
funded Georgian Public Television Channel 1. Earlier on 12 August
BBCM processed parts of the speech in which Saakashvili talked about
Georgia leaving the Commonwealth of Independent States and "Russian
invaders" continuing "ruthless, heartless destruction" of Georgians.
[Saakashvili] My dears, my compatriots, the whole world is watching
us today. I would be glad to see the world interested in our affairs
for a much better reason. Now, as I am speaking, the invader who
came from Russia is continuing the ruthless and cruel destruction of
my compatriots, our multiethnic citizens, representatives of various
ethnic groups. As a president of our country, I am in a very difficult
situation today. I was travelling on the [main] highway when they
started entering Zugdidi. I arrived in Zugdidi, turned back, and I
was watching how aircraft were flying down and bombing us, and how
every one of us was targeted by this ruthless, cruel and sadistic
force, but I could do nothing to protect my compatriots. I will never
forget that. But I want to tell you one thing: Together with you,
I will make these rascals pay dear. We shall be victorious without
fail. [Passage omitted: asks the rally to observe a minute’s silence
for the people killed in the conflict]
What did Russia want from Georgia? Does not Russia have
territories? Does not Russia have towns and villages? Does not Russia
have sufficient oil, gas, and everything else? What does Russia
want in tiny Georgia? What did Russia want in the small, beautiful
mountainous town of Tskhinvali, which it destroyed and turned into
another Groznyy over the last few days? Have these people learned
nothing from civilization? Have they learned absolutely nothing
since the Mongol [invasion]? Are they, like those Mongols, going
to continue confronting the civilized world? What they want is not
Abkhazia. What they want is not Tskhinvali. What they want is not
even Georgia itself. They do not want freedom, and that is why they
want to step on Georgia.
I want to tell you that there is no confrontation between us. We did
not want to start shooting at anyone. What could be worse than one
human being killed by another human being? In Kekhvi and Tamarasheni
[Georgian-populated villages in South Ossetia], where they are gunning
down my compatriots, where they are setting up concentration camps,
where Russian troops, who are not allowing European observers there,
are creating a new Srebrenica on the instructions of Vladimir Putin,
in the same towns and villages where we built kindergartens, schools, a
hospital, houses and roads over the last few months. They were closing
roads, and we were building roads. They were destroying our houses,
and we were building better houses for people. They closed a road to
a hospital, and we built a new hospital. They banned young people’s
movement, and we built sports grounds and swimming pools. They were
shooting from automatic rifles while we brought ensembles to entertain
people and make their lives better. And then Putin and his group could
not bear it any more, and they said: From now on, the only thing this
place will see will be Russian bombs and Russian cluster munitions
banned by an international convention.
What did Russian troops want in the Kodori Gorge and Upper
Abkhazia? You know that since we restored order there, there has been
nothing but peace and development in Kodori. [Passage omitted: says
that Georgia build social infrastructure and restored law and order in
the upper Kodori Gorge after 15 years of lawlessness; accuses Russia
of bombing a children’s skiing school in the gorge]
The next time Putin goes skiing to Switzerland, I want him to be
reminded that he bombed a skiing resort for children and killed our
children and our citizens there. I do not want the world to ever
forget about this. The world should always remind these people,
who committed these military crimes, about this. [Passage omitted:
says that Georgians have nothing against ethnic Ossetians and Abkhaz;
accuses Russia of heavily bombing Tskhinvali for four days since
Georgian troops left the town; talks about economic embargoes and
other problems that Georgia faced over the last few years]
We were building new roads, new schools, new hospitals. I want
to tell you that the new world-standard hospital in Gori, which I
viewed as my personal achievement, the new hospital in Gori in which
our doctors heroically worked for four days to help injured ethnic
Ossetians, Georgians, Russians, Ukrainians and everyone else, two
hours ago, on the orders of the Russian military, was hit by the most
precision-guided tactical weapon. They blew up this hospital. There
are injured and dead. Their targets are not the military. They are
targeting doctors. They are targeting clergy. [Passage omitted: says
that a religious building and a school were bombed] Their targets
are not the Georgian military. Because casualties among the Georgian
military after their bombings were minimal. These days, their targets
are humanity and justice. Their target is the people’s independence
and spirit. Their target is your existence and your spirit, my dears
and my compatriots.
I want us to understand why they carried out this exemplary
punishment of Georgia and what Georgia means for the rest of the
world today. Georgia represents a boundary between good and evil,
between civilization and brutality, a society respecting human
rights and a society that ignores human rights and is irritated
by human dignity. [Passage omitted: says that the world views the
Georgian-Russian conflict as a David and Goliath struggle] [The crowd
chants: "Misha, Misha", and "Georgia, Georgia"]
But I would like to tell you my dear that Russian tanks crushed
our defenceless women and children gathered here, in this square,
19 years ago [in April 1989]. I was much younger then, but I learned
a bitter lesson, and I said that they would not be able to operate
with impunity on Georgian territory.
And I would like to tell you that over the last five days the Russian
army, the Russian Armed Forces suffered a greater loss over a short
period of time than in any bilateral conflict since Russia’s attack
on Finland in 1939. And I want to thank our troops who achieved this.
I would like to tell you that we are a small nation, we have a small
professional army, we are not a militarized society, we cannot –
people, they came in. If anyone had doubts, they brought 1,200 tanks
into Georgia in one hour, 1,200 tanks, more than they brought into
Afghanistan in the first days [of the operation], more than they
brought into Hungary, more than they brought into Czechoslovakia in
1968. Georgia, Tbilisi of 2008 is a Prague of 1968, is a Budapest of
1956, is a Finland and Karelia of 1939. Georgia is a European nation,
a small European nation which has said that it will not put up with
violence, which has said that it will never give up its independence.
Georgians have shot down 21 flying apparatus with essentially most
simple of means. [Applause] Over 400 invaders have been destroyed. I
would like to tell you that this does not make me happy at all. It
does not make me happy at all that the Russian pilot whom we shot
down had a trolley bus pass for the city of Moscow. People, what
did the man had to do – A retired pilot was put in a plane, sent
to punish and destroy another country, instead of letting the man
to have normal life in his country, with his family, his children
and grandchildren. Is it not a huge crime to even send such a man to
certain death in a foreign country which has never had anything against
Russia, and we do not have anything against the Russian people either.
I would like to tell them that we are very sorry about every
death. But I would also like to say that 90 per cent of the most
elite special-purpose unit of the GRU [Russia’s Main Intelligence
Directorate], Vympel, 78 people, dropped on the Tliaqana hill, in
the heart of Georgia, in one go, were completely destroyed by our 20
fighters who were there, who did not go away and remained there till
the end. [Applause]
I would like to say that we have also destroyed more than 50 tanks
and other armoured hardware of the opponent; we have destroyed scores
of other firing points; we have destroyed a very large number of
weapons. They are now saying that we had Americans in the army, that
we had French. Russian TV is telling me that we had Ukrainians in our
tanks. I want to tell you that there was not a single Ukrainian or
American in our tanks, or in our armed forces. But we had citizens of
our country; we had ethnic Ossetians, ethnic Georgians, ethnic Abkhaz,
ethnic Russians and ethnic Ukrainians who defended their homeland,
Georgia, and will always defend it whenever we need it. [Applause]
I would like to tell everyone, friends, I would like to tell everyone
that our path is a path of freedom. A classic plan for eradicating
freedom is being implemented against Georgia today. Democracy was
destroyed in Russia. People who destroyed the Chechen people, for
example, took over Russia. More than 80,000 people have died in the
town of Groznyy alone. And today it is they who are lecturing us. It
is these people who are repeating the tragedy of Groznyy in Tskhinvali.
And then Russia, which has made huge money, decided that it was time to
reclaim lost territories. As always, Georgia has again turned out to be
the most desirable diamond for the Russian imperial crown. If Georgia
falls, Ukraine will have problems; if Georgia falls, Lithuania, Latvia
and Estonia will have problems; if Georgia falls, the entire civilized
world will have problems. This is our fate – the frontline of defence
of the entire civilized world and democracy passes through Georgia.
I would wish – I would not spill a single drop of blood of our
citizens for anything. But you should know one thing. This was a
conscious choice of our citizens. This was the choice of our boys
who went to defend their country. This was the choice of the doctors
who have worked day and night at our hospitals. This is the choice
of our society.
I would like to tell everyone that in 1921 Rustaveli [Tbilisi’s main
avenue] was empty. We all were in conflict with each other. Georgia was
divided. There was no desire to put up resistance and Russia’s 11th
Army, commanded by Georgian representatives Stalin and Orjonikidze,
entered Georgia and took the fragmented, divided Georgia in just a
couple of days. This is a repeat of that plan.
We are having a day of mourning today but I nevertheless asked you
to gather here because they must see that Rustaveli is no longer
empty. This is not 1921. We are in the 21st century and Georgia stands
united. [Applause]
[Passage omitted: Saakashvili thanked opposition leaders and MPs for
their support; said exiled former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili
(a native of South Ossetia) rang him the previous night to say that
he wanted to return to Georgia and join the reservists. He said
he was ready to forget every offence when it came to Georgia and
its statehood. He said it was time to forgive and extend a hand of
friendship. His remarks were greeted with applause and chants "Misha,
Misha" and "Georgia, Georgia"]
I would like to tell you one thing. Over these days we have suffered
a massive strike. People have died. But the nation is not dead,
and what does not kill a nation makes it stronger. Therefore, as
a result of this blow we shall be twice as strong as we have been,
to spite them. [Applause; chants "Georgia, Georgia"]
I would like to say thank-you to the entire international
community. This morning in Gori they used a bomb banned by
international conventions to kill a Dutch journalist who wanted to
report the truth about what is happening in Georgia. When I went
to the frontline to bring back with me the lads from Tskhinvali,
a Russian journalist approached me and asked us to let him through
to Tskhinvali. Our lads asked him not to go because the Russians,
their compatriots, were shooting there. He pleaded with us that he
should be allowed to go at his own risk. He also asked if he could
take a few pictures of us, with me in military uniform, which I
did. So he went there, but was killed half an hour later by snipers
on the Russian army’s side.
I would like to tell everyone, members of the families of the
journalists who were killed, the doctors who were killed and those
were wounded and maimed that the Georgian nation will never forget the
fact that you have started to report the truth. In 1956 in Budapest,
there were no journalists or TV channels. Very little was reported
from Prague in 1958. Live TV reports still did not exist in 1979 in
Afghanistan. Now the whole world watched the tragedy of Georgia live
on TV. The world order will never be the same again.
I would like to thank representatives of all our ethnic groups. People,
Georgia belongs to all of you, Georgia belongs to Ossetians, Georgia
belongs to Abkhaz, Georgia belongs to Georgians, Georgia belongs
to Georgia’s regions, Georgian Armenians, Georgian Azerbaijanis,
Georgian Russians, Georgian Ukrainians. We are not against anyone. We
are certainly not against the Russian nation. I know full well that
the Russians are not just Putin. Russia’s policy is currently Putin
alone. But in the future we will certainly find each other again
because something that has been built over the centuries cannot be
destroyed like this by one maniacal megalomaniac.
Georgia has never been freer than today. Today Georgia has been harmed
but is also more proud than ever before. I want to tell the whole world
this. They can try to bomb us, destroy us, attack us and deploy 2,000
more tanks – although tanks are nothing on Georgian soil – they can
threaten us, but there is one thing that is as clear as day to me:
Georgia will never be brought down to its knees and Georgian will
never surrender. [Applause] [Passage omitted: more on importance of
freedom and unity]
I would like to inform you about our decisions. We have made the
decision, after consultation with the chairman of parliament, to
announce that Georgia is leaving the Commonwealth of Independent
States, the CIS. [Applause] We are saying a final farewell to the
Soviet Union. The Soviet Union will never return here. [Applause] We
call on Ukraine and other CIS member states to leave this organization
administered by Russia, which does not listen to anyone in doing
so. [Applause]
We have made the decision that, together with withdrawing recognition
for the Russian peacekeeping mission in Abkhazia – I told the American
president and other world leaders about this yesterday – we have made
the decision to declare the Russian army in Abkhazia an occupying army
and declare Abkhazia and South Ossetia occupied territories. [Applause]
I want to tell you that until the last occupier leaves Georgian soil,
there will be no peace for any Georgian and there will be no peace
for any occupier. It will never be easy for them to find a peaceful
place on this soil.
[Passage omitted: praises Georgians for fighting for freedom]
The Georgian army is a tenth of the number of people who have gathered
here. But the real Georgian army, the full Georgian army is you. You
are the most courageous army in the world. That is why neither the 58th
[Russian] Army nor the Pskov division can defeat such an army. They
sent the same units here that took Budapest in 1956 – the Pskov
division. They deployed the same tanks here that entered Prague in
1968. We were bombed by the same pilots who bombed Afghanistan. But
just as they failed to defeat Czechoslovakia, just as they failed to
defeat Hungary, just as Afghanistan where the debris of Russian tanks
are lying around as they are on the road to Gori – [changes tack]
We will be as free as all the nations I have listed and will be very
successful and very happy. [Applause, chants of Misha, Misha]
[Passage omitted: thanks the Lithuanian foreign minister for
solidarity; thanks the presidents of Ukraine, Poland, Latvia,
Lithuania, Estonia and France for deciding to visit Georgia; urges
demonstrators to accompany him to the Holy Trinity Cathedral in
Tbilisi after the rally where they would "pray for peace in Georgia"
and then return to the area outside parliament at 1600 gmt to greet
the "six presidents"; Saakashvili and demonstrators sign the Georgian
national anthem at the end of his speech]
Originally published by Channel 1, Tbilisi, in Georgian 1210 12 Aug 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union. Provided by ProQuest
Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
BIG POWERS URGE RUSSIA TO ACCEPT TRUCE
By Matthew Lee
Associated Press
Monday August 11 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) – The world’s seven largest economic powers on Monday
urged Russia to accept an immediate cease-fire with Georgia and agree
to mediation over the crisis as Russian forces continued advances
into Georgian territory.
With conditions deteriorating despite similar repeated calls, Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice and her colleagues from the Group of Seven
leading industrialized nations pledged their support for a negotiated
solution to the conflict that has been raging since Friday between
the former Soviet republic and Russia, the State Department said.
"We want to see the Russians stand down," deputy spokesman Robert
Wood told reporters. "What we’re calling on is for Russia to stop
its aggression."
President Bush has criticized the violence, calling it unacceptable
and that Russia’s response was disproportionate. Bush planned to
make a statement about Georgia on Monday evening at the White House,
shortly after arriving back in Washington from Beijing where he was
attending the Olympics, the White House said.
Ahead of that, Rice and the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada,
France, Germany, Italy and Japan spoke in a conference call, during
which they noted that Georgia had agreed to a cease-fire and wanted
to see Russia sign on immediately, he said, adding that the call was
one of more than 90 that Rice has made on the matter since Friday.
They called on Russia to respect Georgia’s borders and expressed deep
concern for civilian casualties that have occurred and noted that
Georgia had agreed to a cease-fire and said the ministers wanted to
see Russia sign on immediately as urgent consultations at the United
Nations and NATO were expected, according to Wood.
The seven ministers also backed a nascent mediation efforts led by
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country currently
holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, and Finnish
Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, whose country now holds the chair
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, he said.
The Group of Seven, or G7, is often expanded into what is known as
the G8, a grouping that includes Russia, but Russia’s Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov was notably not included in the call.
Wood said the United States was hopeful that the U.N. Security Council
would pass a "strong" resolution on the fighting that called for an
end to attacks on both sides as well as mediation but prospects for
such a statement were dim given that Russia wields a veto on the
15-member body.
A U.S. senior U.S. diplomat, Matthew Bryza, is now in Tbilisi and
working with Georgian and European officials there on ways to calm
the situation.
Bryza plans to stay in Georgia for several days and doesn’t plan to
travel elsewhere, according to Wood.
Meanwhile, the State Department said it has evacuated more than 170
American citizens from Georgia. Wood said two convoys carrying about
170 private U.S. citizens along with a number of family members of
U.S. diplomats based in Georgia left Tbilisi on Sunday and Monday
for neighboring Armenia.
The U.S. Embassy in Georgia has distributed an initial contribution
of $250,000 in humanitarian relief to victims of the fighting and
is providing emergency equipment to people in need, although those
supplies will run out later Monday, the department said.
The developments came as swarms of Russian jets launched new raids
on Georgian territory outside the initial conflict point of South
Ossetia and Georgia faced the threat of a second front of fighting
with Russia demanding that it disarm troops near the breakaway province
of Abkhazia.
The Pentagon said it had finished flying some 2,000 Georgian troops
back home from Iraq on C-17 aircraft at Georgia’s request.
It said it had informed the Russians about the flights before they
began in order to avoid any mishaps, but Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin harshly criticized the step, saying it would hamper
efforts to resolve the situation by reinforcing Georgian assets in a
"conflict zone."
Wood rejected the criticism, saying: "We’re not assisting in any
conflict."
Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said the U.S. flew the
Georgians out of Iraq as part of a prior agreement that transport
would be provided in case of an emergency.
Pentagon officials said Monday that U.S. military was assessing the
fighting every day to determine whether less than 100 U.S. trainers
should be pulled out of the country.
There had been about 130 trainers, including a few dozen civilian
contractors, but the civilians had been scheduled to rotate out of
the country and did so over the weekend, Whitman said. The remaining
uniformed trainers were moved over the weekend to what officials
believe is a safer location, he said.
Whitman said Defense Secretary Robert Gates had spoken in the last few
days to both his Georgian and Russian counterparts, but he declined to
say what they discussed. He said Gates also spoke twice to Georgia’s
president – both times about U.S. help in getting the Georgian troops
back to their country.
The conflict began there on Thursday when Georgia tried to regain
control of the breakaway region. The United States recognizes it
as part of Georgia but it has been under de facto Russian control
for years.
SINCE 7 AUGUST GEORGIAN OIL AND GAS CORPORATION HAS REDUCED GAS SUPPLY TO ARMENIA WITHOUT WARNING FOR 30%
arminfo
2008-08-11 15:37:00
ArmInfo. Since 7 August Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation has reduced
the volume of natural gas supply to Armenia without warning for
30%. At the same time Gazprom fully ensures the volume of natural
gas supply to South Caucasus, press-secretary of CJSC "ArmRosgazprom"
Shushan Sardaryan told ArmInfo correspondent.
Specialists of Oil and Gas Corporation of Georgia explain the situation
by the fact that at present test is being held at the gas pipeline
with 700 mm diameter of the pipe and this requires gas pressure rising
in the system.
The volumes of natural gas which were not received by Armenia are
being supplied from the underground gas storage.
Today.Az, Azerbaijan
Aug 9 2008
Zeyno Baran: "Situation in South Ossetia has reached the limit, when
Saakashvili was not able to close eyes on the occupation of a part of
his land"
09 August 2008 [12:10] – Today.Az
Day.Az interview with Zeyno Baran, director of the program on Eurasian
policy of the Hudson Institute (US).
– What do you think of the events, which occurred in Tskhinvali region
of Georgia on Friday?
– The situation in South Ossetia is quite serious. It is worsened by
the intervention of Russian troops, which clashed with the Georgian
militaries directly.
– Do you think the actions of Russian servicemen in the conflict area
in Georgia are really far from the peacekeeping?
– I think, the groups, supported by Russia (I mean both South Ossetia
and Abkhazia) continue to raise tensions. Decisions in Russia are
taken not only by negotiators with US and EU on external political
problems but also servicemen and security forces. The previous and
current presidents of Russia Putin and Medvedev stated from the very
beginning of their coming to power that they will prevent Georgia’s
NATO accession by all means.
Any provocative actions have been expected primordially in these two
separatist regions of Georgia for some unknown reason, while now the
situation may get out of control, therefore, it is necessary for
Russia to disavow its previous positions and come to the negotiation
table with Georgia, NATO, EU and USA.
– Is further military clash between Georgia and Russia possible?
– Yes, unfortunately, there is now a serious threat of war.
– There is an opinion that Saakashvili could not take such a critical
step as initiative of release of the occupied lands by force, without
White House approval…
– This is a completely wrong opinion. As is known, the diversions in
the conflict area continued through the past weeks and the United
States called on Georgia not to react to these provocations and
continue search of the peaceful way out of the situation. I would like
to note that if not for the US intensive attempt to reconcile the
parties, the events, we are witnessing now, would have occurred even
earlier.
– What do you think Georgian President should do to settle the
established situation?
– The situation has previously been kept under control, but after
escalation of tensions, Saakashvili was already not able to close eyes
on the fact of occupation of a part of his lands.
There is a chance to come to mutual understanding with South Ossetian
representatives. It is necessary for the United States, EU and Russia
to come to a common denominator during discussions on the said problem
in the UN.
– Can the events in South Ossetia influence Nagorno Karabakh conflict
in some way?
– Possible threat to Georgia’s sovereignty will cause damage to the
whole region. Naturally, if the territorial integrity of Georgia is
not ensured (by the way, the United States has always supported
official Tbilisi in this issue), it will undoubtedly affect the
Karabakh problem as well.
/Day.Az/
URL:
Sunday’s Zaman, Turkey
Aug 10 2008
Could South Ossetia become Kosovo?
by
SAVAÅ? GENÃ?*
One of the legacies of the Soviet Union is ethnic and border conflicts
it left as it collapsed. The eagerness of the US and Russia to expand
their spheres of influences is behind clashes between South Ossetia
and Georgia as well their pursuit of independence.
Mikheil Saakashvili, who came to power in Georgia with the promise of
preventing ethnic problems and separatist movements after the
country’s Rose Revolution, tried to form an alternative power focus
against separatist movements in South Ossetia after successfully
resolving problems in Georgia’s Ajaria region. The Tbilisi government,
led by a Saakashvili concerned with the probable prevention of his
plans by Moscow and uneasy with the latter’s influence in the region,
arrested several Russian soldiers who were serving in the Russian
peacekeeping force that was part of a multinational force stationed in
the country on the grounds that they did not possess proper visas. He
further announced that these arrested Russian troops would be deported
from South Ossetia following a parliamentary decision. The Saakashvili
administration, which sought to create a new peacekeeping force free
of any Russian contribution, announced that it wanted to station a new
peacekeeping force operating under UN command in the region. The
acceptance of this request could be viewed as the recognition of
Russian domination of Georgia. As is known, South Ossetia, which
declared unilateral independence from Georgia in 1990, was seized by
Georgian troops for the second time yesterday. Following an attack by
Georgian forces on South Ossetia after this decision in January 1991,
bloody clashes took place between the parties. Some 1,000 died in the
conflict and 100,000 people were forced to leave their homes.
The leaders, who realized that the issue will not be resolved through
conflict, decided to sign a cease-fire agreement in July 1992 and form
a joint peacekeeping force with the participation of South Ossetians,
North Ossetians, Georgians and Russians. In June 2002 the Georgian
president announced a new Conciliation Plan with Ossetia and stressed
that they would focus on economic projects for the improvement of the
region. He made several further attempts to restore Georgian influence
in the region and ensure Georgian territorial integrity.
South Ossetians declared independence from Russia two times: after a
referendum held in 1993 and another held in 2001. General elections
were held in 2006 and the South Ossetian people overwhelmingly
supported independence from Georgia with a clear majority of 99
percent of the vote. In the elections, Eduard Kokoity won the
presidency. All these elections and referendums showed that the South
Ossetians wanted independence, also sending a clear message to the
world that they did not want to remain under the control of the
Georgian administration.
Resistance against Ossetian independence
Saakashvili, who refused to recognize the election results and
organized alternate elections after which he formed a pro-Georgian
administrative unit, announced that he recognized Dmitri Sanakoev as
the leader of South Ossetia. The Tbilisi administration, which took
action to create an autonomous unit in South Ossetia under the
leadership of Sanakoev, called on the Kokoity administration to give
up their ambitions for independence and support this entity. With this
move, he showed that he would resist Ossetian aspirations for
independence and rely on resources available to him to prevent
Ossetian independence.
The Ossetian people and Kokoity, who expressed disagreement with this
entity, turned to the UN, the EU and the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) for the recognition of South Ossetia after Kosovo
declared independence on Feb. 17, 2008. The South Ossetian parliament,
which asserted that Kosovo’s independence set a precedent, argued that
a decision to declare independence — to be made by ethnic groups —
should have priority over the territorial integrity of the sovereign
state. Lastly, an announcement made by US Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza, who noted
that a regional issue in Karabakh could be resolved by referendum,
raised hopes among South Ossetians for independence while causing
uneasiness and concern in the Georgian administration.
Georgia, whose membership in NATO was prevented by Russia at a NATO
summit in Bucharest in early April 2008 because of its regional issues
with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, is seeking to resolve its problems by
relying on its own methods in an attempt to integrate with the
world. The Georgian administration, which is eager to maintain close
ties with the EU and become a NATO member as soon as possible, seeks
to reduce Russian influence by gradually escalating tension in the
region.
The Tbilisi administration, which sought to clamp down on independence
plans by staging a sudden attack in South Ossetia on the night of
Aug. 7, seems to have had its last chance in South Ossetia before the
realization of the possibility of resolving the Karabakh issue through
a referendum. This operation, which will affect the internal politics
of Georgia, does seem to have been resolved by military means by the
Georgian army in the presence of Russians in the region. The Council
of Europe, which demands a cease-fire and an immediate end of violence
by the Georgian army, will try to convince the Georgian government to
resolve the issue based on political methods and means.
The UN should take action to maintain lasting peace between Georgia,
South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Turkey may serve as a mediator that will
attract the trust and confidence of the parties in the
conflict. Alternative plans should be developed for a lasting peace
between the parties.
* SavaÅ? Genç is an instructor at Fatih University.
10 August 2008, Sunday