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We Are Being Provoked

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  • We Are Being Provoked

    Paper blames Moscow for provoking row in Armenian-populated Georgian district

    Aravot, Yerevan
    1 Apr 05 p 2


    By Tigran Avetisyan

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a notable statement at a
    news conference in Yerevan recently. He described the CIS as a club
    where the member countries could speak about common problems, for
    instance, the refugee problem.

    It is remarkable that the Russian president skipped over all possible
    and known categories of refugees and underlined in particular the
    possibility of Armenian refugees from Georgia. It becomes clear that
    was not just an example. Unfortunately, this time as well we have
    come across a Russian destabilizing factor.

    The latest quite alarming events taking place in Javakhk [Georgia's
    Armenian-populated Javakheti region] should be viewed in this
    context. Yesterday [30 March] about 3,000 people held a rally in
    Akhalkalaki [Georgia's Armenian-populated district]. They criticized
    the Georgian government and along with other problems they demanded
    that the Russian military base deployed in Akhalkalaki should not be
    pulled out. It seems that this problem could have been settled long
    ago at different levels of Armenian-Georgian relations. That is to
    say, the authorities in Armenia should have had enough wisdom to use
    their influence on Javakhk in a right way to put an end to such absurd
    and dangerous demands.

    What is going on? The decision to withdraw Russian military bases from
    Akhalkalaki and elsewhere in Georgia was made long ago at the OSCE
    Istanbul summit, which was signed by not only Georgia but also Russia
    and Armenia. Even Moscow does not argue that Russian military bases
    should be withdrawn from Georgia. But the latter has disagreements
    with the Tbilisi government over the terms of withdrawal. The Armenian
    factor has resurfaced against the background of the Russian-Georgian
    disagreement. It turns out that what the Armenians of Javakhk want
    from the Georgian government is something against which Tbilisi has
    been fighting for a long time, something which has long slipped out of
    Moscow's authority and which is next to impossible.

    We have to guess what consequences the creation of a new hotbed of
    tension in the region will have for Armenia, which has the Karabakh
    problem that is getting complicated by the day, especially taking into
    account that it is obviously being provoked by Moscow using the
    Armenian factor.
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