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WHAT FOR DOES SAAKASHVILI NEED OUR NORTH CAUCASUS
by Anatoly Maximov
WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
November 1, 2010 Monday
Russia
WHAT FORCED THE PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA TO CLAIM SOLVING OF ALL CAUCASIAN
PROBLEMS SUDDENLY?; Speaking in New York, Saakashvili declared Georgia
the main Caucasian player who should become an example for copying
for all others.
President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili denied the statements
of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov that Tbilisi supported the North
Caucasian militants. The Georgian leader views such statements as
"another attempt of the Russian authorities to distract attention from
their own problems in this region. The leader of the "revolution of
roses" obviously is not going to stop his "active Caucasian policy"
that he has announced from the tribune of the UN General Assembly.
Speaking in New York, Saakashvili declared Georgia the main Caucasian
player who should become an example for copying for all others. Less
than a month later Saakashvili started filling his "Caucasian policy"
with content. Georgia implemented a visa-free regime for crossing
of the Russian-Georgian border for residents of the North Caucasus.
Georgian parliament started hinting at a possibility of official
recognition of the "genocide of the Circassian people" again.
Representatives of the Chechen Diaspora of Georgia are going to turn
to the parliament members with a similar request about "recognition
of genocide of Chechens."
Reaction to the "new strategy" of Saakashvili is diverse. Supporters of
the President are delighted. The opposition leaders do not hide their
alarm. Former parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze called the actions
of Saakashvili "dangerous games." She explained, "Everyone knows how
painful is the topic of the North Caucasus for Russia. When you pump
this topic up, are you not afraid that you will be punished by the
"bear?"
Meanwhile, political analysts try to understand what has forced
Saakashvili suddenly to claim solving of all Caucasian problems.
There are many versions. They include an elementary attempt to irritate
Russia playing the "Circassian card" in the context of the Olympics
in Sochi. There is "revenge" for granting of Russian citizenship to
Abkhaz and South Ossetian people by Moscow. There is making life
easier for emissaries of the militants. There is also an exotic
version that says that the visa-free regime has been adopted under
pressure of the Kremlin to make the life easier for the "Armenians
who live in the North Caucasus."
Nobody says how much the Russian republics are ready to listen to the
President of Georgia and if the Georgians wish to go into the North
Caucasian turmoil.
Meanwhile, at present there is a wall higher than Elbrus and Kazbek
mountains between the North Caucasus and Georgia now. Saakashvili
definitely understands that chances for success of his initiatives in
the region are miserable. His authority equals to zero there like the
authority of Georgia as a whole, first of all, because of the war in
August of 2008.
Not everything is so simple in Georgia itself. Of course, there
are the people who have sympathized with Dzhokhar Dudaev and Aslan
Maskhadov but there are much more others. Saakashvili himself has
said frequently how the militants of Shamil Basaev "played football
with the cut off heads of Georgians" in Abkhazia.
There is also a historic aspect. There is a special term "lekianoba"
in Georgia. It designates the period of the 18th century when Moslem
mountaineers arranged practically an unstoppable conveyer for sale of
Georgians on the slave markets. There is also a religious factor. For
example, this is a danger of spreading of Wahhabism, although people
almost do not speak about this out loud. Quite recently, Wahhabis
destroyed a mosque of followers of traditional Islam in on of the
villages of the Pankissi Gorge.
From: A. Papazian
by Anatoly Maximov
WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
November 1, 2010 Monday
Russia
WHAT FORCED THE PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA TO CLAIM SOLVING OF ALL CAUCASIAN
PROBLEMS SUDDENLY?; Speaking in New York, Saakashvili declared Georgia
the main Caucasian player who should become an example for copying
for all others.
President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili denied the statements
of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov that Tbilisi supported the North
Caucasian militants. The Georgian leader views such statements as
"another attempt of the Russian authorities to distract attention from
their own problems in this region. The leader of the "revolution of
roses" obviously is not going to stop his "active Caucasian policy"
that he has announced from the tribune of the UN General Assembly.
Speaking in New York, Saakashvili declared Georgia the main Caucasian
player who should become an example for copying for all others. Less
than a month later Saakashvili started filling his "Caucasian policy"
with content. Georgia implemented a visa-free regime for crossing
of the Russian-Georgian border for residents of the North Caucasus.
Georgian parliament started hinting at a possibility of official
recognition of the "genocide of the Circassian people" again.
Representatives of the Chechen Diaspora of Georgia are going to turn
to the parliament members with a similar request about "recognition
of genocide of Chechens."
Reaction to the "new strategy" of Saakashvili is diverse. Supporters of
the President are delighted. The opposition leaders do not hide their
alarm. Former parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze called the actions
of Saakashvili "dangerous games." She explained, "Everyone knows how
painful is the topic of the North Caucasus for Russia. When you pump
this topic up, are you not afraid that you will be punished by the
"bear?"
Meanwhile, political analysts try to understand what has forced
Saakashvili suddenly to claim solving of all Caucasian problems.
There are many versions. They include an elementary attempt to irritate
Russia playing the "Circassian card" in the context of the Olympics
in Sochi. There is "revenge" for granting of Russian citizenship to
Abkhaz and South Ossetian people by Moscow. There is making life
easier for emissaries of the militants. There is also an exotic
version that says that the visa-free regime has been adopted under
pressure of the Kremlin to make the life easier for the "Armenians
who live in the North Caucasus."
Nobody says how much the Russian republics are ready to listen to the
President of Georgia and if the Georgians wish to go into the North
Caucasian turmoil.
Meanwhile, at present there is a wall higher than Elbrus and Kazbek
mountains between the North Caucasus and Georgia now. Saakashvili
definitely understands that chances for success of his initiatives in
the region are miserable. His authority equals to zero there like the
authority of Georgia as a whole, first of all, because of the war in
August of 2008.
Not everything is so simple in Georgia itself. Of course, there
are the people who have sympathized with Dzhokhar Dudaev and Aslan
Maskhadov but there are much more others. Saakashvili himself has
said frequently how the militants of Shamil Basaev "played football
with the cut off heads of Georgians" in Abkhazia.
There is also a historic aspect. There is a special term "lekianoba"
in Georgia. It designates the period of the 18th century when Moslem
mountaineers arranged practically an unstoppable conveyer for sale of
Georgians on the slave markets. There is also a religious factor. For
example, this is a danger of spreading of Wahhabism, although people
almost do not speak about this out loud. Quite recently, Wahhabis
destroyed a mosque of followers of traditional Islam in on of the
villages of the Pankissi Gorge.
From: A. Papazian