Azeri politician says Ajarian leader’s resignation Georgia’s victory

Turan news agency
6 May 04

BAKU

“This is a great victory of the Georgian people, a great achievement
of Georgian democracy and the triumph of President Mikheil
Saakashvili,” said Azerbaijani political expert Zardust Alizada,
commenting on the latest developments in Ajaria to Turan news
agency. He said that the events showed that Azerbaijan could also
resolve “its problems” if it pursued correct domestic and foreign
policy. In Alizada’s opinion, Saakashvili has public support, he was
elected through democratic polls and is carrying out a real struggle
against corruption, and therefore, he has serious international
support.

There is nothing like that in Azerbaijan. “The president was elected
as a result of falsifications and himself leads the corrupt pyramid,”
Alizada said.

He believes that if Azerbaijan pursues “correct” domestic and foreign
policy, then a senior Russian official will come and take with him
separatists such as [head of the self-styled Nagornyy Karabakh
republic] Arkadiy Gukasyan and [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan.

Political expert Rasim Musabayov also thinks that the latest events in
Ajaria will “positively” impact the situation in the region. Georgia
has recently turned into a synonym of “anarchy”, the central
government did not control many regions. However, the recent events
demonstrated the ability of the democratic government to tackle
problems that were too tough for the old nomenclature lead by
Shevardnadze.

“If President Saakashvili continues to act decisively and carefully,
taking into consideration the position of the world community, Georgia
will find a solution to the Abkhaz and South Ossetia conflicts,”
Musabayov said.

The Georgian authorities have taken a serious step towards setting up
a unitary country and have proven their ability to tackle serious
problems without using force, Musavat Party leader Isa Qambar said,
commenting on the Ajaria events.

He described [Ajarian leader Aslan] Abashidze’s resignation as “a
serious blow to corruption in the South Caucasus”. Qambar expressed
the hope that further processes in Georgia would develop within the
framework of democracy and without violence.

Justice Party Chairman Ilyas Ismayilov expressed “concern” over the
possible impact of the Georgian events on ethnic Azerbaijanis in this
country. He said he hoped that further processes would also be carried
out without bloodshed. He assessed the events in Ajaria as a struggle
against separatism.