Georgia grants entry to Armenians trapped on South Ossetia border

Imedi TV, Tbilisi
21 Oct 04

[Presenter] The Georgian government has decided to let the convoy of busses
and lorries belonging to Armenian citizens pass the Ergneti market checkpoint
[on breakaway South Ossetia’s border with the rest of Georgia] where they have
been stalled for a week. Until now, the Georgian authorities did not allow the
convoy to travel [to Armenia] through the Tskhinvali region because of the
violation of the customs rules.

This is a goodwill gesture for this occasion only. Today’s arrangement does
not allow foreign citizens to travel through Tskhinvali.

[Man, no caption, in Russian] The decision has been taken. They are letting
us go. There are no more problems.

[Reporter] You will be departing now?

[Man] Yes, right away.

[Levon Akopyan, captioned as aide of the Armenian ambassador to Georgia, in
Russian] Now a convoy is being formed, the drivers should get instructions
about the passage of the convoy, and we will start our journey towards the
Armenian border.

[Aleksandre Sukhitashvili, the chief of the Shida Kartli regional police, in
Georgian] This is a goodwill gesture by the Georgian authorities. We will now
let Armenian citizens pass. However, I want to urge all foreign citizens not
to travel through this road. There is no customs or border checkpoint here.
Therefore, foreign citizens should only travel through the Lars [checkpoint on
the Georgian-Russian border].