Daily says Russia aims to ruin Georgian-Azeri relations
Yeni Musavat, Baku
6 Dec 04
Excerpt from Elsad Pasasoy report by Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat
on 6 December headlined “Tension continues in Borcali” and subheaded
“Five Georgians have been arrested for shooting at ethnic Azeris. The
village of Qullar has been cordoned off”
The situation remains tense in the villages of Qullar and (?Qirixli)
in Georgia’s Marneuli District.
[Passage omitted: Recap of a land dispute which resulted in the
killing of one and wounding several ethnic Azeris, and the arrest of
five Georgians]
Zumrud Qurbanov [Qurbanli], one of the leaders of the Qeyrat movement,
has said that the developments at the Boyuk Kasik station [where
Azerbaijan has stopped wagons allegedly heading for Armenia via
Georgia] may have been connected with the events in Georgia. “Any
tension between the two countries is bound to affect the ethnic Azeris
in Georgia.”
The Azeri villages where the events took place are still cordoned
off by the police. Although the Georgian law-enforcement bodies
try to describe this as a security measure, the Azeris reckon that
the authorities are trying to break their resistance because the
neighbouring villages are all Azeri-populated and there is no need
for a cordon.
One of the most common explanations for the events in Georgia and the
general rise in tension on the border between the two countries is that
Russia has a hand in that. It is a serious issue that in the space
of a week following the tension at the Boyuk Kasik station, weapons
were used against ethnic Azeris in Borcali [Borchalo in Georgian;
administrative unit – uyezd – in Tsarist Russia since 1880, included
parts of what currently is Bolnisi, Dmanisi, Marneuli, Tetri-Tsqaro,
and Tsalka districts of Georgia].
Russia has skilfully managed to turn Armenia and Azerbaijan into
enemies and it is perfectly possible that now Russia seeks to create
a similar relationship between Azerbaijan and Georgia. Regrettably,
the Azerbaijani leadership has yet to voice its stance on these events,
at least at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.