GEORGIAN ARMENIANS DISAPPROVE TBILISI’S DRIVE TO HAVE RUSSIAN BASE OUT

ArmenPress
March 11 2005

TBILISI, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS: David Rstakian, a Georgian Armenian
political figure, warned Thursday that Georgia’s drive to have two
Russian military bases pulled out from the country would hit heavily
the Armenian population in Akhalkalaki, the administrative center of
Samtskhe Javakhk province that is home to one of the bases.
Georgian parliament with a 158-0 vote, approved yesterday a
resolution instructing the government to take measures against the
Russian military bases stationed in Georgia if an agreement over a
timeframe for their withdrawal is not reached with Russia before May
15, 2005.
These measures include halting of issuing entry visas to Russian
military servicemen and assessment of the total debt for the
functioning of the bases. The Parliament also instructed the Ministry
of Environment “to assess the ecological damage caused by the
functioning of the Russian military bases.”
Rstakian said some 300 Armenians work at the base in Akhalkalaki
and the withdrawal of the base would be catastrophic for their
families. He also argued that the pullout of the bases would change
the balance of forces in the region jeopardizing its stability.
The most pressing problems in Javakhk are economic and it remains
notably the most underdeveloped region in the country. It has the
highest unemployment rate, the lowest level of state investment and
its infrastructure is the oldest and most damaged in Georgia. For
Javakhk residents not fortunate enough to have work associated with
the local Russian military base, conditions force much of the male
population to seasonally migrate to Russia in search of work, only
returning to their families in winter.