Armenians in Georgia fear Turkish “expansion” if Russian bases close

Interfax-AVN military news agency web site
17 Mar 05

MOSCOW

The residents of the town of Akhalkalaki in Georgia’s
Samtskhe-Javakheti region tie the presence of the 62nd Russian
military base there to their security, co-chairman of the Armenian
political movement Virk, David Rstakyan, told Interfax-Military News
Agency on Thursday [17 March].

“It is not socioeconomic problems that could arise after the
withdrawal of the base, because it employs no more than 200
locals. What we are concerned about is not our stomachs but security,”
Rstakyan said.

“We need firm guarantees that the Russian military will not be
replaced by foreign troops, particularly Turkish ones, which could
lead to the exacerbation of the situation in the region,” he said.

“The region’s population fears that it will face an expansion of
Turkish interests after the Russian troops leave it,” he said.

“This is exactly why Akhalkalaki saw a rally of thousands of people
last Sunday [13 March], and such protests cannot be ruled out in the
future as well,” Rstakyan said.

“President Mikheil Saakashvili promised that after the withdrawal of
the Russian military from Akhalkalaki, they will be replaced by
Georgian army units, but we believe the incumbent Georgian authorities
as little as we did the previous ones,” he said.