Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 18, 2005, Friday

PEACEKEEPER OF THE CAUCASUS

SOURCE: Novye Izvestia, March 15, 2005, p. 4

by Mekhman Gafarly

GEORGIA IS PREPARED TO BECOME A MEDIATOR IN THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH AND
ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI RELATIONS

Foreign Minister of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili said on a visit to
Ankara that her country could become an intermediary in the
Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogues – provided
Ankara, Yerevan, and Baku seconded the initiative.

Tbilisi needs the tension in the Armenian-Turkish relations abated.
First and foremost, their improvement will allay the fears and
irritation Yerevan feels viewing Georgia’s friendship with Turkey.
Second, it will be quick pro quo: Zurabishvili appreciates the
positive role Ankara is playing in the Russian-Georgian political
dialogue. Georgia hopes with Ankara’s help to solve some problems
marring its relations with Moscow. Along with everything else,
Georgia is looking for support from the European Union and the United
States and, also importantly, from Turkey as its neighbor now that
Tbilisi’s own relations with Moscow are at so low a level. The matter
is both political and economic. When Moscow introduced the visa
regime on the border with Georgia, Russian cities became out of reach
for thousands and thousands unemployed Georgians seeking jobs abroad.
In an attempt to compensate for it, Tbilisi hopes to secure a
visa-free regime on the Georgian-Turkish border and intends to
establish a regular Batumi-Istanbul plane run. Success will enable
Georgians to find jobs in Turkey and stabilize the socioeconomic
situation in Georgia itself. Before it can accomplish all of that,
however, Georgia has to score some political points. From this point
of view, the role of an intermediary in the Armenian-Turkish and
Armenian-Azerbaijani relations will come in very handy. What it will
result in is a different matter altogether. Tbilisi already offered
its services to Armenia and Azerbaijan at war over Nagorno-Karabakh
in 1992. The offer was turned down then.

Ramaz Sakvarelidze of the expert council of the Georgian parliament
says in the meantime that the situation is different now and that
Tbilisi’s offer may be accepted. According to Sakvarelidze, the
political and economic situation in the region changes with the
years, and the warring sides know now that integration into Europe is
impossible with the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh remaining
unsettled. Moreover, construction of pipelines and establishment of
the TRASECA transport corridor force Ankara, Yerevan, and Baku to
seek ways of improvement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani and
Armenian-Turkish relations. Along with everything else, upper
echelons of the European Union and Parliamentary Assembly demand an
end to political and territorial disputes from these countries or
they may forget about integration into the European Union. From this
point of view, Zurabishvili’s offer is well-timed and therefore may
be accepted, Sakvarelidze said. A neutral intermediary, Georgia is
prepared to arrange a meeting of leaders of Armenia, Turkey, and
Azerbaijan for negotiations on its territory. Baku’s and Yerevan’s
reaction to the offer is not clear at this point.