Withdrawal of Russian military base Georgia’s internal affair –
Armenian leader
Arminfo, Yerevan
1 Apr 05
Tbilisi, 1 April: The withdrawal of Russian bases from Georgia is
Georgia’s internal affair and it is up to Georgia to decide. Armenia
will not express any official position on this issue, Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan, who is paying an informal visit to
Georgia, has said.
Georgian Speaker Nino Burjanadze confirmed in an interview with
journalists that during the negotiations, Robert Kocharyan and
[Georgian President] Mikheil Saakashvili had discussed the situation
surrounding the Russian military base in Akhalkalaki in southern
Georgia, the Russian media reported.
“Informal meetings can yield very positive results – much more
positive than one-to-one negotiations between presidents during
official visits,” Burjanadze said. She also expressed her satisfaction
with the position of the Armenian authorities, and in the first place,
with the stance of the Armenian president on the problem of Russian
bases in Georgia.
Some experts think that Robert Kocharyan’s unexpected visit to Georgia
is linked to frequent protest actions by the ethnic Armenian
population in southern Georgia, who are against the withdrawal of the
Russian military base from Akhalkalaki.
The region’s population is afraid that after the withdrawal of the
base, it will lose its only permanent source of income since most of
the district’s population are working at the base.
The Armenian and Georgian presidents are going to spend their weekend
at the winter mountain resort of Gudauri [in Georgia].
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress