Georgia: Ethnic Armenians demand withdrawal of special troops after shooting

Prime-News news agency
26 Jun 05

TBILISI

Residents of Tsalka District [district in southern Georgia with a
large ethnic Armenian population] are demanding the withdrawal of a
Georgian special detachment from the area. Some 100 people are
currently demonstrating in the centre of Tsalka [town] against the
forces’ presence.

The protests have been prompted by an incident in the village of
Ulianovka involving members of the special detachment and a local
resident, (?Nazarbyan).

According to the Interior Ministry, Nazarbyan and his companions
attempted to sell arms to members of the special detachment. When the
latter to decided to search his car, Nazarbyan disobeyed their
instructions and tried to flee. The troops responded by firing on the
car, wounding Nazarbyan in the shoulder. He was later taken to
Hospital No 1 in Tbilisi.

Local residents reject the official version of the incident and are
calling for the withdrawal of the special detachment, which was
deployed in the area several months ago in an attempt to put an end to
incidents between local ethnic Armenians and Georgians, who have
settled in the area from other parts of the country.