NEW UNREST IN JAVAKHETI PROMPTS WARNING FROM YEREVAN
By Zaal Anjaparidze

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
The Jamestown Foundation
Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Akhalkalaki, the main town in the predominantly Armenian-populated
and Armenia-bordered Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia, was the
site of an anti-government protest rally on October 5. The incident
reaffirmed that this turbulent region remains unstable, despite the
Georgian government’s efforts to normalize the situation there.

The unrest began after tax officials from Tbilisi, conducting a
routine inspection of local retailers, closed 10 shops for financial
irregularities. The shop owners, mostly ethnic Armenians, and about
300 supporters, evidently influenced by local provocateurs, gathered
outside the Akhalkalaki district administration building to protest
the alleged violation of the Armenians’ rights. The protestors’s
complaints quickly moved from economic issues to political demands
such as stopping the closure of Russian military bases and granting
political autonomy for the region.

Local police dispersed the rally using rubber truncheons and firing
shots in the air. The clash between the authorities and the protesters
left several people injured. The police efforts to break up the rally
instead prompted more residents of Akhalkalaki and nearby villages
to join the protest, making the situation even tenser.

Civic groups based in Samtskhe-Javakheti, as well as some Russian
sources, have alleged that the government deliberately planned
the brutal end to the protest in order to intimidate the local
Armenian population following local demands for political autonomy
in the region. A council of local non-governmental organizations,
meeting September 23-24, adopted a resolution calling on the Georgian
government to grant autonomy to the region (see EDM, September 29).

Javakhk-Info, the local news agency, distributed a bellicose statement
by regional Armenian non-governmental organizations saying that the
aggressive behavior by the Georgian authorities towards the region’s
ethnic Armenians leaves them “no other choice than the use of force
to protect their interests and dignity” (Regnum, October 5).

However, a source in Georgian law enforcement told Kavkas Press that
the police shot into the air only after one of the protesters had
taken a shot first (Kavkas Press October 5).

Giorgi Khachidze, the presidentially appointed governor of the region,
managed to calm the angry crowd through negotiations.

Khachidze criticized the police for excessive use of force and
promised to hold some of them accountable. “In my opinion, they had no
right to fire shots, even in the air,” he said (TV-Rustavi-2, October
6). Meanwhile, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili hailed the police
actions, saying, “there is no serious problem” and emphasizing that
law-enforcement officials were merely maintaining order in a region
that had been poorly controlled in recent years (TV-Imedi, October 6).

Saakashvili and other Georgian officials have tried to downplay the
latest events in Akhalkalaki, claming that the radical organizations
advocating autonomy for the region do not enjoy serious popular
support.

Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told the Armenian
newspaper Aikakan Jamanak that Tbilisi welcomes autonomy
for Javakheti so long as that means no more than ordinary
self-governance. Merabishvili said he is not interested in the
Javakheti civic groups expressing political ambitions. “We are going
to listen to the elected deputies,” he said (Regnum, October 6-7).

A diplomatic warning from Yerevan snapped the Georgian authorities out
of their complacency. On October 8, Garnik Isagulian, national security
aide to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, warned Tbilisi to show
restraint when dealing with the predominantly Armenian-populated
Samtskhe-Javakheti. Of the October 5 clash, Isagulyan commented,
“Georgian authorities should be extremely cautious and attentive
in their actions, because any minor provocation could turn into a
large-scale clash.” Isagulian also dismissed rumors about Russian
intelligence playing a role in recent events in Samtskhe-Javakheti
(Regnum, Civil Georgia, October 8).

However, the Russian media’s wide and largely biased coverage of
the October 5 unrest in Akhalkalaki, routinely voicing the Kremlin’s
position, suggests that Russia is not a mere observer.

Georgian media have long speculated that Russia and several radical
Armenian groups are behind the provocations in Javakheti. Van Baiburt,
an Armenian member of the Georgian parliament, confirmed this in an
interview with GazetaSNG.ru. Meanwhile, Levon Mkrtichyan, from the
Armenian Dashnaktsutiun party, one of the alleged supporters of the
Javakheti radical organizations, insisted that Javakheti Armenians
advocate only for cultural autonomy.

The Armenian newspapers are increasingly linking the recent unrest
in Samtskhe-Javakheti with the construction of the Kars-Akhalkalaki
railway, which bypasses Armenia. They suggest that as Georgia
increases its ties with Azerbaijan and Turkey, Armenia may be left
isolated. Armenian papers also argue that if Georgia’s national
interests conflict with those of Armenia, Tbilisi “should not be
astonished at the eruption of a natural expression of self-preservation
and self-defense among the Samtskhe-Javakheti population.”

As the problem becomes increasingly complicated, Tbilisi will be
forced to act. When he visited Armenia on September 29-30, Georgian
Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli stated that Georgia would not implement
any programs directed against Armenia. Meanwhile, Nogaideli publicly
underlined that regional autonomy in Georgia is only available for
Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Ajaria.

Nogaideli’s Armenian trip, coming on the heels of the demands
for autonomy in Samstkhe-Javakheti, suggests that stability in
Samtskhe-Javakheti greatly depends on Yerevan’s good will, as
Tbilisi has always appealed to the Armenian government to mediate
serious disturbances in the region. Saakashvili’s government, which
inherited the unresolved problems of Samtskhe-Javakheti from former
president Eduard Shevardnadze, follows the same pattern. Saakashvili,
like Shevardnadze, strives to resolve the region’s problems with
short-term decisions (see EDM, March 23, May 24, August 3).

Meanwhile, Yerevan is gaining more leverage to manage the situation
in Samtskhe-Javakheti and may be clandestinely urging Tbilisi to
reconcile itself to this fact.