LEAVING THE BASE: RUSSIAN TANKS ARE LEAVING AKHALKALAKI
by Vladimir Novikov
Translated by Elena Leonova

Source: Kommersant, May 15, 2006, p. 10
Agency WPS
What the Papers Say Part B (Russia)
May 15, 2006 Monday

A trainload of Russian military hardware will leave Georgia today; The
first echelon of armored vehicles being withdrawn from Russia’s 62nd
military base at Akhalkalaki will leave Georgia for Russia today. The
process of shutting down the Akhalkalaki base started late last week,
in accordance with Russian-Georgian agreements reached on March 31
in Sochi.

The first echelon of armored vehicles being withdrawn from Russia’s
62nd military base at Akhalkalaki will leave Georgia for Russia
today. The process of shutting down the Akhalkalaki base started late
last week, in accordance with Russian-Georgian agreements reached
on March 31 in Sochi. According to those agreements, the Akhalkalaki
base will be shut down by the end of 2007, but all military hardware
must be withdrawn a year earlier – by the end of 2006.

Colonel Igor Konashenkov, an aide to the Commander of the Russian
Ground Forces, said at a press conference in Akhalkalaki that the
first echelon withdrawn to Russia will include seven tanks, about
10 armored personnel carriers and armored patrol vehicles, and some
other military property. According to Konashenkov, Georgian Railroads
delivered an echelon of nine railway carriages and specially-reinforced
platforms to the Tsalka station on Friday, May 12, for the purpose
of transporting the Russian military hardware.

The echelon is scheduled to depart on the morning of May 15.

The echelon’s path from Georgia to Russia runs through Azerbaijan.

Colonel Konashenkov said: “Georgia will ensure security for the
Russian military cargo on Georgian territory, Azerbaijan will do so
on Azeri territory, and once it crosses the Russian state border,
security will be provided by a military patrol from the Russian Group
of Forces in the Trans-Caucasus.”

Loading of Russian armored vehicles to be withdrawn from Akhalkalaki
started on the morning of May 13 and continued through May 14.

Loading was supervised by General Alexander Popov, commander of
the Group of Russian Forces in Georgia, and his deputy, Colonel
Vladimir Kuparadze. According to statements made at a press conference
yesterday, no complications were involved in loading Russian hardware
and any difficulties were only technical. “We aren’t having any
particular problems. Just a shortage of personnel, so each person has
to do the work of three,” said Colonel Kuparadze. General Popov made
a similar statement, adding that after troop withdrawal is completed
in 2008, he’d like to visit Georgia as a tourist.

Despite reassuring statements from the Russian military, tension
in Akhalkalaki over the impending withdrawal of Russian hardware
persisted until the very last moment. Special forces from the Georgian
Interior Ministry were transferred to the town of Akhalkalaki in the
early morning hours of May 13; if necessary, they were to stop any
protests by local residents who oppose the decision to close the 62nd
base. The special forces officers, armed with batons and shields,
were took up their position at a district police station.

It’s worth noting that shortly before this, tension was exacerbated
by none other than Georgian Defense Minister Iraklii Okruashvili. In
an interview with Imedi television on May 1, Okruashvili alleged
that “Russia is organizing provocations in Akhalkalaki, with the
aim of halting troop withdrawal on the pretext that local residents
are obstructing it.” Given this war of nerves, a reinforced mobile
artillery battalion from the Russian Armed Forces was sent from
Akhalkalaki to the Tsalka railway station for loading and guarding
the cargo.

All the same, none of the apprehensions and suspicions of recent
days and weeks were borne out; contrary to expectations, there were
no unusual incidents during the withdrawal of Russian hardware.

In late April, a number of non-governmental organizations from the
Dzhavakheti region in southern Georgia, which has a predominantly
Armenian population, organized a picket outside the main gates of the
Russian military base at Akhalkalaki. Protesting against the closure
of the base, they said that thousands of local residents will lose
their jobs after the Russian military leaves. Moreover, the Armenian
protestors said that they fear aggression from neighboring Turkey
and don’t believe that the Georgian Armed Forces would protect them
from it.

Although the withdrawal of Russian hardware from Akhalkalaki has
already begun, the NGOs of Dzhavakheti say they won’t stop their
attempts to prevent the closure of the 62nd Russian military base in
southern Georgia.