AZERBAIJAN, TURKEY GOING TO SPLIT GEORGIA INTO AUTONOMIES?

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.10.2008 14:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ According to some Turkish and Azeri sources, Baku
and Ankara intend to increase pressure on Georgia for "federalization"
of the country.

Turkey and Azerbaijan are going to urge Tbilisi to restore Ajaria’s
de facto autonomy, to grant a special status to the Azeri minority
of Kvemo-Kartli and repatriate Turks-Meskhetians to Georgia.

Ajarian autonomy has been actually abolished by Saakashvili’s
government in 2004. Pursuing a tough policy of "georgification",
Tbilisi forces Ajars to register as Georgian Muslims. Turks-Meskhetians
are urged to restore "their Georgian surnames."

Azeri media quoted a source in the Foreign Ministry as saying that
Baku launches the procedure of granting Azerbaijani citizenship to the
residents of Georgia’s Kvemo-Kartli (Borchaly). The source said that
upon completion of the procedure, Azerbaijan will demand a status of
autonomy for the region and in case of Georgia’s rejection will send
troops there, RBC-daily reports.

Meanwhile, Milliyet Turkish daily quoted a Turkish MFA official who,
on condition of anonymity, spoke of ‘guarantees of Turkic population
in Georgia.’ Creation of a federation is the only way to maintain
Georgia’s territorial integrity, according to him.