AZERBAIJANIS IN GEORGIA DEMAND GEORGIAN DEFENSE MINISTER’S RESIGNATION
Trend
Nov 18 2008
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, Baku, 17 November /TrendNews corr. J.Babayeva / The
National Assembly for Azerbaijanis in Georgia (NAAG) demands the
Georgian Defense Minister’s resignation.
"A new cooperation initiative between Ministers of Georgia and
Armenia is directed to more aggravation of tensions around military
conflicts in the region. This step contradicts principles of strategic
partnership between Georgia and Azerbaijan, as well as Georgia and
Turkey," Dashgin Gulmammadov, the head of the NAAG, told TrendNews
on 17 November.
Georgian Defense Minister David Kezarashvili met with his Armenian
counterpart Seyran Oganyan in Georgia on 12 November. The meeting
focused on intensification of cooperation in a defense field between
Georgia and Armenia, as well as strengthening of cooperation in
military, as well as military and technical field. The Ministers spoke
about good opportunities for intensive cooperation in a defense field
during the meeting.
An agreement on Armenia’s use the Georgian territory as a transit
was discussed and reached during the meeting. According to unofficial
data, the sides reached an agreement on perspectives of repair of the
Armenian armour equipment at the Georgian tank repair plant, as well.
According to Gulmammadov, an agreement, which envisages repair of tanks
at the Tbilisi tank repair plant of the Georgian Defense Ministry,
is directed ingeniously against Azerbaijan.
"It is clear that Armenia will use the repaired tanks and military
cars against Azerbaijan. Military equipment of Armenia was repaired
at the plant earlier, as well. The Georgian Defense Ministry wants to
bring existing direction of cooperation to an official level," he said.
The Georgian Defense Ministry’s military cooperation initiative with
Armenia is not clear, Gulmammadov said. "The Georgian Defense Ministry,
which has a strategic cooperation with Azerbaijan in a military field,
takes steps against Azerbaijan. Such actions can be a stimulus for
outbreak of conflicts and military operations in the region," the
NAAG leader said.
Cooperation between the Defense Ministries of Georgia and Armenia
led to discontent amongst Azerbaijanis in Georgia, some political
and state organizations, the head of the NAAG said. "If demand of the
National Assembly for Azerbaijanis in Georgia on the Defense Minister’s
resignation is not realized, the Assembly will hold protest actions
in front of the Parliament and Defense Ministry of the country,"
Gulmammadov said.
The National Assembly for Azerbaijanis in Georgia (NAAG) was
established in 2001. The NAAG is public and political organization
against the Georgian authorities.