BBC News
Dec 9 2004
Tensions rise on Georgia’s border
By Natalia Antelava
BBC News, Georgia
Stability is essential for an oil pipeline running across the region
New tensions have emerged on Georgia’s border with Azerbaijan over
allegations of smuggling and a rail cargo dispute.
Georgian police clashed with the local ethnic Azeri population after
customs officials raided homes and confiscated what they said were
smuggled goods.
In Azerbaijan, the authorities are preventing more than 1,000 railway
wagons entering Georgia.
They claim there is evidence the cargo is bound for Armenia, a
country still officially at war with Azerbaijan.
The border between Azerbaijan and Georgia has always been notorious
for smuggling, which is the only source of income for thousands of
people who live in towns in the area.
Fragile stability
But Azeris say police are specifically targeting them, leaving local
Georgians unpunished.
For its part, Tbilisi is critical of Azerbaijani customs officials,
who are holding up more than 1,000 railway wagons on the border.
They are refusing to let them through because they believe some of
the goods inside are destined for Armenia.
Azerbaijan and Armenia remain locked in dispute over the territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Georgia’s relationship with Azerbaijan is crucial to the fragile
stability of the region, where there are serious ethnic tensions and
several unresolved conflicts.
It is no less important for the multi-billion dollar Western pipeline
for the transportation of oil from the Caspian to Turkey, through
Azerbaijan and Georgia.