FEELING OF UNCERTAINTY CREEPS AMONG JAVAKHETI ARMENIANS
Armenpres
Jun 14 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS: Shirak Torosian, chairman of Javakhk
non-governmental organization, made up of natives of the southern
Georgian Armenian-populated region of Javakheti, said to a news
conference in Yerevan that the withdrawal of the Russian military
base from Akhalkalaki, the region’s biggest town, has actually zeroed
security guarantees of the local population.
He said it was meaningless to oppose the base’s pullout as the decision
was taken by the government of Georgia, but the major concern of local
Armenians, he said, is not lost of 4,000 jobs offered by the base,
but the feeling of uncertainty and vague future that is creeping among
local Armenians. He said Armenians wonder who is going to replace the
Russians. They fear that clashes would be imminent if Georgians troops
come to replace Russians and if they are replaced by NATO troops they
may include Turkish servicemen.
"The Russian base gave Armenians the guarantees of stability and
security, now they have gone together with Russians,’ Torosian
said. Torosian said Armenians of Javakheti are against construction
of Kars-Akhalkalaki railway, although they realize that it would
create new jobs for the region plagued with unemployment, open new
avenues for business but they are against it because this railroad,
if built, would further isolate Armenia from the regional projects.
He said local Armenians hope that a major road reconstruction project
funded by the Millennium Challenges Account program would make their
region attractive for businesses, though channeling part of a huge
US government extra aide to Georgia to the Armenian-populated region
is opposed by some opposition forces of Georgia.