MINELRES: Fwd: Regnum: Transcaucasian anomaly and the Javakh issue: mini-empires in the new reality

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Original sender: Eldar Zeynalov <aihmm@mail.ru>


Read it in Russian:
http://www.regnum.ru/news/525810.html


Recent developments in Akhalkalaki, a town in Georgia mostly populated
by Armenians, are just a single unit in the chain of controversies
surrounding Samtskhe-Javakheti Territory for 15 years of independent
development of the Georgian state. During this period the regional media
have repeatedly paid attention to the situation in the region: contrary
to all the official statements made by Tbilisi the situation in the
region remains constantly tense. Periods of growing tension alternate
with , but on the whole Samtskhe-Javakheti is situated in a zone highly
attractive for many various interests. �Integration, not assimilation�
initiative group by claiming to grant autonomy to Armenian-populated
districts put forward an idea of establishing a new member of the
Georgian federation. 

�There will be only three autonomies in Georgia � Abkhazia, Adzharia and
Tskhinvali,� Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli declared
unambiguously six days after the claim was declared at the Conference
�Javakh status in Georgia�s state system� that took place in Akhalkalaki
on September 23-24.

However, the reality is that residents of Samtskhe-Javakheti Territory
has continued to claim for autonomy. It is impossible to connive at the
fact, neither it is appropriate to explain the existing tensions with
only poor social and economical conditions. Exactly by the same way the
situation in Nagorno Karabakh got out of hand. 

Positions of Javakh Armenians could be denounced in some points, but to
do this a serious dialogue between Georgia and Armenia is needed. There
is no such dialogue now. Top officials of both countries prefer not to
touch the painful issues and tend to treat frequent appeals of Armenians
organizations to grant autonomy to Javakh as an initiative of �hotheads�
who do not reflect the public opinion. The danger of the situation rests
upon the fact that in terms of lack of an adequate reaction to the
existing tension in the region and absence of effort to transmit the
tension into the way of a constructive and controllable dialogue the
tension could be used by third parties, because nature adhors a vacuum,
especially in politics and moreover, in a key region of South Caucasus,
which is no doubt Samtskhe-Javakheti.

The full text of the story is available in the Russian version.

Permanent news address: www.regnum.ru/english/525810.html
17:08
10.10.2005

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