Irakli Kobakhidze is not seen by anyone as a leader or a decision-maker, so there was nothing new in what we saw. The curtain was lifted on the reality in which the country exists. Kobakhidze is a tragic figure, burdened with complexes. Bidzina [Ivanishvili] has the habit of growing such characters and creating the illusion in them that they represent something. This is what political analyst Gia Khukhashvili said on Palitra News’ program “Dghis Newsroom,” while commenting on the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Bidzina Ivanishvili at the business center of Georgian Dream’s Honorary Chairman, as well as the video footage of that meeting.

According to him, with the meeting between Bidzina Ivanishvili and Ilham Aliyev, Ivanishvili “put Irakli Kobakhidze in his place right at the first turn.”

“It’s a heavy picture. This character [Irakli Kobakhidze] is looking at his political parent, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is angry because he is in his shadow, cannot step out of it, and cannot express his own will. That is why his hatred is growing. I would advise Bidzina to be careful so that in some affective state Kobakhidze doesn’t do something reckless. He is an unstable person and he has reasons for hatred — to be called a Prime Minister and at the same time know that you are a nobody. The meeting had an official protocol format, where it was clear who the real patron of this country is. But why was Irakli Kobakhidze trailing behind them like a puppy? He should have been there as a personality on his own. But with this, did we discover America or something? The problem is not only that the country has deviated from the democratic path and taken an authoritarian route — many countries have a similar problem — but there the leaders are institutionalized and hold official positions. Accordingly, they are both decision-makers and responsible. In our case, however, Bidzina has created a model where he makes the decisions but bears no responsibility. He turned Georgia into an offshore company and registered it in a nominal person’s name. But if you look at the documents, the real patron is someone else. In this case, that someone [the patron] is Irakli Kobakhidze. Georgia today is a political offshore company that has a nominal founder, while the real levers of control are held by the person sitting in the glass palace,” Gia Khukhashvili stated.

According to the political analyst, in reality, since “Georgian Dream” came to power, the country has never had a real Prime Minister, because Bidzina Ivanishvili has always ruled the country.

“Since Georgian Dream came to power, Bidzina Ivanishvili has always been the ruler and the real Prime Minister. None of them has ever been a real Prime Minister; everyone had specific shortcomings. But we should talk about who had a wide range of action. In my opinion, it was Gakharia who had it, and it cost him dearly. 3-4 months ago, Kobakhidze and Kaladze developed the illusion that Ivanishvili had stepped aside and that they could do whatever they wanted. Bidzina created the illusion of independence for them, after which messages started coming that they could govern without Bidzina. Kaladze wouldn’t have had the brains to say ‘no,’ but Kobakhidze possibly did. It was Bidzina’s will to show yesterday’s picture to the system. Otherwise, what has changed for us? He wanted to convince the system that nothing has changed and that he is the one and only, irreplaceable,” Gia Khukhashvili said.

Regarding Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Tbilisi, he stated that the visit is driven by a correction in the strategy of the Azerbaijan-Turkey tandem in the South Caucasus.

“The world is at an important stage where our transit corridor is becoming unrivaled. Why? Because the northern route is risky, the Strait of Hormuz is blocked, and against this background, interest in the development of the South Caucasus corridor is growing. Georgia and Azerbaijan are an inseparable node, and we are linked by a common geopolitical function. The Azerbaijan-Turkey tandem has developed a desire for sole dominance in this geopolitical context. We remember that there was active talk about the ‘3+3’ format, where the South Caucasus countries plus three regional empires — Turkey, Iran, and Russia — would express their interests and distribute them in the South Caucasus. In the current situation, Iran has been knocked out of the game, Russia has retained growing influence over Georgia but has lost influence in Armenia and Azerbaijan. In this situation, I don’t think the Azerbaijan-Turkey tandem will invite us as a partner. We have lost the chance to reap dividends. We do not have a deep-water port that would increase our value. After Marco Rubio’s call, when the State Department issued a statement, it was said that the topic of conversation with Irakli Kobakhidze was Black Sea security. This issue is problematic for the West because, although there are three NATO member countries in the Black Sea basin, Russia still dominates, and none of these countries has the appropriate infrastructure to balance Russian dominance,” Gia Khukhashvili noted.

The political analyst also spoke about the Anaklia deep-water port and its importance.

“At the time, the Americans were part of the consortium for the development of Anaklia. But today we see that the government is carrying out some infrastructural works there. If they considered this project so important, they could have done it back then and, with American participation, could have completed the project by 2020. Now the Americans feel sidelined, the Chinese staged an imitation of the process and slipped away, Russia cannot get involved for understandable reasons and we shouldn’t let it in, because it would make the construction of this corridor meaningless. Who is left? The Azerbaijan-Turkey tandem. Now it is possible that Turkey’s security interests will be linked to the Anaklia port. It is a NATO member and this could become its trump card. Turkey has the ambition to become the main East-West energy hub. [Ilham Aliyev] would not have discussed this with Kobakhidze. In that case, Kobakhidze should have at least called his close associate, and he wouldn’t have been able to explain ‘yes’ and ‘no’ over the phone,” Gia Khukhashvili concluded.