Press Digest 24.09.2014
“Crimeazation of Georgia’s breakaway regions is expected to start from 2015”
Prospect of creating “Anti-Islamic State” training Center in Georgia stimulates wide discussions
No one can give you a guarantee that your security will not be jeopardized and Russia will not gobble you up – Pikria Chikradze
***
“Crimeazation of Georgia’s breakaway regions is expected to start from 2015”
"As the experts surmise, in the first half of 2015, Russia will set to taking precisely the same steps in Georgia’s breakaway region of Tskhinvali it has already taken in the Crimean peninsula. In the expert’s opinion, a key task of the “United Ossetia” party is to unite the South and North Ossetia and merge them with Russia in the end. The only thing that they lack now is the political will from the Kremlin; after this, putting their intention into practice will be a peace of cake. As the respondents of the Rezonansi claim, when it comes to Ossetia, unlike Abkhazia, nothing on earth can prevent Russia from annexing this region,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.
“As expert Mamuka Areshidze maintains, a plan to unit South and North Ossetia was drawn up in the Kremlin long ago. The expert thinks that the sooner Georgia moves closer to NATO the faster the Kremlin will realize its plans in terms of Georgia’s breakaway region. “I have reiterated that Russia’s plans regarding the occupied region can come into fruition quite easily. The Russian leader can take this step whenever he desires. However, if Georgia moves forward with its plans in terms of NATO, Russia will take this step even sooner than expected. There is no need for haste; the Russian strongman is keeping this trump card, and he will undoubtedly use it at crunch time,” states Mr. Areshidze.
“Much depends on future developments in Ukraine and the West’s taken steps with regard to Russia as well as its penalty measures. However, rumors fly that the western leaders intend to roll out sanctions against the aggressor country. If this allegation is close to the truth, Russia will obviously be emboldened as nothing on earth will quench its enthusiasm to materialize its plans,” say the respondent.
“As for Georgia’s breakaway enclave of Abkhazia, this issue is really surrounded with a number of questions. The vast majority of Abkhazians, as you know, long for independence, and no matter how hard Khajimba will try to lead them around to his point of view, he will definitely find it difficult to make these people voluntarily accept Russia’s yoke,” maintains Mamuka Areshidze.
“As military expert, Vakhtang Maisaia, announces, Russia will get down to materializing its intentions in relation to the occupied regions from January or February, this year. “The Kremlin is unlikely to take active steps in this direction until January or February. Moscow, generally, views the two regions – Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, as one “state”. The Russians plan to deploy large military groups in the two regions. This is what the Kremlin will endeavor to do now. As for Kokoit and Khajimba, they are deemed to be rather staunch allies of Russia. Thus, it is strongly expected that the Crimeazation of Georgia’s breakaway regions will start from 2015,” asserts Mr. Maisaia.
Prospect of creating “Anti-Islamic State” training Center in Georgia stimulates wide discussions
“Will an “Anti-Islamic State” training Center be created in Georgia? Who will be trained in the Center – Georgians or Syrian rebels? This issue has stimulated wide discussions and has galvanized the Georgian public to release self-contradictory statements. Georgia’s Ambassador to the U.S., Archil Gegeshidze, confirms information saying that the WH has proposed the Georgian authorities to create an “Anti-Islamic State” training Center which would train Syrian anti-Islamist rebels. Some representatives of the state agencies have confirmed this information, while others have rejected it by issuing absolutely contradictory statements,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.
“Military expert, Vakhtang Maisaia, defines these statements as superficial and says that they simply prove that the Government has not studied the issue. “They seem not to have even the slight idea what the Anti-Islamic Center is, what kinds of objectives it has. In Syria, the left-wing party is split into two parts – Islamists and independent army that is an anti-Islamist, secular type of organization. “Anti-Islamist” opposition can be defined as a secular type of organization aiming to train Iraq’s national army subpisions and carry out air strikes. Thus, an anti-Islamic training Center will have nothing to do with Georgians, and allegations saying that Georgians will be trained in the center are ridiculous,” says Mr. Maisaia.
“The announcements from Mr. Gegeshidze are being turned down by the official Tbilisi because of some unknown reasons. In the words of Vakhtan Maisaia, the creation of this center in Georgia will definitely be auspicious for us, and precisely for this reason, he cannot get what has triggered this ridiculous reaction from our public. In his mind, this center will even more boost our Euro-Atlantic aspirations and help us in upgrading our military capabilities. Plus, our integration within this Coalition will shield us from the threats coming from the Islamic Caliphate,” says the article.
“Parliamentary majority member, Irakli Sesiashvili also agrees with the allegation as per which more and more anti-Islamic threats are being posed for Georgia; however, he refuses to share Mr. Maisaia’s opinion according to which the Syrians will be trained in the Center. “They have simply offered us to found this Center – in which the Americans will also be involved – in our country; however, nothing has been said regarding their intention to train Syrian rebels there; thus, if you write that the Anti-Islamic training Center will prepare Syrian rebels against the Islamists, you will obviously be making a mistake,” concludes Mr. Sesiashvili.
No one can give you a guarantee that your security will not be jeopardized and Russia will not gobble you up – Pikria Chikradze
“We cannot really claim credit for a package designed to make Georgia an enhanced partner of NATO. Only the present status quo, Russia’s aggression and its move to upend international order, has helped us in receiving this package. “Russia has always pursued an aggressive policy against its neighbors; however, even after the Russian-Georgian war, they alleged that Russia was changing… The current situation alone, made the entire world face reality and see the true face of this aggressor. Obviously, it’s immensely auspicious for us that Georgia was enlisted among the top 5 countries... And now our future is in our hands only; if we grasp this chance granted to us in these tough times, we may move beyond this impasse,” declares leader of “New Right Wing” party, Pikria Chikhradze.
“When a political figure with the status of head of the country is invited to the international forum, by rights, he and only he must go there. And, thus, it would be more rational if they allowed this man to attend the UNO Summit. In this particular case, the President has the advantage over other high officials; plus, as our constitution says, he and only he must represent the country on the internationals scene. And this issue definitely should not have sparked a scandal. Not so long ago our President enjoyed Ivanishvili’s sympathy and goodwill, now when he is no longer in his good books, all members of the government went to war with this man,” states Mrs. Chikhradze.
"The package bestowed upon us is undoubtedly of utmost significance for Georgia. However, it is also a fact that the very package has imposed a rather big responsibility on us. And, obviously, we cannot claim credit for this package; we must be thankful to the given situation for this unique chance,” maintains the respondent.
“Some of us though that we would succeed in mending ties with Russia by patching up our ruffled relations. Some maintained that we would have placed bets on neutrality. However, Ukraine’s developments have clearly demonstrated that the quest for amicable relations with the aggressor was elusive. Ukraine’s constitution said that joining this or that union did not fall within its plans; however, despite this, no one and nothing on earth has protected it from overwhelming aggression from Russia. Precisely the same can be said regarding Moldova. Hence, when it comes to Russia, you really cannot have confidence either in the West or the United States. No one will give you a guarantee that your security will not be jeopardized and Russia will not gobble you up…” concludes the leader of the “New Right Wing” party.
