Posted on 06/17/2006 2:21:12 AM PDT by kronos77
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Russian military base in Akhalkalaki played the role of a peacekeeper between Georgians and Armenians during the presidency of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Sergey Sargsyan, an expert of Spectrum, the Center for Strategic Analysis stated in Yerevan. In his words, with the withdrawal of the Russian base the population of Samtskhe Javakhetia will reduce. “If the Armenian-Georgian relations deteriorate, the developments in Javakhk may become unpredictable. One should not neglect the fact that Turkey, which considers the way through Javakhk to be one of the Turkic corridors, is very interested in the region. The corridor goes through the neighbor region of Kvemo-Kartli inhabited by Azeris and reaches Ajaria,” Sargsyan remarked.
At that he remarked that recently the Georgia-Turkey relations have noticeably activated. As an expample, Sargsyan mentioned the new perfectly equipped military airdrome in Manueli. “Presently negotiations on construction of two more airports are being held. They will cost Turkey $200 million,” the expert underscored.
Sergey Sargsyan also said that since 1999 the strategy of the Turkish Defense Ministry has changed. “Present-day Turkish army differs greatly from what it was two years ago, not to mention 1999. The Turkish Generals are nationalists. They strive for Islam and Panturkism. In their opinion, the land of Turks should be united. One more corridor is the Albania-Kosovo-Sancak (region in Serbia inhabited by Muslims)-Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two corridors have already failed. These are the Northern Caucasian corridor and Iran-Azerbaijan,” the expert said.
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