Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Karabakh Armenians Hail Russian Recognition Of Abkhazia, South Ossetia

By Emil Danielyan

In a move contrasting with official Yerevan’s silence, the ethnic Armenian leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh has welcomed Russia’s controversial decision to recognize Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s de facto independence from Georgia.

Bako Sahakian, the president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), sent on Thursday congratulatory messages to his Abkhaz and South Ossetian counterparts.

“It is with sincere joy that the people of Artsakh (Karabakh) received this news long awaited by your people,” Sahakian wrote to Abkhazia’s President Sergei Bagapsh. “Abkhazia has achieved something which it has sought for many years, having deservedly overcome numerous obstacles.”

The Karabakh leader extended similar congratulations to “the brotherly people of South Ossetia” and their leader, Eduard Kokoyty. “May peace take a permanent hold in your country,” read Sahakian’s letter to Kokoyty made public by his press office.

Russia recognized the two breakaway regions following its crushing victory in a brief war with Georgia that was triggered by Tbilisi’s attempt to regain control over South Ossetia. The Kremlin says the extraordinary move was necessary to prevent a repeat of what it calls an attempted “genocide” of South Ossetia’s non-Georgian population.

Georgia and much of the international community have strongly condemned the Russian recognition, saying that it runs counter to the universally accepted principle of territorial integrity. The Georgian government has said it amounts to an “unconcealed annexation” of a part of its internationally recognized territory.

Echoing statements by Russian, Abkhaz and South Ossetian leaders, the NKR Foreign Ministry pointed on Wednesday to another international principle upholding peoples’ right to self-determination. The Karabakh Armenians, backed by Armenia proper, have long said that self-determination should take precedence over territorial integrity in the resolution of the conflict with Azerbaijan.

The NKR ministry also implicitly blamed Georgia for the outbreak of the war that killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands of others. “We have repeatedly warned that threats to use force, disproportionate military build-ups and a penchant for solving problems by force are fraught with humanitarian disasters,” it said in a statement.

Unlike the NKR leadership, Armenia’s government has so fair declined to explicitly comment on the Russian support for Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s secession from Georgia. The Armenian Foreign Ministry issued a short statement Wednesday reaffirming Yerevan’s stated support for a peaceful settlement of the regional ethnic disputes.

But in what could be construed as an indirect endorsement of the Russian recognition, the statement said the conflicts in Karabakh and elsewhere in the South Caucasus should be resolved “on the basis of a free expression of peoples’ will.” President Serzh Sarkisian likewise said last week that “the military way of conflict resolution is futile.”

Despite its close ties with Russia, Armenia is extremely unlikely to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, mindful of negative international reaction and Georgia’s vital importance for its transport communication with the outside world.

A leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), one of the four parties represented in Armenia’s government, said in a newspaper interview published on Thursday that the Sarkisian administration should not rush to follow Moscow’s example because “having normal relations with Georgia stems from our country’s vital interests.”

“Armenia has not even recognized Karabakh’s independence because it believes the international community has not exhausted its capacity to solve the problem peacefully,” Armen Rustamian told the “Hayastani Hanrapetutyun” daily. “We think that the possibilities of a peaceful settlement of the Russia-Georgia conflict have not been exhausted either.”

From http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeni...A79DFE03D9.ASP

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Sarkisian To Meet Russia’s Medvedev

By Emil Danielyan

President Serzh Sarkisian will meet his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev early next week for talks that will apparently focus on Russia’s bitter conflict with Georgia.

Sarkisian’s office said on Friday the meeting will take place in the Russian Black Sea port of Sochi next Tuesday. It said the two presidents will discuss “further development of the Russian-Armenian strategic partnership” and “regional and international issues.”

Armenia’s unfolding presidency of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Russian-led military alliance of six ex-Soviet states, will also be on the agenda, it added. No further details were reported.

Medvedev and Sarkisian already discussed the crisis over Georgia in a phone conversation on August 13, one week after the outbreak of fighting in South Ossetia that escalated into an all-out Russian-Georgian war. The Armenian presidential press service said afterwards that they “agreed to hold, if need be, additional consultations on further developments” in the conflict zone.

Armenia has avoided openly taking sides in the dispute, mindful of Georgia’s vital significance for its transport communication with the outside world and its dependence on Russia for defense and energy resources.

Still, Sarkisian did signal last week his disapproval of Tbilisi’s disastrous attempt to restore Georgian control over South Ossetia by force. And while declining to support Russia’s decision to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, official Yerevan has made clear it that it believes the status of the two breakaway territories should be determined by their pro-Russian populations.

From http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeni...34BCAF18E7.ASP

[Yedtarts]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Alex Jones on Russia Today TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmpcDlube2k&feature=related

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

The Brits already wet their pants...........

We don't want all-out war with Russia: Britain



Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband

David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is a British politician who is the current Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Member of Parliament for the constituency of South Shields.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Miliband

London, August 28:: There is no question of launching 'all-out war' against Russia, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Thursday, while condemning Moscow's 'invasion' of Georgia.

Miliband, asked whether NATO would go to war against Moscow if it were to attack a neighbouring country or ally again, said: "We don't want all-out war with Russia. There's no question of launching an all-out war against Russia."
NATO is committed to the principle that an attack against one or several members would be considered an attack against all, and to defending its members against aggression. Georgia is not a NATO member but it has ambitions to join.

NATO was not an 'offensive' alliance, Miliband told BBC Radio.
He said no-one ever doubted that Russia's army would defeat a much smaller Georgian military.
"The question though for Russia is whether it wants to suffer the isolation, the loss of respect and the loss of trust that comes from that," he added.
Miliband was speaking a day after he called in a speech in Ukraine for relations with Russia to be reviewed. He said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had a responsibility not to start a new Cold War.
The foreign secretary denied that his words in Ukraine, whose ambitions to become a NATO member also anger Russia, had ratcheted up tensions between London and Moscow.

READ MORE -- http://www.indianexpress.com/story/354469.html

[Armanen]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Georgia on My Mind
BY GAREN YEGPARIAN


Georgia the non-country. Georgia the aggressor. Georgia the abuser of Armenians (and evidently others too). But according to the government-line-parroting Western media and the spirit of its coverage of the last three weeks of Georgian upheaval, we're supposed to feel sorry for this “country” and the egotistical whelp that took its presidency through a polite, U.S. supported coup. About par for the course as international politics go.

Why non-country? There are three identifiable regions from Soviet times-- Abkhazia, Ajaria, and Ossetia-- peopled by non-“Georgians”. Add to that the Mtzkhetians (or Meskhetan “Turks”) and the Armenians in Georgian-occupied Javakhk and the significant numbers of Azeri Turks in the Eastern part of the “country”. It should be getting ever clearer that this assemblage was not meant to be. And this is an improvement over ancient times. According to my “History of the Caucasus” course notes, (Dr. Robert Hewsen, University of Pennsylvania, Spring 1982), Strabo, the ancient Greek geographer, mentions that a Greek colony located in what is today called Georgia, had 300 translators! Later, the Arabs referred to the Caucasus as the Mount of Tongues. Even Azerbaijan is far from ethno-nationally homogeneous. It has at least three non-Turkic nationalities that I can think of right away. Neither of these two countries as currently constituted should exist, it's just begging for trouble.

Why the aggressor? Well, it ought to be obvious, since that much the media has gotten right. The Georgian army charged into Ossetia under cover of the Olympics' glare. Let's not forget that just a few weeks before that, Georgian authorities had been instigating trouble among the Armenians of Javkhk with mass arrests. Also, when the whelp Mikheil Saakashvili first ascended to the presidency of the “country”, one of his first steps was to banish the (admittedly far from nice guy) “boss” of Ajaria to assert control over the region. He's stated repeatedly his goal of “restoring” the “breakaway regions”--Abkhazia and Ossetia--to Georgian subjugation. That certainly indicates longstanding aggressive intent.

Why the abuser? As far back as the immediate post-Genocide period, the Georgians were busy skimming relief supplies destined for our survivors. Nice! They did the same after the 1988 earthquake. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, they've been making life difficult for Armenians living in Georgia in many ways-- language and history instruction, employment issues, etc.-- similar to what some of our Middle Eastern communities have experienced at times. Armenian churches have been, and are at risk of being, confiscated by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Speaking plainly, I think most Armenians were silently cheering at Georgia's drubbing. But the news is not all good. There are the obvious supply-line issues. Much of Armenia's energy and trade transits through that non-country. You've all read about the shortages of fuel in Armenia resulting from the conflict. This also creates pressure on Armenia's government to secure the opening of the Turkish border-- a disaster, as I've noted before. Noises are already being made in this regard. How else to explain the repairs commencing on the Coomayree (Gyumri)- (G)Kars rail line, closed since 1993?

Russian actions will also temper the bravado of the Turks to our East. Observers have already noted the panic in Baku. This could lead to Aliyev the Younger's making concessions to Moscow, particularly on the energy transport front, leading to the Russians tilting in favor of the Azeris regarding Artzakh, hardly a desirable result for us.

Conversely, there's also a legalistic ray of hope that can be seen for Artzakh's independence receiving (partial) international recognition. The U.S.-led West recognized Kosovo's independence and now Russia, as it insinuated when that happened, has recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. The politics of the two mutually spite-inspired “recognitions” differ, both from one another and from Artzakh. Yet, both cases are grounded in the principle of self-determination beating out the ridiculous, status quo worshipping, standard of the “inviolability of borders”.

But more important than these immediate and medium term consequences are the ramifications of a resurgent, IMPERIAL sounding, Russia. Trite as it might seem after you've read and heard it countless times in the media, Russia, high on its oil-gas based economic resurgence, wants to consolidate political benefits as well. From the perspective of a once (and probably future) leading world power, this is not surprising. For Armenia, with Turks on either side, this kind of Russian rise can spell trouble. It can easy limit wiggle room between the U.S. and Russia (while simultaneously restoring to Turkey some of the wiggle room it enjoyed during the Cold War). Already there are hints that Russia is pressuring Armenia to choose sides.

Finally, on the intrigue- and conspiracy-mongering fronts, I have to wonder: How much of this was anticipated and played into Serzh Sarkissian's kissing-up-to-Turkey ploy?

Once again, I'm reminded of the Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times”, %u218cause we sure are. As to action, one thing is clear, the role of the Diaspora becomes ever more important to Armenia's future. Armenia's leaders should become better cognizant of this and we should drive the message home during our interactions with our compatriots living on the Eastern fragment of our Homeland. We should also ratchet up our political participation in our host countries to develop our leverage.

http://www.asbarez.com/index.html?showarticle=34609_8/31/2008_1

[RSNATION]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

PARLIAMENT OF GEORGIA ANNOUNCED ABKHAZIA AND SOUTH OSSETIA OCCUPIED
by Yury Simonyan

WPS Agency, Russia
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 1, 2008 Monday

Tbilisi is prepared for a surge of separatism in other regions of
the country

YEREVAN IS NOT GOING TO ATTACK GEORGIA TOGETHER WITH MOSCOW TO
ESTABLISH AN ARMENIAN AUTONOMY; The Georgian press reported that the
military operation against Georgia was not over and henceforth it was
necessary to expect a blow from the south where "a few dozen combat
vehicles are concentrated on the Armenian-Georgian border and are ready
to start an invasion from the side of Armenia any moment." For example,
the Apsny.ge website says, "the latest statements of officials of
Armenia confirm the intentions of the Armenian to repeat the events
of 1921 and to arrange a mutiny with a follow-up invasion of Russian
troops to Dzhavakheti (a region of compact residence of Armenians
in Georgia)."

The Georgian press reported that the military operation against Georgia
was not over and henceforth it was necessary to expect a blow from
the south where "a few dozen combat vehicles are concentrated on the
Armenian-Georgian border and are ready to start an invasion from the
side of Armenia any moment." For example, the Apsny.ge website says,
"the latest statements of officials of Armenia confirm the intentions
of the Armenian to repeat the events of 1921 and to arrange a mutiny
with a follow-up invasion of Russian troops to Dzhavakheti (a region
of compact residence of Armenians in Georgia)."

Van Baiburt, one of the leaders of the Armenian Diaspora and
advisor to the President of Georgia, called these publications
prevocational. Baiburt said, "they could appear because during
the recent war days, Armenian tank trucks going to Georgia for
petroleum products were accompanied by military automobiles of
Armenian Defense Ministry to the state border." According to him,
there is no concentration of other military vehicles. Colonel
Seiran Shakhsuvaryan, press secretary of the Defense Ministry of
Armenia, denied publications of Georgian mass media. He added, "I
cannot say anything about Russian vehicles because this is not in my
competence." It seemed that the press service of the Russian Defense
Ministry heard about the appearance of forces from the Russian military
base in Gyumri near the Armenian-Georgian border for the first time.

Nonetheless, the situation in Dzhavakheti is far from calm. Mamuka
Areshidze, director of the Caucasian center of strategic research,
reports that among the Russian servicemen there are many of those who
have served at the 102nd base in Akhalkalaki (administrative center of
Dzhavakheti). Areshidze said, "they restarted contacts with the former
fellow-soldiers who quit the military service and remained to live
in that city. Some of them reported to the competent agencies that
Russians tried to involve them into a reckless enterprise. However,
the idea to demand autonomy for the region right now seemed tempting
to other residents of Akhalkalaki. Along with this, some organizations
of Dzhavakheti publish demands for autonomy for Kvemo Kartli, a region
where Azerbaijanis live, in the Internet." Overall, according to him,
Russian separatists have a separatist propaganda. For example, the
"Megrel card" is being played in the west of Georgia. According to
Areshidze, in contacts with the local population, Russians "remind"
that "Megrels are not Georgians but an ethnic group that has always
been inclined towards Russia." Areshidze concludes, "we expect
destabilization not only in Dzhavakheti but also in other regions of
the country."

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict




Russia's Zenit players: Saakashvilli is a B*tch!


It reads (litarally) Saakashvilli is a b*tch!




Zenit St. Petersburg wins first UEFA Super Cup in their history





Manchester United, winner of the Champions League, and Zenit St. Petersburg vied for the UEFA Super Cup. Zenit became the first Russian football club in history to win the trophy.

Zenit St. Petersburg wins first UEFA Super Cup in their history
Russian football fans holding placards near Stade Louis II in Monaco before the UEFA Super Cup match.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/photolents/20080901/116429181_1.html

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Ambassador: 'Russia shall recognise the TRNC right after Turkey recognizes South Ossetia '
By Staff Reporter 02.SEP.08

Turkish daily Cymhuriyet newspaper has published an interview by the Russian Ambassador to Ankara, Vladimir Ivanovskiy, with Leyla Tavsanoglu on the latest developments in Caucasus, the decision of the Russian Federation to recognise the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the recognition of the illegal regime established in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus.

Following are the questions referred to Cyprus:

“The Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Ankara, Vladimir Ivanovskiy referring to the recognition of the independence of North Ossetia and Abkhazia by Russia has pointed out that the model of the TRNC could also be applied to the two states.

Tavsanoglu: In 1983, the TRNC had announced its independence, yet, no country apart from Turkey recognizes this independence….

Ambassador: We are trying to look at the events from a realistic point of view. Of course, we do not consider the recognition to be very easy. We are aware that this procedure will be a difficult one. I want to share with you my personal thought. Perhaps many circles including my ministry shall not accept this point of mine. According to me, there is a change in the way the world order is perceived after World War II. The climate in global developments is changing. This is not launched by Russia. It is NATO that launched this by bombing Yugoslavia. Perhaps we today are following this direction. Indeed, we are not the ones who launched this.
…..
Subtitle: The example of North Cyprus can apply in the Caucasus region

Tavsanoglu: There is one last question. When shall Russia recognize the TRNC?

Ambassador: (Smiling) This issue is frequently brought onto the agenda by my colleagues in the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I shall give an answer on this to you as well. Russia shall recognize the TRNC right after Turkey recognizes South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It can be a mutual and simultaneous recognition.”

From http://www.famagusta-gazette.com/def...azette&he=.com

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Third US warship bound for Georgia enters Turk straits

A third U.S. Navy ship carrying humanitarian aid has been crossing Turkey's Canakkale Strait, also known as the Dardanelles, on its way to Georgia.

The USS Mount Whitney steamed through the Dardanelles early Wednesday and was expected to pass through the Bosporus later in the day. The two Turkish-controlled straits link the Mediterranean to the Black Sea.

The ship is the third U.S. Navy vessel the military said would take supplies such as blankets, hygiene kits and baby food to Georgia following its war with Russia over South Ossetia.

One of the three U.S. ships, the USS McFaul, sailed back through the straits toward the Mediterranean late Monday.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday complained about an increase of NATO ships in the region and promised to respond.

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/9810381.asp?scr=1

Russia closes Georgia embassy, freezes visas

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Russia closed its embassy in Georgia and halted consular operations after Georgia severed diplomatic ties following last month’s war, the Russian consul said Wednesday.

A U.S. Navy ship loaded with humanitarian aid, meanwhile, steamed through the Dardanelles on its way to Georgia — a day after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin complained that too many NATO ships were sailing the Black Sea and promised a Russian response.

The diplomatic suspension means no new applications for Russian entry visas will be accepted, a blow to Georgians who have relatives in Russia or other ties there. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians live in Russia, and many ethnic Georgians in Russia are Russian citizens.

“A break-off of diplomatic ties is an action that has a price,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said in Moscow. He said the ministry is considering other measures.

The diplomatic break follows a five-day war and Moscow’s recognition of two separatist Georgia regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as independent nations. The conflict has brought tensions between Moscow and the West to their highest level since the end of the Soviet Union.

The United States has already sent two military ships bearing aid to Georgia, and the USS Mount Whitney steamed through the Dardanelles early Wednesday and was expected to pass through the Bosporus later in the day. The two Turkish-controlled straits link the Mediterranean to the Black Sea.

One of the other U.S. ships, the USS McFaul, sailed back through the straits toward the Mediterranean late Monday.

“We don’t understand what American ships are doing on the Georgian shores, but this is a question of taste, it’s a decision by our American colleagues,” Putin said Tuesday. “The second question is why the humanitarian aid is being delivered on naval vessels armed with the newest rocket systems.”

Russia’s reaction to NATO ships “will be calm, without any sort of hysteria. But of course, there will be an answer,” Interfax quoted Putin as saying during a visit to Uzbekistan.

Russia closed its Embassy in Tbilisi on Tuesday after receiving formal notice from Georgia that it was severing diplomatic ties, Russian Consul Valery Vasilyev told The Associated Press. He said employees took down Russian flags and other symbols that adorned the building.

The Georgian Embassy in Moscow closed Wednesday, according to its charge d’affaires, Givi Shugarov.

“Yesterday a note was passed to the Russian side in Tbilisi that Georgia, simply put, is breaking off all diplomatic relations with Russia,” Shugarov said. He said all embassy officials would leave by the end of September.

http://www.goshennews.com/nationalnews/local_story_247071406.html

Russia Closes Georgia Embassy
(TBILISI, Georgia) — Russia closed its embassy in Georgia and halted consular operations after Georgia severed diplomatic ties following last month's war, the Russian consul said Wednesday.
A U.S. Navy ship loaded with humanitarian aid, meanwhile, steamed through the Dardanelles on its way to Georgia — a day after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin complained that too many NATO ships were sailing the Black Sea and promised a Russian response.

The diplomatic suspension means no new applications for Russian entry visas will be accepted, a blow to Georgians who have relatives in Russia or other ties there. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians live in Russia, and many ethnic Georgians in Russia are Russian citizens.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1838254,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Holy Sh!t
---------------------------------------
Armenia Claims Huge Losses From Georgian Crisis

By Hovannes Shoghikian

The military conflict between Russia and Georgia has inflicted nearly $680 million worth of damage on Armenia’s economy heavily reliant on Georgian territory, a senior Armenian official said on Wednesday.

Artur Baghdasarian, secretary of Armenia’s National Security Council, said the figure, equivalent to one quarter of the country’s 2008 state budget, is based on “calculations” done by government experts.

“As a result of this Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, damage has been inflicted on the Republic of Armenia,” Baghdasarian told RFE/RL. “We worked in an emergency regime during those several days to ensure continued cargo shipments, being in close touch with the security councils of both Russia and Georgia.”

Baghdasarian’s remarks appeared to be in conflict with Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian’s earlier assurances that the economic cost of the Russian-Georgian conflict for Armenia has been minimal. Sarkisian strongly criticized last week Armenian opposition leaders and media that claimed the opposite.

“Has our society felt any upheavals, have the day-to-day lives of our citizens been disrupted in the past three weeks? Of course not,” he said.

Landlocked Armenia uses Georgia’s east-west railway, roads and Black Sea ports for carrying out at least 70 percent of its external trade. Cargo traffic through those transport routes was seriously complicated by Georgia’s ill-fated August 8 attempt to retake South Ossetia, which sparked a massive Russian counteroffensive.

Armenia experienced serious fuel shortages following the August 16 explosion on a rail bridge in central Georgia that disrupted rail traffic through the war-stricken nation. Large-scale supplies of fuel and other basic commodities to Armenia resumed through another Georgian rail bridge, prepared for temporary use, only eleven days later.

From http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeni...1CE3CD6312.ASP