Saakashvili Sets Ultimatum to Abashidze, Threatens to Isolate Adjara
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| Saakashvili visited Batumi in January to attend with Abashidze a military parade to mark his inauguration; however he was barred from entering Adjara on March 14. |
Saakashvili also set an ultimatum to Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze and demanded to fulfill the central authorities’ conditions till the evening of March 15.
“[During the phone conversation on March 14] I told Aslan Abashidze that he has time to think over my conditions till tomorrow evening. I asked him to let me and other government members to meet voters in Adjara; to let other people express their position freely; to let [the opposition] to campaign freely in Adjara and hold free and fair elections,” Mikheil Saakashvili said.
The President also said that he demanded from Abashidze “to disarm illegal armed groups” in Adjara. “The central authorities also demand to carry out its duties in the Autonomous Republic and control the region’s borders and customs,” he added.
Mikheil Saakashvili said that the central authorities intend to close borders with its defiant region, “in order to cut financial sources for the [Adjarian] regime.”
“Tomorrow [on March 15] I intend to propose the government to discuss close Batumi [Adjarian capital] airport, Sarpi border checkpoint [at the border with Turkey] and port of Batumi. I will also propose the government to freeze the accounts of all the legal entities registered by the authorities of the Adjara,” President Saakashvili said.
He warned Aslan Abashidze “if even one opposition activist would be harmed in Adjara, Georgian authorities would carry out decisive measures.”
Early on March 14 President Saakashvili was barred to enter Adjara, as couple of hundred of armed men blocked the administrative border between Autonomous Republic and the rest of Georgia.
Mikheil Saakashvili explained his surprise move to travel to Georgia’s defiant region with the willingness to meet with the voters on the eve of the March 28 parliamentary elections.
Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze told a press conference earlier on March 14 that the central authorities intended “to invade Adjara” under the pretext of the President’s visit. “He [Saakashvili] was not going to arrive in Adjara,” Abashidze said.
“Our [the Presidential] convoy, which consisted of 25, or 30 bodyguards, whose goal is to protect the President, was met at Choloki [checkpoint, dividing the Autonomous Republic from the rest of Georgia], by armed men and armored vehicles,” Saakashvili said in his televised address.
He also said that ex-President Shevardnadze’s “negligent policy” towards Adjara led to creation of illegal armed group in the Autonomous Republic.
“There is 1500-strong armed special purpose unit commanded by the Russian major general Netkachov. The unit also includes four T-74 battle tanks and military vessels,” Mikheil Saakashvili said.
He added that the 25th brigade of the Georgian armed forces, which is deployed in Batumi, refused to obey the central authorities command and was on high alert after the orders of the Adjarian leadership. “This is nothing more than disobedience,” he added.
Aslan Abashidze told Adjarian television on March 14 that the central authorities want to overthrow Adjarian leadership with use of force. He also said that he tried to negotiate with President Saakashvili via mediator in vain.
“With the help of the foreign mediator [Abashidze did not named him] we were holding talks with the central authorities during the last week. But no agreement has been reached. Then I decided to visit Moscow to inform the international community regarding the threat of bloodshed that might take place in Adjara,” Abashidze said.
“I have dispatched my representatives to the United States where they have met with the officials of the Department of State. They [Abashidze’s envoys] also met with George Soros [the U.S. billionaire philanthropist] to inform him regarding the recent development. We met with everybody, which assisted the new authorities to take power [in last November’s bloodless revolution]. They told us that the central authorities would be responsible in case of bloodshed,” Aslan Abashidze told the Adjarian television, speaking via phone from Moscow.
Russian Foreign Ministry warned on March 14 Georgia’s central authorities against dispatching troops to Adjara Autonomous Republic.
“If there is a crisis, all responsibility will lie with the Georgian leadership,” Alexander Yakovenko, a spokesman for Russian Foreign Ministry told a news conference in Moscow.
“There are grounds to think that Tbilisi is planning to use force,” Yakovenko also said.
A Ministry’s official added that the recent developments in Adjara trigger Moscow’s concerns.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Georgia’s central authorities of attempts to overthrow Adjarian leadership.
The Russian Ministry’s statement issued on March 12 reads, Tbilisi trains its law enforcement agencies and organizes protest rallies in Batumi, Adjarian capital, “to overthrow the legal authorities in Adjara.”
President Saakashvili also warned Russia on March 14, who has a military base in the Adjarian capital Batumi, not to interfere in the standoff between Tbilisi and Batumi.
“There is information that the Russian militaries in Batumi offered Abashidze assistance,” Mikheil Saakashvili said.
Secretary-General of the Council of Europe (CoE) Walter Schwimmer also expressed alarm regarding “escalating tensions between” the central authorities and leadership of Adjara Autonomous Republic. He urged Mikheil Saakashvili and Aslan Abashidze “to refrain from violence and start a genuine dialogue.”
Standoff between Adjarian leader and the country’s new leadership intensified in early March, when President Saakashvili said that he wants “to take control over Adjara,” in a response to Abashidze’s statement that the central authorities seek for “total control over Adjara.” “Yes I want to control Adjara,” Saakashvili said.
Abashidze made some conciliatory moves during the recent months: Adjara started to transfer taxes to the central budget and in January Adjarian leadership welcomed Mikheil Saakashvili in Batumi, when he was officials sworn in as a President. However, simultaneously, attacks on the opposition activists continued in Adjara, which is unilaterally ruled by Aslan Abashidze for past decade.