Anti-Crisis Center Set up to Tackle Adjara Showdown

President Saakashvili said after the cabinet meeting in the town of Poti, near Adjara, on March 15, that Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania would chair a specially set up Anti-Crisis Center to coordinate resolution of the confrontation with the Adjarian leadership.

Saakashvili said that he would return to the capital Tbilisi, while the Prime Minister would remain in Poti, where the headquarters of the Anti-Crisis Center will be located. 

President Saakashvili also said that the vessels of the Georgian coast guard will be deployed around port of Batumi, as the President said, “to prevent illegal import of weapons to Adjara.”

“The only way to import weapons to Adjara is via sea, as Turkey [bordering with Adjara Autonomous Republic], which is Georgia’s friendly country, will not permit transportation of illegal cargo to Adjara,” Saakashvili added.

Mikheil Saakashvili also said that the Anti-Crisis Center will also gather information regarding “the repressions, which are carried out by the Adjarian authorities against the opposition activists.”