EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Expanding Turkish-Georgian Strategic Ties Rankle Russia

EURASIA INSIGHT

EXPANDING TURKISH-GEORGIAN STRATEGIC TIES RANKLE RUSSIA
Igor Torbakov 4/25/03

Turkey seeks to expand its security presence in the Caucasus, and Georgia has expressed interest in the possible implementation of a Turkish military training program. Closer strategic ties between Ankara and Tbilisi are rankling Russian leaders, who have already cautioned Georgia against taking "steps that violate the existing balance of forces in the Transcaucasus."

A large Turkish delegation, led by military Chief of Staff Hilmi Ozkok, flew to Tbilisi on April 18 for wide-ranging talks on security issues, focusing on "ways to develop the existing military cooperation," the Anatolia news agency reported.

Participants divulged few specifics of their discussions. According to Turkish and Georgian media, Ozkok and Georgian Defense Minister David Tevzadze explored "in detail" the training of the Georgian military personnel by the Turkish military experts, the issue of Turkish financial assistance to the Georgian army in 2003-2004, and the renovation of a Georgian military air facility. Turkey also indicated that it would assist in training a marine anti-terrorism unit for Georgia’s Black Sea flotilla, a Georgian official said.

Turkish leaders appeared satisfied with the security talks. "Military cooperation between Turkey and this key Caucasus country is very strong," the Turkish Daily News said in a commentary. Georgian officials noted the parameters for the training program would be similar to a US initiative known as "Train and Equip."

US-Georgian security cooperation has been a source of rising tension between Tbilisi and Moscow, which is keen not to see its strategic influence in the region erode to the benefit of the United States. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The Turkish delegation’s visit has further inflamed Russian sentiment, political analysts say. Georgian officials have suggested that Tbilisi’s strengthening military ties with the United States do not pose any particular threat to a third country. But a strongly worded resolution, approved by the Russian State Duma on April 16, is indicative of Moscow’s lack of trust in Georgia’s strategic intention.

The Duma resolution, adopted by an overwhelming majority, sharply criticized the expansion of the US-Georgian strategic cooperation. "It is impermissible for the Georgian leadership to take steps that violate the existing balance of forces in the Transcaucasus and contradict the good-neighborly nature of Russian-Georgian relations," the resolution said.

Some influential Russian MPs openly portray Georgia as a US military vassal in the Caucasus. The Georgian-US security agreement "is humiliating for Georgia," says Konstantin Kosachev, the Deputy Head of the State Duma International Relations Committee. It "turns the relationship between Georgia and the United States into the de-facto relations between the powerless satellite and an [all-powerful] metropole," he added.

Clearly, most Russian analysts and policy-makers perceive the expansion of security cooperation between Washington and Tbilisi as a serious security threat. The US military presence in Georgia "might not be that dangerous had it not been for the proximity of Georgia to Russia," said Anatoly Chekhoyev, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for the Relations with the CIS Countries. "Russian national security is being threatened �especially in light of the recent developments in Iraq."

Some Georgian officials are dismissive of Russian expressions of concern. Fears that Tbilisi’s strategic moves threaten Russian security are "complete rubbish," said Zviad Mukbaniani, chairman of the Georgian parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee. "Russian lawmakers have apparently forgotten that Georgia is a sovereign state and has the right to independently decide which accords to sign and with whom," added Irakli Batiashvili, head of the Defense and Security Committee.

The intensification of Turkish-Georgian strategic ties appears to irritate the Russian strategists no less than Tbilisi’s defense cooperation with the United States. Russian officials were quick to show their displeasure, directing their ire not only at Georgia, but also at Turkey.

Soon after the Turkish delegation’s visit, the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office sent a new letter to the Turkish Ministry of Justice demanding the extradition of the Chechen radical ideologue Movladi Udugov. Russia tried to secure Udugov’s extradition from Turkey a year ago, but Ankara rebuffed the request.

An unnamed diplomat at the Turkish Embassy in Moscow recently told Interfax that he did not know whether Udugov was currently in Turkey. Udugov is believed to have been living in Qatar since January 2002. The influential Moscow daily Izvestiya asserts, however, that "Russian law-enforcement agencies believe he [Udugov] is still hiding in Turkey." Quoting well-informed sources, the newspaper wrote that for some time Udugov’s website Kavkaz-Tsentr was operating from Turkey.

Another indirect signal of Moscow’s anger seems to be the publication in a mainstream political weekly of an article with clear anti-Turkish overtones. The commentary in the journal Konservator discusses the potential threat posed by the concept of pan-Turkism to Russia’s territorial integrity. "Of all the major irredentist movements in Europe, pan-Turkism is the only one that is active today," says the commentary. The article also warns that "the ideas of pan-Turkism are being openly disseminated in Russia."

Editor�s Note: Igor Torbakov is a freelance journalist and researcher who specializes in CIS political affairs. He holds an MA in History from Moscow State University and a PhD from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. He was Research Scholar at the Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; a Visiting Scholar at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington DC; a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University, New York; and a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University. He is now based in Istanbul, Turkey.

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