EN
29 July 2002 - 17:41 AMT

THEY IN GEORGIA CLAIM RUSSIA TRIES TO DEFEAT BAKU-TBILISI-JEYHAN OIL PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION

The Russian special services have developed a special program to defeat the project of the Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil pipeline construction. As the Georgian “Rezonansi” newspaper states, Moscow plans to inspire a new inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflict in those regions of Georgia in territories of which the oil pipeline will be constructed. According to the article, first of all the matter concerns the Tsalk region in the south of Georgia populated mainly by Armenian and Greeks. This issue was recently discussed at the Georgian parliament meeting. According to the deputy – the Tsalk region representative Vitaly Aydinov, agitating the Armenian population, a Russian citizen Sergey Zurnachian collects the signatures against the oil pipeline construction. The newspaper states that according to Aydinov, Zurnachian is fulfilling a special task of the Russian government. Taking into consideration the current situation, the Georgian leadership has placed its internal forces units in the Tsalk region, evoking the negative response of the population of the region.