07 December 2003 10:57
Georgia: Leader of November revolution confident of Ajaria`s loyalty
Tbilisi, 7 December: Candidate for the Georgian presidency Mikheil Saakashvili, does not expect Ajaria to cause any
major complications. "In fact, the leader of the Autonomous Republic of Ajaria has already calmed down, if I may
say so. He has already returned to Batumi from a long visit to Moscow," Saakashvili said in a conversation with
journalists.
Saakashvili said that Abashidze had been in contact with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. "He [Abashidze]
has made an indication that Russia does not intend to assist or provide support for extremist forces in Georgia. We, for
our part, are stating that we have no intention to take any drastic steps with regard to Ajaria. We want to sit down to
a table of negotiations with Abashidze and discuss the major issue - the problem of tax revenue," Saakashvili
said.
Saakashvili placed emphasis on the fact that the Russian media had been trying to present the problem as
Ajaria's inclination towards separatism. "This is not the case because every resident of Ajaria is a part of
Georgia and you cannot find a single person there who would agree to the idea of Ajaria not being an integral part of
Georgia. Ajaria is not [Georgia' breakaway province of] Abkhazia or Tskhinvali [breakaway province of South
Ossetia]," Saakashvili said.
In the meantime, the chairman of the Tbilisi branch of Abashidze's party, the Union of Georgia's Democratic
Revival, Tsotne Bakuria, told Kavkasia-Press that the leader of Ajaria was ready to hold talks with any representative
of the current authorities of Georgia except Mikheil Saakashvili. "This is absolutely ruled out," Bakuria
said.
[Kavkasia-Press news agency] |
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