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  • ANKARA: Could South Ossetia become Kosovo?

    Sunday's Zaman, Turkey
    Aug 10 2008


    Could South Ossetia become Kosovo?

    by
    SAVAÅ? GENÃ?*


    One of the legacies of the Soviet Union is ethnic and border conflicts
    it left as it collapsed. The eagerness of the US and Russia to expand
    their spheres of influences is behind clashes between South Ossetia
    and Georgia as well their pursuit of independence.

    Mikheil Saakashvili, who came to power in Georgia with the promise of
    preventing ethnic problems and separatist movements after the
    country's Rose Revolution, tried to form an alternative power focus
    against separatist movements in South Ossetia after successfully
    resolving problems in Georgia's Ajaria region. The Tbilisi government,
    led by a Saakashvili concerned with the probable prevention of his
    plans by Moscow and uneasy with the latter's influence in the region,
    arrested several Russian soldiers who were serving in the Russian
    peacekeeping force that was part of a multinational force stationed in
    the country on the grounds that they did not possess proper visas. He
    further announced that these arrested Russian troops would be deported
    from South Ossetia following a parliamentary decision. The Saakashvili
    administration, which sought to create a new peacekeeping force free
    of any Russian contribution, announced that it wanted to station a new
    peacekeeping force operating under UN command in the region. The
    acceptance of this request could be viewed as the recognition of
    Russian domination of Georgia. As is known, South Ossetia, which
    declared unilateral independence from Georgia in 1990, was seized by
    Georgian troops for the second time yesterday. Following an attack by
    Georgian forces on South Ossetia after this decision in January 1991,
    bloody clashes took place between the parties. Some 1,000 died in the
    conflict and 100,000 people were forced to leave their homes.

    The leaders, who realized that the issue will not be resolved through
    conflict, decided to sign a cease-fire agreement in July 1992 and form
    a joint peacekeeping force with the participation of South Ossetians,
    North Ossetians, Georgians and Russians. In June 2002 the Georgian
    president announced a new Conciliation Plan with Ossetia and stressed
    that they would focus on economic projects for the improvement of the
    region. He made several further attempts to restore Georgian influence
    in the region and ensure Georgian territorial integrity.

    South Ossetians declared independence from Russia two times: after a
    referendum held in 1993 and another held in 2001. General elections
    were held in 2006 and the South Ossetian people overwhelmingly
    supported independence from Georgia with a clear majority of 99
    percent of the vote. In the elections, Eduard Kokoity won the
    presidency. All these elections and referendums showed that the South
    Ossetians wanted independence, also sending a clear message to the
    world that they did not want to remain under the control of the
    Georgian administration.

    Resistance against Ossetian independence

    Saakashvili, who refused to recognize the election results and
    organized alternate elections after which he formed a pro-Georgian
    administrative unit, announced that he recognized Dmitri Sanakoev as
    the leader of South Ossetia. The Tbilisi administration, which took
    action to create an autonomous unit in South Ossetia under the
    leadership of Sanakoev, called on the Kokoity administration to give
    up their ambitions for independence and support this entity. With this
    move, he showed that he would resist Ossetian aspirations for
    independence and rely on resources available to him to prevent
    Ossetian independence.

    The Ossetian people and Kokoity, who expressed disagreement with this
    entity, turned to the UN, the EU and the Commonwealth of Independent
    States (CIS) for the recognition of South Ossetia after Kosovo
    declared independence on Feb. 17, 2008. The South Ossetian parliament,
    which asserted that Kosovo's independence set a precedent, argued that
    a decision to declare independence -- to be made by ethnic groups --
    should have priority over the territorial integrity of the sovereign
    state. Lastly, an announcement made by US Deputy Assistant Secretary
    of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza, who noted
    that a regional issue in Karabakh could be resolved by referendum,
    raised hopes among South Ossetians for independence while causing
    uneasiness and concern in the Georgian administration.

    Georgia, whose membership in NATO was prevented by Russia at a NATO
    summit in Bucharest in early April 2008 because of its regional issues
    with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, is seeking to resolve its problems by
    relying on its own methods in an attempt to integrate with the
    world. The Georgian administration, which is eager to maintain close
    ties with the EU and become a NATO member as soon as possible, seeks
    to reduce Russian influence by gradually escalating tension in the
    region.

    The Tbilisi administration, which sought to clamp down on independence
    plans by staging a sudden attack in South Ossetia on the night of
    Aug. 7, seems to have had its last chance in South Ossetia before the
    realization of the possibility of resolving the Karabakh issue through
    a referendum. This operation, which will affect the internal politics
    of Georgia, does seem to have been resolved by military means by the
    Georgian army in the presence of Russians in the region. The Council
    of Europe, which demands a cease-fire and an immediate end of violence
    by the Georgian army, will try to convince the Georgian government to
    resolve the issue based on political methods and means.

    The UN should take action to maintain lasting peace between Georgia,
    South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Turkey may serve as a mediator that will
    attract the trust and confidence of the parties in the
    conflict. Alternative plans should be developed for a lasting peace
    between the parties.


    * SavaÅ? Genç is an instructor at Fatih University.
    10 August 2008, Sunday
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