Military base construction fuels Georgian-South Ossetian tension

Molly Corso 3/27/07

The construction of a Georgian military base less than 20 miles from Tskhinvali, the capital of separatist South Ossetia, is stoking tension. Ossetian leaders contend the base construction is a sign that Tbilisi aims to use force in an attempt to reestablish its authority over the independence-minded territory. Georgian officials deny any belligerent intentions.

The base, which is being built to the north of the M27 highway from Tbilisi to Gori, will become Georgia's second new, modern military facility. In May of 2006, the country's first "NATO standard" military base was completed in the western town of Senaki, notable for its proximity to the Abkhazian conflict zone. Construction on the Gori base began last August. Roughly 66 hectares in size, it will be able to accommodate up to 3,200 soldiers.

According to Irina Gagloyeva, the head of the de facto government's press service in Tskhinvali, the new Gori base offers confirmation that Tbilisi is preparing for an assault on South Ossetia. "[T]he military buildup continues along the borders of Georgia," she said in an interview published on the Utro.ru website on March 5. "[T]hey are preparing to solve our problem exclusively by strong-arm methods. Meanwhile, the trite statements on the part of Georgian politicians on a commitment to peace are only an ordinary verbal smokescreen."

Georgian military officials counter that the base site was chosen for a variety of reasons, including some as benign as removing combat troops from the capital. The base, which President Mikheil Saakashvili has called his "favorite construction site," will be the home for the 1st Regular Infantry Brigade, which is currently housed at the Soviet-era Vaziani base on the outskirts of Tbilisi.

The new base is scheduled to be completed this November, although the president announced on March 4 that he wanted to open it on Georgia's Independence Day, May 26. According to Lt Colonel Giga Tatishvili, Deputy Chief of the Georgian Armed Forces General Staff, the brigade is currently Georgia's top fighting unit. However, he denied that the brigade is being relocated in order to intimidate, and potentially fight forces loyal to the separatist leadership in Tskhinvali. While Tatishvili noted that "one of the reasons" for the base's location was Gori's proximity to the conflict zone, he also insisted other factors influenced the decision.

"The first brigade ... is a little close to the capital city, so the issue was on [the] agenda ... to move it to the regions," he said. "We are updating the threats the country is facing ... and one of the threats – which is obvious and we are not hiding [it] – is the conflict regions and the insurgency and uncontrolled separatists coming from that region. I think every country would do the same thing – number one is the national security and then the other things."

Georgian military experts, such as Irakli Mchedlishvili, tend to dismiss Ossetian allegations that the Gori and Senaki bases were specifically built with the conflicts in mind. Mchedlishvili, project director of Civil Council on Defense and Security, noted that, geographically speaking, there are few viable base-location options in Georgia that are not close to one of the two conflict zones. He also noted that in terms of a military operation, a base located in Tbilisi (roughly 50 miles from Tskhinvali) or Gori, is equally threatening. "From the military point of view ... there is not a big difference [between] 100 kilometers or 50 kilometers away from the border," he said. "I don't think it is especially done for that reason."

Irakli Aladashvili, a military expert for Georgia's "Kviris Palitra" ("The Week's Palette"), added that historically there have always been military bases in both Gori and Senaki – dating back to the time when Georgia was part of the Tsarist Empire. "Georgia is so small that regardless of where you build it [a base], it seems close to a conflict zone," Aladashvili said, adding that he does not see the Gori base as "a threat" for the separatist government in South Ossetia. "[I]t is not possible for military bases to only exist in the capital."

Tensions between Tbilisi and the de facto authorities in Tskhinvali have risen since the government of Dmitri Sanakoyev, a former prime minister and defense minister of separatist South Ossetia, was elected as president of a so-called "alternative" government for the breakaway territory last November. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The Tskhinvali government argues that Sanakoyev is little more than a puppet of the Saakashvili administration; Sanakoyev's campaign officials routinely deny the allegation. Georgian officials do not hide their desire to promote Sanakoyev's policies, and to coordinate action. On March 19, Saakashvili visited Sanakoyev in Kurta, the "alternative" capital of South Ossetia, and pledged his support for the tiny region's second de facto leadership. After his meeting with the alternative leader, Saakashvili said Sanakoyev had a "unique opportunity for peace," and pledged to explore opportunities for expanded cooperation.

A new round of fighting in the region in February and March has stoked instability in South Ossetia. On March 25, two Georgian police officers were killed while patrolling the road between the villages of Nikozi and Avnevi.

According to George Khutsishvili, founder and head of the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation in Tbilisi, while the Georgian government's support for Sanakoyev is "risky," it has little to do with either the new base or any military plans. "I think this is not military support; it is economic support. There are plans for construction... any military plans would complicate [the situation]," Khutsishvili commented.

Khutsishvili added that there exist restraints on Georgia's ability to assist the Sanakoyev leadership. "[T]he support that Georgia can give Sanakoyev by acknowledging him is linked to how much the international community is ready to support him," he said. "So far the international organizations are not ready."

Editor's Note: Molly Corso is a freelance reporter and photojournalist based in Tbilisi.

Posted March 27, 2007 © Eurasianet