MIKHAIL SAHAKASHVILI HOPES TO LEARN FROM ROBERT KOCHARIAN

Some statements of Georgian President in Yerevan were rather unpleasant for Baku.

The first official visit to Armenia of the new President of Georgia took place. In the nearest future he will visit Ankara as well. Mikhail Sahakashvili and Robert Kocharian succeeded to contact. President of Georgia said lot of kind words about Armenia and its leader. Without doubting the sincerity of the guest we would however like to underline the artificiality of some statements of the Georgian leader who literally was repeating the words pronounced in Baku. Following are some examples.

March 13, 2004

PanARMENIAN.Net - Yerevan - ''Armenia is lucky to have such a President.
Baku - ''Azerbaijan is lucky to have such a leader as Ilham Aliyev''.

Yerevan - ''I hope to learn a lot from Robert Kocharian''.
Baku - ''I try to learn from Ilham Aliyev''.

Yerevan - ''The good organization in Armenia may be a good example for Georgia''.
Baku - ''We can follow the example of Azerbaijan''.

Yerevan - ''Georgian Armenians are talented people and they will succeed''.
Baku - ''Georgian Azeris are hardworking people devoted to Georgian state''.

Yerevan - ''Armenia has a centuries-old history of friendship with Western world and Russia''.
Baku - ''The model of relationship of Azerbaijan with Western world and Russia does not have analogues''.

Yerevan - ''We have an excellent ally on behalf of Armenia''.
Baku - ''Azerbaijan has been and is the most reliable ally''...

We shall note that in an interview on the eve of the visit the President was more sincere and compared the relations of Georgia with its two neighboring states: ''We have friendly relations with Azerbaijan. We have to establish friendly relations with Armenia''. Sahakashvili said for the first time that the relations between Tbilisi and Yerevan could not be considered friendly. At the same time, he assured that the actively developing Armenian-Azerbaijanian partnership can in no way impede the deepening of Armenian-Georgian cooperation.

It should be noted that some of his statements made in Yerevan were rather unpleasant for Baku. He said particularly that Georgia was against any comparisons between the Karabakh and Abkhazian conflicts as the etymology and the background of those conflict are different. Meanwhile, Ilham Aliyev was saying that official Georgia and Azerbaijan had the same approach to the regional conflicts ''based on the principal of the territorial integrity''. Then, Sahakashvili said that the settlement of regional conflicts laid in economic cooperation. President of Georgia underlined the high defensive capacity and good organization of Armenian armed forces.

He spoke also about the inadmissibility of transport isolation of Armenia. ''In order to have a peaceful region, Turkey has to develop relations with Armenia''. And, at last, in Baku they are dissatisfied with the fact that the President visited the memorial of Tsitsernakaberd which is an indirect confirmation of the official recognition by Georgia of the Armenian Genocide.

So, it is evident that despite the complimentary nature and the attempts to maintain a parity between the contacts with Kocharian and Aliyev, Mikhail Sahakashvili managed to demonstrate himself as a leader capable to bring a new wave to the Georgian-Armenian relations. The agreements achieved during his visit may become a favorable basis for the break in the relations between the two neighboring countries.