Tuesday, August 21, 2007, #159 (1426)

Press Scanner

Headline: Kokoity demands Georgian ports be checked
The de facto president of South Ossetia is accusing the US of trying to foment conflict between Georgia and his breakaway region, the news agency Medianews reports. Kokoity, responding to US demands that the Roki Tunnel be internationally monitored, said America's remarks only serve to strain the situation in the conflict zone.

"Before the US demands control of the Roki Tunnel it should check Georgia's ports, where large amounts of arms are coming in from abroad-including from America. The US is an influential country, and it would be better to see it in the Caucasus as a force that fights for peace and justice, not as a country with an aggressive policy. Washington's current policy in the South Caucasus only encourages the anti-American sentiment in the region," Kokoity said.

Headline: Meskhetian Turks ask international donors for financial support
Meskhetian Turks are asking international donors to support them financially in repatriation efforts, reports Medianews. Ibragim Burkhanov, head of the Meskhetian Turk advocacy group Vatani, made the public call for aid.

"[Meskhetian Turks] have no money to buy houses in Georgia; they need help from donor organizations. With financial aid, they'll be able to buy houses in Georgia," Burkhanov said, adding that the organization will make the same request of the Turkish government.

Headline: Georgian business is threatened
The government is spending state money on private trips and family business, says Temur Shashiashvili of the political opposition movement Forward, Georgia. Akhali Taoba writes that Shashiashvili calls on voters to confront the government and the Georgian millionaires who influence it.

"Today, our government is monopolized. Today, freedom is to overcome fear. The cowardly can't be free. Today, businessmen are afraid of government. Some of them dared to overcome their fear. In any country, businessmen finance democracy-they spend their money wanting to see freedom, not a dictatorship. Today, Georgia is in peril because of undemocratic and dictatorial ways," Shashiashvili tells the newspaper.

Shevardnadze, he says, doomed the Georgian people and was in turn doomed by his favored politicians. Shashiashvili adds that Georgia has another chance to make a leap forward, but the government is squandering it.

Shashiashvili claims that the opposition politicians visible on TV are Sorosians and Kmarelebi [references to George Soros and the Kmara political resistance movement] with friends tied to the government.

"These oppositionists were made by America, Russia or our government, and they have a deal with this government," the Forward, Georgia leader declared.

Headline: American congressman looks at reforms in Georgia
Frank Wolf, an influential US congressman who co-chairs the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, is concerned about the state of affairs in Georgia, Akhali Taoba writes.

Imedi TV reported that the congressman sent a letter to US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice at the end of July, enunciating his misgivings about the development of democracy in Georgia.

Reforms in the court system, the military, and the political system need to be examined, wrote Wolf.

"…Georgia has serious problems with human rights defense. People are arrested without any reasons…the government obviously influences the court and media," the letter reportedly notes.


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