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The News in Brief

Monday, March 19
Prepared by Mariam Chanishvili

Georgia-Turkey Sign Deal to Better Address Border Security

Georgian and Turkish interior ministers have signed a memorandum to enhance border security.

The memorandum signed last week in Tbilisi envisages further bilateral cooperation in the battle against organized cross-border crime and strengthening of security of both nations.

The agreement came after Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu’s visit to Georgia with his delegation and a meeting with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Gakharia.

Along with the new deal, the officials discussed cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of Georgia and Turkey.

Gakharia spoke about the importance of police attachés for intensifying of cooperation between the two countries’ law enforcement agencies, the Georgian Interior Ministry press office said.

The appointment of a new Turkish police attaché was also discussed during the meeting.

Gakharia introduced current and planned reforms and the priorities of the Georgian Ministry to Soylu.

He stated that Georgia was taking steps to better control borders through introducing of modern technologies.

The ministers touched upon the activities of the joint security commission which gathers annually to discuss issues related to organized crime, human trafficking, terrorism and other crimes.



Majority and Opposition Agree on Sanctioned People’s List

The majority and the opposition in parliament have reached an agreement to introduce the so-called Tatunashvili-Otkhoziria list, which will feature the people abusing the rights of Georgian citizens.

The opposition member Sergi Kapanadze stated that the people in the list, who are charged for kidnapping, torturing and killing of Georgian citizens, will face sanctions.

The initiative over the list belongs to the European Georgia opposition and was pushed forward in the wake of the recent events in in the occupied Tskhinvali region - death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili in unclear circumstances on February 23.

The list is the part of the resolution the Georgian parliament plans to adopt against Russia and the secessionist regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.

The second surname in the list-Otkhozoria, refers to the Georgian citizen Giga Otkhozoria, who was brutally murdered by a Russian-controlled border guard in 2016.

The individual who killed 30-year-old Otkhozoria on the territory controlled by Georgia, Rashid Kanji Ogli, still walks free.

“We have completed our consultations with a common position to create a joint resolution; this resolution will feature the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili list. Only technical details are left to be agreed,” Kapanadze, from the European Georgia stated.

Russia and the occupied Tskhinvali have not yet handed Tatunashvili’s body.