Week 18-23 December: www? war, weapons and words

In the night between 16th and 17th , from 01.00 to 4.15 am, Turkish aviation hit military targets of Kurdish guerillia in Zap, Ajasin, Khakurk. The operation was accomplished by 24 F-16, supported by heavy artillery. It is not the kind of episode which can be left unnoticed.

Already the 6th, Ilham Aliyev had declared that Azerbaijan stands by Turkey in its fight against PKK, which, by the way, the Azeri National Assembly added to the list of terrorist organizations. The statement of the President caused a reaction among Kurdish political activists, with the leader of the Kurdish Workers’ Party in France, Sejan Barzani, threatening Azerbaijan of terrorist attacks on its territory.
Azerbaijan has indeed quite a Kurdish minority, increased of over 23 000 members since the indipendence. But mostly, Azeri Kurds seem to be loyal to their citizenry identity. As for their national identity, although some communities vaguely claimed - in the 90ies - their will to create a Kurdish Republic, with their historical sites at present under Armenian occupation, they gave no further signs of secessionism or terrorism against the Azeri State.

In Armenia the Vice Speaker of the National Assembly Vahan Hovannisjan during the parliamentary hearings on "Armenian-Turkish relations: Issues and perspectives" referred to the relations between the two countries as a deadlock. He went so far as to describe Turkey as a classical example of dictatorship, since, in his words, it tries to control not only the present, but also the past (A1+, 12/19).

Georgian media are focusing on the north front… As election countdown goes on, the role of Russia in internal affairs is more and more disputed. The incumbent president tried to cool the voices about the involvement of Moskow in November demonstrations. But Nino Burdžanadze, the acting head of State, connects current protest actions with Russia (Imedi news, 12/20). In the meantime, Georgian military police has detained three Russian peacekeepers - named Volkovec, Duškalev and Krovostenko - from the contingent of the CIS Peacekeeping Forces stationed in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone. Apparently, they are suspected in infringement of a 12 kilometer safety zone alongside the river Inguri (Rustavi 2, 12/23).
As for the “internal” front, both Saakašvili and Patarkacišvili have to appear , on the 22nd , in Tbilisi Court for a violation of the Election Code, that may have led to their exclusion from the registration list.