EQUIPO NIZKOR |
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22Aug08
Russia Voices Alarm About Us’ and Nato’s Navy Activities in the Black Sea Water Area
NATO warships’ port calls to the Black Sea – a water area that closely borders with the Russian Navy’s responsibility zone – may gravely destabilize the region. A statement to this effect was made on Friday by a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman in the wake of Turkey’s decision to give the green light to NATO vessels’ free passage through the Turkish Straits.
Tbilisi aggression against its unrecognized republics led to an array of fatal repercussions, which will no doubt have a tremendous and protracted impact on the international community. The United States and Poland, for example, were quick to ink a joint accord to deploy 10 American interceptors on Polish soil – a move that is most likely to prompt Washington to continue to widen its missile shield by clinching a relevant deal with Georgia. While asserting itself on the Caucasian ground, the White House also signals its readiness to begin boosting its military clout in the Caucasus water zones.
Earlier in the week, Turkey okayed NATO and US Navy warships’ transit to put into Georgina ports of Poti and Batumi, citing plausible official pretexts of rendering humanitarian aid to Tbilisi. Experts warn, though, that the move is no more than the much-awaited fulfillment of Washington’s long-cherished plans to assert itself in the Black Sea. It is far from secret that Turkey has more than once said its stern no to these plans by, notably, forbidding to carry out NATO war games in the Black sea region. Also, Ancara used to point to a 1936 Sea Convention that restricts tonnage and sojourn time of warships of any nation, which has no direct route to the Black Sea.
What’s more, it is not yet immediately clear how a control scheme would be implemented in respect with the cargos that are to be shipped to Georgia. Many see a humanitarian aid as a cynical cover for supplying US arms to Tbilisi all the more so that the White House always stuck to double standards in the matter. In Moscow, Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, voices regret about Turkey’s decision to give the green light to NATO warships’ passage through the Turkish Straits.
Of course, Washington has a legal right to lend a humanitarian support to all those needy in Georgia, Anatoly Nogovitsyn says, adding that the move is allegedly fulfilled under the peacekeeping umbrella. What really raises many eyebrows is that the White House remains tight-leaped about offering aid to South Ossetia – a republic that was also fully devastated following the conflict. Although US officials continue to assure us that relevant consultations are still ahead, it is already clear that the issue will hardly be on the White House table. And this double standards policy unnerves us, Anatoly Nogovitsyn complains.
Surprisingly, the McFall destroyer and the Dallas atomic submarine will also be among group of warships to deliver humanitarian cargos to Tbilisi – something that will hardly be in tune with peacekeeping purposes Washington has repeatedly spoken of. And it is common knowledge that all the warships equipped with nuclear reactors and armaments are internationally banned from putting into the Black Sea ports. According to Nogovitsyn, the General Staff has obtained information that Canada and Poland Navy’s warships are due to enter the Black Sea water zone before the end of August.
It is only to be hoped that unlike the US, both Ottawa and Warsaw would refrain from citing humanitarian mission concerns when carrying out the move. As to the US vessels , they are sure to stay in Poti and Batumi indefinitely – something that was clearly sounded on Thursday by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. According to him, a group of the US Senate heavyweights had already visited Georgia in a bid to express willingness to make significant financial injections into the Caucasian nation’s defense-capability.
[Source: By Yelizaveta Isakova , The Voice of Russia, Moscow, 22Aug08]
 | This document has been published on 23Aug08 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |