Press Scanner
Compiled by Keti Baramidze
Tuesday, April 13
Badri Nachkebia – The plane was thoroughly repaired in Russia last year
"The air disaster in Smolensk shook the whole world last week. Certainly there will always be questions when the leader of a country and dozens of its senior officials have been killed, especially when the leader is Lech Kaczynski, with his sharply anti-Russian opinions. Kaczynski was a close friend of Georgia in this respect. It is hard to draw any prior conclusion about the crash but there are numerous strange coincidences about it." Badri Nachkebia, the expert on security issues and terrorism, says in his interview with Kviris Palitra.
"As soon as Presidents began travelling by plane problems began. There have been several plane crashes which were supposed to be accidents which have been revealed to be the result of well-thought-out special operations many years later," Nachkebia says.
"I cannot remember a crash that has sacrificed the whole senior leadership of the country. But the crash in Smolensk is serious indeed. The Katyn tragedy is an especially significant event for Poland and that is why its leadership was on that plane – but it was a TU 154, which is prohibited in European airspace," Nachkebia continues.
The tragedy was preceded by certain incidents in connection with the same plane. Kaczynski paid an official visit to Mongolia two years ago and the plane could not be repaired for two days. For this reason Kaczynski had to travel by an ordinary plane for Tokyo to attend an international summit and was 8 hours late. The plane was thoroughly repaired in Russia (!) last year," he adds.
"The plane was flying over Russia after having been completely in the hands of Russians. Firstly it should be proved whether this was a planned event or a mere accident. Various factors need to be taken into consideration: one is the natural and meteorological environment and the other is the possibility of technical malfunction and suspicious circumstances. It is important that Poles also engage in this process.
"The fact is that a triumvirate consisting of Saakashvili, Yushchenko and Kaczynski was against Russia. Yushchenko had been removed from the political arena via elections, Kaczynski is dead… Certainly interested states will endeavour to apply precedents to serve their geostrategic goals," Badri Nachkebia says.
There are two ways the Government can survive
Leading member of the Democratic Movement-United Georgia Giorgi Kobakhidze states in an interview with Akhali Taoba: “Our party is not inclined to give Saakashvili a chance to gain time. On the contrary, our aim is to remove him as soon as possible and call early Presidential elections. We think that the best way to do this is to arrange sharp protests as we did last year. If we act in the same way now, the Government won’t be able to withstand anymore.”
"The Georgian Government is really in a very difficult situation as it is weak and exhausted and doesn’t have external support. That’s why I’m certain that if we hold protest marches this year we’ll manage to overthrow this Government and call early elections. We are holding consultations with other opposition parties and NGOs and first of all with the public. Our plan, which is being formed now, will have one particular characteristic: The role of the public in making decisions will be much greater than it was last year, when only a few political leaders decided everything and the people were their puppets. Now we are going to improve the situation.
"I am well aware of public opinion and know that Burjanadze has been called a traitor by the Government. The public's attitude towards us has changed greatly and now it may be called more positive than negative. After Burjanadze’s visit to Moscow the public have show more goodwill towards us as they know that the way we are taking to resolve problems is peaceful and mainly involves holding negotiations. We stop at nothing to protect our principles and won’t accept taking such steps that will demean our own dignity.
"Our greatest desire is to recover our lost territories and unite Georgia. That’s why the subject of territorial integrity should never be put aside. In fact we’ve already made some progress in this. As you know the Russian Prime Minister has stated that their mission is to return to the period when they had no conflicts with us. Burjanadze's visit gave us this result," adds Giorgi Kobakhidze.
Asked if every detail of Burjanadze's visit has been reported to the public he answers: "Her visit is of great importance and should not be called a mere detail, though in addition to it numerous plans exist. Everything depends on hard work, without which nothing will be achieved. The first step has proved extremely successful and the results it will bring will be seen in time.”
"The air disaster in Smolensk shook the whole world last week. Certainly there will always be questions when the leader of a country and dozens of its senior officials have been killed, especially when the leader is Lech Kaczynski, with his sharply anti-Russian opinions. Kaczynski was a close friend of Georgia in this respect. It is hard to draw any prior conclusion about the crash but there are numerous strange coincidences about it." Badri Nachkebia, the expert on security issues and terrorism, says in his interview with Kviris Palitra.
"As soon as Presidents began travelling by plane problems began. There have been several plane crashes which were supposed to be accidents which have been revealed to be the result of well-thought-out special operations many years later," Nachkebia says.
"I cannot remember a crash that has sacrificed the whole senior leadership of the country. But the crash in Smolensk is serious indeed. The Katyn tragedy is an especially significant event for Poland and that is why its leadership was on that plane – but it was a TU 154, which is prohibited in European airspace," Nachkebia continues.
The tragedy was preceded by certain incidents in connection with the same plane. Kaczynski paid an official visit to Mongolia two years ago and the plane could not be repaired for two days. For this reason Kaczynski had to travel by an ordinary plane for Tokyo to attend an international summit and was 8 hours late. The plane was thoroughly repaired in Russia (!) last year," he adds.
"The plane was flying over Russia after having been completely in the hands of Russians. Firstly it should be proved whether this was a planned event or a mere accident. Various factors need to be taken into consideration: one is the natural and meteorological environment and the other is the possibility of technical malfunction and suspicious circumstances. It is important that Poles also engage in this process.
"The fact is that a triumvirate consisting of Saakashvili, Yushchenko and Kaczynski was against Russia. Yushchenko had been removed from the political arena via elections, Kaczynski is dead… Certainly interested states will endeavour to apply precedents to serve their geostrategic goals," Badri Nachkebia says.
There are two ways the Government can survive
Leading member of the Democratic Movement-United Georgia Giorgi Kobakhidze states in an interview with Akhali Taoba: “Our party is not inclined to give Saakashvili a chance to gain time. On the contrary, our aim is to remove him as soon as possible and call early Presidential elections. We think that the best way to do this is to arrange sharp protests as we did last year. If we act in the same way now, the Government won’t be able to withstand anymore.”
"The Georgian Government is really in a very difficult situation as it is weak and exhausted and doesn’t have external support. That’s why I’m certain that if we hold protest marches this year we’ll manage to overthrow this Government and call early elections. We are holding consultations with other opposition parties and NGOs and first of all with the public. Our plan, which is being formed now, will have one particular characteristic: The role of the public in making decisions will be much greater than it was last year, when only a few political leaders decided everything and the people were their puppets. Now we are going to improve the situation.
"I am well aware of public opinion and know that Burjanadze has been called a traitor by the Government. The public's attitude towards us has changed greatly and now it may be called more positive than negative. After Burjanadze’s visit to Moscow the public have show more goodwill towards us as they know that the way we are taking to resolve problems is peaceful and mainly involves holding negotiations. We stop at nothing to protect our principles and won’t accept taking such steps that will demean our own dignity.
"Our greatest desire is to recover our lost territories and unite Georgia. That’s why the subject of territorial integrity should never be put aside. In fact we’ve already made some progress in this. As you know the Russian Prime Minister has stated that their mission is to return to the period when they had no conflicts with us. Burjanadze's visit gave us this result," adds Giorgi Kobakhidze.
Asked if every detail of Burjanadze's visit has been reported to the public he answers: "Her visit is of great importance and should not be called a mere detail, though in addition to it numerous plans exist. Everything depends on hard work, without which nothing will be achieved. The first step has proved extremely successful and the results it will bring will be seen in time.”