Topic: Situation in Georgia
Country: Turkey
Delegate Name: Jeanette Tobasco
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Turkey position papers GLIMUN 2008 committees
Shortly before the USSR fell, Georgia declared their independence on April 9, 1991. As one of the conditions of their new independence, Georgia had agreed to hold a referendum to decide whether South Ossetia would join the new country, or remain with the Russian Federation. However, this referendum was never held, initiating tensions between the two. These were further provoked when Zviad Gamsakhurdia, a rising anti-Soviet leader, declared “Georgia for Georgians,” basically saying that South Ossetians had no place there. This led to a war in 1991-92 that resulted in South Ossetia breaking away from Georgia and gaining de facto independence. Tensions flared up again in 2004, 2006, and most recently 2008. On August 7, 2008, Georgian armed forces invaded and opened fire on Tskhinvali, a city in South Ossetia. Russia immediately accused the Georgian government of committing genocide against the South Ossetians, killing 1,600 civilians, due to their close relations with South Ossetia. Though the Human Rights Watch investigators accused Russia of exaggerating the number causalities, Russia used this claim of genocide as a justification to invade Georgia in an effort to maintain peace.
The outbreak of fighting in August caught The Republic of Turkey off guard. Because Turkey shares a border with Georgia, Turkey maintains a close relationship with Georgia and share many partnerships. Turkey views the South Ossetian conflict as a potential danger to the peace and stability of the entire region, and believes the resolution of these problems is essential for the preservation of peace and stability. However, Turkey also sees maintaining a good relationship with Russia a priority, especially due to Turkey’s reliance on Russia for natural gasses. Yet, due to Turkey’s poor relations with Armenia, Turkey finds it necessary to transport the resources through Georgia and into Turkey. Though refraining to officially choose sides in this feud, Turkey has pledged to provide Georgia with $1.8 million in military aid, including training Georgian officers.
In relation to this issue, Georgia appealed to the United Nations International Court of Justice on October 15, 2008 with the request for Russia to take temporary measures on defense of Georgian citizens. In this appeal, Georgia accused Russia of a violation of the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). To this, Russian director of the legal department of the Russian Foreign Military responded that this is not the case and it does not concern the Convention on liquidation of all forms of racial discrimination. On this issue, the ICJ ruling called for both sides to protect the inhabitants of both regions in the center of a five-day war. Though the court’s orders are binding, unfortunately there is no way to enforce this ruling.
Due to Turkey’s shared land border with Georgia, Turkish media had focused on the countless numbers of civilians killed and wounded in Russian air and artillery strikes, building a growing sentiment in Turkey against Russia. However, Russia has little care for Turkey’s opinion on the matter because of the stranglehold over Turkey’s supplies of natural gas. On a whole, Turkey believes that the conflict between Georgia and Russia, involving South Ossetia, should be resolved through dialogue and without the use of force, based on the legitimate concerns of the relevant countries over their territorial integrity and sovereignty. To back up this belief, Turkey has expressed its stand on this issue on every possible occasion. Also Turkey has proposed to establish a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform (CSCP), in an effort to reach and maintain peace, security and stability in South Ossetia.
