Tbilisi has indicated that the monitoring of upper Kodori Gorge will be its bargaining chip to push for an international inspection of the disputed Gudauta military base in breakaway Abkhazia.
The Russian and Abkhaz sides have accused Georgia of deploying its army troops in upper Kodori Gorge under the “cover of police forces,” which is a violation of the 1994 Moscow agreement between the Abkhaz and Georgian sides on cease-fire and separation of forces. According to the agreement there should be no Georgian army troops in upper Kodori.
Both Moscow and Sokhumi have demanded that UN observers and Russian peacekeeping troops resume monitoring of the gorge as envisaged in the 1994 agreement.
“It is essential to resume the monitoring of Kodori Gorge. If it does not happen, we will [take it as a sign] that Georgia is preparing for war. If Georgia is not preparing for war, they should let UN observers and peacekeepers carry out the monitoring,” Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh said on August 1.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov also called for “a total and full inspection of those so-called police forces that are currently stationed in upper Kodori Gorge.”
Monitoring of upper Kodori has not been undertaken since June 2003, when UN observers and their interpreter were kidnapped by gunmen while patrolling the gorge.
Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili made it clear on July 31 that Tbilisi will allow the resumption of monitoring in the area only after an inspection of Gudauta military base.
Tbilisi is demanding that the Gudauta base be monitored by an independent international party to verify its closure by Russia, as envisaged by a 1999 OSCE Istanbul treaty.
Moscow insists on only a onetime monitoring mission of the base, while Georgia wants international monitoring on a regular basis.
Moreover, Georgia also wants Russia to destroy the Gudauta airfield runaway.
According to Abkhaz sources, there are currently only 4 helicopters and 130 Russian peacekeepers deployed at the Gudauta base.
Foreign Minister of breakaway Abkhazia Sergey Shamba said on August 1 that linking the monitoring of Kodori with an inspection of Gudauta base is inadmissible and legally groundless.
“Monitoring of upper Kodori Gorge is envisaged by the 1994 Moscow agreement… while Georgia has no reason to demand the inspection of the former Russian military base in Gudauta,” Shamba said.
The Moscow agreement signed by the Georgian and Abkhaz sides in 1994 reads: “A regular patrol of peacekeeping forces and international observers shall be organized concurrently in the Kodori valley.”
Meanwhile, Defense Minister of breakaway Abkhazia Sultan Sosnaliev accused Georgia on August 1 of sending a 500-man Mountain Battalion to Kodori Gorge.
He said that the Abkhaz side “is undertaking adequate measures” and added that special purpose forces of the Defense Ministry have been dispatched to the lower Kodori Gorge, which is under the secessionist authorities’ control. Sosnaliev also said that Abkhazia has not yet announced the mobilization of its reserve troops, “as there is no need for this so far.”
