Saakashvili Reaches Out to Kyrgyz Interim Leader

President Saakashvili spoke by phone with head of the Kyrgyz interim government, Roza Otunbayeva, to pledge his support, the Georgian President’s administration said on April 17.

The phone conversation comes two days after Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the ousted Kyrgyz president, resigned and went into exile and nine days after the Georgian President blamed Russia for meddling in the Kyrgyz developments leading to Bakiyev’s ouster.

"[Roza Otunbayeva] thanked the Georgian President for humanitarian aid and Mikheil Saakashvili, on his part, has pledged assistance in any issue," the Georgian President’s administration said in a brief statement.

Georgia sent humanitarian aid, mainly medicines, to Bishkek on April 11.

In a written statement released on April 12 the Foreign Ministry of the Kyrgyz interim government thanked Georgia for the aid,but also expressed its "deep bewilderment" over Georgia’s statement suggesting that Russia was behind the Kyrgyz developments, It said that "discontent accumulated among the Kyrgyz people because of the actions by the previous authorities, as well as because of nepotism and corruption" were the causes of the events, which took place in Kyrgyzstan on April 7. 

"Despite [Moscow’s] denials, according to the information available for us, it is absolutely obvious that Russia is roughly interfering with Kyrgyzstan’s internal affairs and is trying to play geopolitical games at the expense of the Kyrgyz people," President Saakashvili’s spokesperson, Manana Manjgaladze, said on April 8.

"We call on all the forces, including those who are in control of the capital [Bishkek] not to allow outside forces to use you against the fundamental interests of the country," she added.

However, on the same day, Georgian Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze, said while speaking at a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart in Helsinki: "I do not have any facts, which could possibly prove any foreign involvement into those [Kyrgyz] events.”

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)