Thrace on the East: Georgia?

THRACE ON THE EAST: GEORGIA? The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by İLKER KİREMİTÇİ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA June 2004 i I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of International Relations. Asst. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kibaroğlu Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of International Relations. Asst. Prof. Dr. Ömer Faruk Gençkaya Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of International Relations. Instructor Ali Tekin Examining Committee Member Approval of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences Prof. Kürşat Aydoğan Director ii ABSTRACT THRACE ON THE EAST: GEORGIA? Kiremitçi, İlker M.A., Department of International Relations Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kibaroğlu June 2004 Since Turkey has turned its face towards Europe, it can be concluded that one of its ‘backs’ is the Caucasian region. However, Caucasia may not constitute Turkey’s first security priority under present conditions, but this does not mean that it will not, in the future. Therefore, that Turkey should consider its ‘back’ from the security perspective is an indisputable reality. In that sense, this thesis examines one of the Caucasian states, namely GEORGIA, which is in the middle of the region, from the security point of view. How Georgia has been affecting Turkish security policies after the end of Cold War is the main concern of the thesis. Keywords: Turkey, Georgia (Republic), United States, Russian Federation, Caucasia (Caucasus), security, interest, military, energy, security policy. iii ÖZET DOĞU’ DAKİ TRAKYA: GÜRCİSTAN? Kiremitçi, İlker Yüksek Lisans, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Mustafa Kibaroğlu Haziran 2004 Türkiye yüzünü Avrupa’ya döndüğü için, onun ‘arkalarından’ birinin Kafkasya bölgesi olduğu sonucuna varılabilir. Ancak, günümüz koşullarında Kafkasya Türkiye’nin birinci güvenlik önceliğini oluşturmayabilir, fakat bu gelecekte olmayacağı anlamına gelmez. Bu nedenle, Türkiye’nin güvenlik alanında ‘arkasını’ dikkate alması gerektiği su götürmez bir gerçektir. Bu manada tez, Kafkas ülkelerinden birini, bölgenin ortasında bulunan Gürcistan’ı güvenlik açısından incelemektedir. Soğuk Savaş sonrası Gürcistan’ın Türk güvenlik politikalarını nasıl etkilediği tezin ana ilgisidir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Türkiye, Gürcistan, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, Rusya Federasyonu, Kafkasya (Kafkas), güvenlik, çıkar, askeri, enerji, güvenlik politikası. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to thank all academic and administrative staffs of the Bilkent University, and of International Relations Department in particular for sharing their knowledge and views throughout the courses. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Asst. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kibaroğlu, who supervised me throughout this study, and whose knowledge and experience have been most useful during the conduct of the thesis. I am also deeply grateful to Asst. Prof. Dr. Ömer Faruk Gençkaya and Instructor Ali Tekin for their valuable comments and for spending their valuable time to read and review my thesis. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my wife for her support, encouragement and sustained patience during this study. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................iii ÖZET .............................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS ..............................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES AND MAPS ...................................................................viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................ix INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: TURKEY’S RELATIONS WITH GEORGIA ................5 1.1 The Importance of Georgia .........................................................7 1.2 Bilateral Relations .......................................................................12 1.2.1 Political Relations ........................................................ 13 1.2.2 Economic and Trade Relations .................................... 17 1.2.3 Military Relations ........................................................ 21 1.3 Georgian Domestic Security Dimension .....................................27 1.3.1 Abkhazia ...................................................................... 29 1.3.2 South Ossetia ............................................................... 30 1.3.3 Ajaria ............................................................................32 1.3.4 Javakhetia .....................................................................34 CHAPTER 2: RF’S VIEW ABOUT TURKISH – GEORGIAN RELATIONSHIP ....................................................................................... 38 2.1 General Caucasian Policy of Russian Federation: ‘The Near Abroad’ 38 2.2 Caucasian Security Policies of Russian Federation ................... 41 2.3 Geopolitical and Strategic Objectives of RF on Georgia ........... 44 2.4 RF’s Initiatives in Georgia ......................................................... 49 2.4.1 Visa Regime Policy .................................................... 49 2.4.2 Energy Policy ............................................................. 50 2.4.3 International Terrorism Policy ...................................51 vi 2.4.4 RF’s Military Involvement in Georgia ....................... 53 2.5 RF’s View ................................................................................. 62 CHAPTER 3: THE UNITED STATES’ POLICY TOWARD GEORGIA 66 3.1 The United States’ South Caucasian Policy After the Cold War 66 3.2 The United States’ Geopolitical and Strategic Objectives on Georgia 71 3.3 The United States’ Initiatives in Georgia .................................. 75 3.3.1 The US’s Political Initiatives in Georgia ................... 76 3.3.2 The US’s Economic Initiatives in Georgia ................ 78 3.3.3 The US’s Military Initiatives in Georgia ................... 81 3.4 Similarities and Diversities in Turkish and the US’s politics in Georgia ............................................................ 86 CHAPTER 4: ASSESSMENT OF TURKEY’S GEORGIA RELATED SECURITY POLICIES ........................................................................... 89 4.1 Turkey’s Designated Security Policies .................................... 89 4.2 Turkey’s Prospective Security Policies Towards Georgia ....... 93 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................ 104 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................... 106 vii LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: Turkey – Georgia Trade Volume TABLE 2: Georgia’s First Ten Largest Trade Partners According to the Trade Turnover TABLE 3: The Main Trade Partners of Georgia in 2002 LIST OF MAPS MAP 1: Caucasia Region MAP 2: Georgia MAP 3: Problematic Regions in Georgia viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BSEC : Black Sea Economic Cooperation B–T–C : Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline CEPAR : Center for Economic Policy Analysis and Reform CFE : Conventional Forces in Europe CIS : Commonwealth of Independent States CTR : Cooperative Threat Reduction DoD : Department of Defense EU : European Union FMF : Foreign Military Financing FOG : Friends of the UN Secretary–General for Georgia FY : Fiscal Year GAF : Georgian Armed Force GRFT : Group of Russian Forces in the Transcaucasus GTEP : Georgia Train And Equip Program’ GUUAM : Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova IEC : International Engineering Center IMF : International Monetary Fund INOGATE : Interstate Oil and Gas Transport to Europe MOD : Ministry of Defense NATO : North Atlantic Treaty Organization NCMD : North Caucasus Military District NGOs : Nongovernmental Organizations NIS : Newly Independent States OSCE : Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe PfP : Partnership for Peace RF : Russian Federation TAF : Turkish Armed Forces ix TGS : Turkish General Staff TLE : Treaty Limited Equipment TRACECA : Transport Corridor Europe – Caucasus – Asia TSMA : Theatre for Strategic Military Action UN : United Nations UNOMIG : United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia US : United States USEUCOM : US European Command USSR : Union of Soviet Socialist Republics WTO : World Trade Organization x INTRODUCTION Have you ever watched a wild wolf while it is fighting with its enemies by itself? In such a situation, the wolf, first of all, tries to secure its back by leaning it against a rock, a tree or something hard, so that it leaves only few directions for its enemies to attack. Thus, it can easily resist against them and can survive. This is what usually happens, but sometimes the contrary occurs either.1 Since Turkey has turned its face towards Europe, it can be concluded that one of its ‘backs’ is the Caucasian region, where has a geopolitical importance as a threshold

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