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Georgia Relations with Neighboring Countries
Of particular importance to Georgia's postcommunist foreign
policy and national security was the improvement of relations
with neighbors on all sides: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, and
Turkey. This goal was complicated by a number of ethnic and
political issues as well as by historical differences.
Armenia and Azerbaijan
Among former Soviet republics, the neighboring Transcaucasian
nations of Armenia and Azerbaijan have special significance for
Georgia. Despite Georgia's obvious cultural and religious
affinities with Armenia, relations between Georgia and Muslim
Azerbaijan generally have been closer than those with Christian
Armenia. Economic and political factors have contributed to this
situation. First, Georgian fuel needs make good relations with
Azerbaijan vital to the health of the Georgian economy. Second,
Georgians have sympathized with Azerbaijan's position in the
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the ethnic Armenian
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh because of similarities to Georgia's
internal problems with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Both countries
cite the principle of "inviolability of state borders" in
defending national interests against claims by ethnic minorities
(see
fig. 3;
Nagorno-Karabakh and Independence, ch. 1;
After
Communist Rule
, ch. 2).
In December 1990, Georgia under Gamsakhurdia signed a
cooperation agreement with Azerbaijan affecting the economic,
scientific, technical, and cultural spheres. In February 1993,
Georgia under Shevardnadze concluded a far-reaching treaty of
friendship, cooperation, and mutual relations with Azerbaijan,
including a mutual security arrangement and assurances that
Georgia would not reexport Azerbaijani oil or natural gas to
Armenia. In 1993 Azerbaijan exerted some pressure on Georgia to
join the blockade of Armenia and to curb incursions by Armenians
from Georgian territory into Azerbaijan. The issue of
discrimination against the Azerbaijani minority in Georgia, a
serious matter during Gamsakhurdia's tenure, was partially
resolved under Shevardnadze.
In the early 1990s, Armenia maintained fundamentally good
relations with Georgia. The main incentive for this policy was
the fact that Azerbaijan's blockade of Armenian transport routes
and pipelines meant that routes through Georgia were Armenia's
only direct connection with the outside world. Other
considerations in the Armenian view were the need to protect the
Armenians in Georgia and the need to stem the overflow of
violence from Georgian territory. The official ties that Georgia
forged with Azerbaijan between 1991 and 1993 strained relations
with Armenia, which was in a state of virtual war with Azerbaijan
for much of that period. Nevertheless, Gamsakhurdia signed a
treaty with Armenia on principles of cooperation in July 1991,
and Shevardnadze signed a friendship treaty with Armenia in May
1993. With the aim of restoring mutually beneficial economic
relations in the Caucasus, Shevardnadze also attempted (without
success) to mediate the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in early
1993.
Data as of March 1994
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