Georgian Aircraft-Landing System Bombed By Russia – Turkish Report
Text of report in English by Turkish privately-owned mass- circulation daily Hurriyet website on 13 August
[Article by Ertugrul Ozkok: "What happened to the 4th aircraft en route to Tbilisi from Baghdad?"]
A friend of mine, who was stuck in Tbilisi, called me on Monday morning.
“We heard the sounds of two bombs in the morning. Somewhere nearby has been bombed,” he said. But, he did not know the exact spot.
I learned the answer to this question two hours later. The story I heard was clear evidence of the new realities of the world economy.
* * *
Four aircraft took off from Iraq on Sunday.
They were all “C-17″ transport aircraft.
These four aircraft, belonged to the United States Air Forces’, were en route to Tbilisi Airport.
They were carrying 2,000 Georgian soldiers.
These soldiers were trained by the U.S army.
The uniforms they wore were quite different from those worn by Georgian soldiers at the Ossetia front.
They had the appearance and the equipment of a modern army.
Three of the aircraft were able to land without problem at Tbilisi Airport.
But things were different for the fourth plane.
An unexpected thing happened when this aircraft, which took off from Iraq a little late, entered Georgian airspace.
The Tbilisi Airport radar system was shot out by Russian aircrafts and was the reason why I could not learn what happened to the fourth aircraft.
I don’t know whether it landed at Tbilisi Airport or returned to Iraq.
Or perhaps it landed at an airport in Turkey; I don’t know.
* * *
Something different was happening on the ground during these exciting moments in the air.
Tbilisi and Batumi Airports operated by Turkey’s TAV Group, who also operates Istanbul Ataturk Airport.
All management, including the airport runaway, was TAV’s responsibility; there was only one area in the entire airport they are not responsible for.
A sixteen square meters wide area that is under the control of the Georgian government. This is where the system known as “WOR” is located.
WOR is the previous version of the ILS system which enables aircraft to land in all weather conditions and is now in use at all modern airports.
In other words, this system has the capability to take control of an aircraft from a certain distance and land it automatically.
This system was excluded from the “management” agreement that TAV signed with the Georgian government.
The Georgian government most probably did this for military purposes.
* * *
This military unit, transferred from Iraq, was trained by the US and consisted of elite troops.
It is a very reasonable and understandable move for the Russian General Staff to block the arrival of this special unit.
What would be the first move that an army could do to achieve this objective?
To bomb the runway of the airport, isn’t it?
But, no.
Russian aircraft did not bomb the airport, they bombed the WOR system.
In my opinion this shows that Russia has become a part of the global economy. It knows what global companies mean.
What is more, TAV is a Turkish company.
It warns this company by only strike the area under the authority of the Georgian government and by doing this; it determines the global economy’s immunity territory.
* * *
I always supported the idea that Turkey should form constructive relations based on trust with Russia.
This is beneficial for Turkey.
I also believe Turkey’s relations with Georgia should be positive too.
This is both beneficial for Turkey and Georgia.
But, I think the president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, carried out some very wrong and provocative acts during the recent incident.
Small countries in this region should follow very careful and constructive policies with stronger states.
This also binds Georgia against Russia as well.
It is also the same for Iraq against Turkey…
This is the biggest lesson to be taken from the Caucasus.
Originally published by Hurriyet website, Istanbul, in English 13 Aug 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.