A recent incident in neighboring Georgia, involving the abduction of an Azeri journalist, came to divulge the entire web of relationships between Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. The latter two are in a virtual war with Armenia, keeping it in the grips of a blockade. Georgia is nominally neutral or even friendly with Armenia. However, as recent events prove, Georgia is in deep collusion with its Muslim neighbors which are actively threatening Armenia.
The above-mentioned incident took place on May 29 in Tbilisi. An Azerbaijani journalist, Afgan Mukhtarli, who had been living with his family in exile in Georgia, was abducted and later surfaced in Azerbaijani custody, accused of the absurd charges that he had crossed the border illegally and that he had a large amount of cash on his person.
It turns out that Mukhtarli was one of the few journalists let out of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s jails and living in Georgia. His true crime was that he was investigating the business relations of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s family in Georgia. If there was nothing illicit, why would the Azerbaijani government go to such lengths to silence a journalist?
Piecing together this abduction story, one comes to the conclusion that the security services in Georgia forced the journalist into a car and after two or more transfers, Mukhtarli heard the abductors speak Azeri while the first abductors spoke Georgian and Russian. The journalist’s passport was left at home with his wife, Leyla Mustafayeva, also a journalist.
Had there not been collusion between the security services of the two countries, it would have been impossible to cross an international border without a passport.
Georgia was in the process of gaining a reputation as a country of law and order, vying to join NATO and adopting European Union rules. Indeed, despite all his adventures and recklessness, former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili was able to eradicate bribes and made headway in combatting corruption.