Georgia's Political Crisis: Protests, Western Influence, and Regional Impact

The situation in Georgia is getting tough as tensions rise, given the civil strife and clashes between citizens and police. Experts are concerned about the ongoing situation in Tbilisi; some say that this would have a serious impact on the South Caucasus region.

On the one hand, the West insists that it will fight to the end, but on the other hand, the security of the country and the region remains in question.

We learned the views of Turkiye's expert, a political analyst and professor at Kojaeli University, Irfan Kaya Ulger, on the current heat in the ongoing rallies on the streets of Tbilisi and its implications for regional affairs.

Speaking to Azernews, he first shared his insight into the West's intention to take people to the streets and carry on protests for days and nights.

In his comments, Ulger justified his views about the tumults in Tbilisi with Georgia's troubled relations with Russia. According to him, since two regions of the country, including South Ossetia and Abkhazia, have fallen under the control of the pro-Russians, the country has been struggling to protect itself from the influence of Russia.

"After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Georgia was declared a candidate for EU membership. In fact, it does not fulfil the geographical criteria.
In other words, in order to join the EU, it has to be geographically located on the European continent. Nevertheless, the EU declared Georgia a candidate together with Moldova for political consideration. Within this framework, some legal arrangements were made for harmonisation with the EU.

Further to his comments, the Turkish expert also shed some light on the negativity and possible impacts of the tensions in Georgia, especially on the current processes of the peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the overall situation in the South Caucasus.

"Peace negotiations are currently ongoing. Turkiye is also supporting these efforts. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as a leader with popular support, approaches the issue realistically. Because Armenia, which is mostly in need of it, will be one of the parties that will gain the most from peace in the region. With a peace agreement, Armenia will be freed from isolation."

Irfan Kaya Ulger says that the EU generally supports political stability in the South Caucasus. However, the current situation in Georgia reflects completely different perspective images.