Turkey will provide at least one million dollars (1.14 million euros) to rebuild a former Russian army base in Georgia to house a Georgian army brigade, Deputy Defense Minister Guely Bezhuashvily said Wednesday, November 14.
Tbilisi wants to house the army brigade in the Vazyani base, near to the capital, which was abandoned by Russian military forces in June. Moscow had been using the base and three others in Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Turkey, a member of NATO, has pledged to spend at least a million dollars (1.14 million euros) on renovation work and plans to send military experts to the site on Monday.
Cooperation between Georgia, a former Soviet republic, and Turkey and the United States, has annoyed Russia as has Tbilisi's declared intention to try to join NATO in 2005. — (AFP, Tbilisi)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
