JUNE 5 2017 (The Bulletin) — The Georgian authorities need to act and act fast if they are going to salvage their reputation from the mystery surrounding the kidnapping of an Azerbaijani journalist. He was kidnapped in Tbilisi on Tuesday evening, driven to the border with Azerbaijan and handed over to the authorities.

Human rights activists are, rightly, outraged at the kidnapping and have accused the Georgian government of being complicit, although it is still unclear who the kidnappers actually were.

Levan Asatiani from Amnesty International said the Georgian government allowed Azerbaijani security forces to kidnap Afgan Mukhtarli.

“Georgia must promptly and impartially investigate what happened and hold accountable all those involved in this gruesome operation,” he said.

Asatiani is not the only one to suggest that the kidnapping of an outspoken Azerbaijani journalist from Tbilisi must have had the backing of the Georgian authorities and the European Union and the United States, two key allies of Georgia, have also lodged strongly worded statements.

The timing is also important here.

A week before Mukhtarli’s disappearance, Georgia detained Emre Cabuk, a manager at a school in Tbilisi known to have links to the Gulen movement. Turkey has been trying to shut down the Gulen movement worldwide, ever since a coup attempt last summer, and this has included schools and universities its members had set up in Central Asia and the South Caucasus in the 1990s.

Azerbaijan, as expected, immediately fell into line with the demands from Turkey, its key ally but Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan ducked them.

Georgia had also been expected to avoid being dragged into the Gulen witch-hunt. Apparently not, though.

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey from an energy pipeline axis that will be vital to European gas needs, adding to the oil pipeline the triumvirate already host. The gas will be produced in Azerbaijan and pumped through pipelines in Georgia and Turkey into Central Europe.

The dividends are likely to be high, drawing Georgia closer towards Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Both Azerbaijan and Turkey have, to put it mildly, a different perspective on human rights and media freedom to the European ideals that Georgia professes to yearn for. It wants to be part of the EU and NATO. There is no point in just paying lip service.

Georgia has to prove that it is worthy of meeting the high criteria demanded of EU and new NATO members.

ENDS

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(News report from Issue No. 331, published on June 5 2017)