Georgia to go ahead with policy toward joining NATO - Saakashvili

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TBILISI, August 7 (Itar-Tass) -- Georgia will go ahead with its policy
toward joining NATO, because this course has no alternative, President
Mikhail Saakashvili said on Thursday.

"That policy was selected by a large majority of the population in the
January 5, 2008 plebiscite (77 percent of the participants then said they
would like their country to be a member of the alliance - Itar-Tass),"
Saakashvili said in an interview on Tbilisi's Imedi television channel.
"The sole alternative to NATO's membership would be Georgia's disarmament
and capitalization, and this is inconceivable and impossible."
Most of Georgia's oppositional parties support the policy of seeking
admission to NATO. Some oppositional forces and politicians are for
non-alignment with NATO, CSTO or any other blocs. They argue that this
course "will let Georgia survive during the period of super-power
confrontation and achieve peaceful unification of the country."


.Putin, Erdogan sign protocol on cooperation in gas industry.


ANKARA, August 7 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan ended their talks on Thursday
by signing a protocol on cooperation in the gas sphere, which is to turn
Turkey into a major transit state for Russian gas. The signing of the
document heralds the beginning of practical work to implement two gas
pipeline projects - South Stream and Blue Stream-2. Erdogan declared
Turkey's consent to laying the South Stream gas carrier through its
economic zone.
"The document has a direct bearing on its construction, and we have
given the required consent," he said. He also recalled that the protocol
envisaged the opportunity for importing gas from Russia and for prolonging
the corresponding contracts that are due to expire in 2011.
According to the Russian prime minister's press-secretary, Dmitry
Peskov, Turkey will issue the necessary permissions for laying the South
Stream pipeline no later than November 1, 2010. The permission to start
surveying work along the likely route in the Black Sea is to be provided
no later than November this year.
For his part Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko did not rule out
the possibility Turkish companies might be involved in project work.
"This theme is being discussed. Participation of Turkish companies in
some form is possible," he said.
South Stream is a Russian-Italian project to lay a gas pipeline from
the Russian port city of Novorossisk to Varna, in Bulgaria. From there one
arm will be extended across the Balkan Peninsula to Italy and Austria. The
pipeline is created with the aim to diversity Russian gas supply routes to
Europe and to ease the dependence of providers and consumers on transit
countries. Construction work is scheduled to begin in 2010 and to be
completed in 2015. When commissioned, South Stream will carry up to 35
percent of all gas Russia will be exporting to Europe.
Shmatko said at this point there were no reasons for postponing the
project.
"At this moment in time I see nothing that would cause a delay," he
said.
As for Blue Stream-2, the Russian and Turkish prime ministers reached
agreement on the issues at their talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on
May 16. In the protocol inked on Thursday the two sides confirmed their
determination to go ahead with the project. Such details as the length of
a second line, volume of supplies or others are not mentioned in the
document. It remains unclear how much the gas pipeline will cost to lay,
if it will be a single or double-pipe one, and what countries it will
cross.
At this point, Shmatko said Russia and Turkey are merely considering
the possibility of jointly marketing natural gas the pipeline will carry.
As he appeared at the final news conference after the talks, Putin
said that both projects were called "to play a key role in the qualitative
advancement of bilateral cooperation in the energy sphere."
The fundamental document of bilateral cooperation is the 1986 treaty
on gas supplies from Russia.
"It is to be prolonged," Putin said. "The Turkish side expressed
interest in greater amounts of Russian gas and the agreement to this
effect has been achieved."
"We have agreed we shall explore the opportunity for laying a second
unit of Blue Stream, with chances of its extension to third countries
across Turkey," the Russian prime minister said. "The countries were
already mentioned before - Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and Syria. Turkey is to
become a major transit country for this region of the world."
Also, Putin recalled that Blue Stream would be laid under Turkey's
territorial waters to Europe.
"For Europe Turkey will be an important logistic center, too," he
remarked.
Russia will extend assistance to Turkey in building large underground
gas holders.
"Turkey often has problems with gas supplies, so the creation of such
reserves and gas holders will contribute to the stability of meeting the
country's growing demand for energy," Putin said.