SHEVARDNADZE CALLS FOR "PEACEFUL CAUCASUS" PACT.

Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze unveiled February 28 proposals for a coexistence and cooperation pact to be known as "Peaceful Caucasus." The Caucasus has turned into "an arena of confrontation, national exclusivism, and aggressive separatism," Shevardnadze said. He called on Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Iran to join together in a pact aimed at defusing conflicts and promoting regional cooperation. The pact should contain pledges regarding respect for and restoration of internationally recognized borders, observance of human rights, renunciation of transport blockades. Shevardnadze said that he would discuss his proposals in the near future with those countries’ leaders. (12) Most of those countries can join together on most of the proposed principles, except for Armenia, whose position in the Karabakh conflict places the principle of national self-determination above that of respect for existing borders. Georgia for its part seeks support for the restoration of its borders in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

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