2007 Georgia plane downing incident

2007 Georgia plane downing incident

The 2007 Georgia plane downing incident refers to the possible downing, by Georgia's anti-aircraft system, of a military plane that violated Georgia's air space on August 21, 2007. While it is still not confirmed by Georgia whether the plane was downed, Abkhazia's break-away government confirmed that a plane went down, but denies that it was shot down.

Incident

Reactions and views

Georgia

On the official website of the Georgia's Foreign Ministry a statement was published that on August 21 a fighter jet flying from Russia twice violated Georgian airspace in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region. [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/08/bdc4d86e-e77a-406a-86a3-efaa1fc386ea.html Second Probe Upholds Georgian Missile Accusations - RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY ] ] It further reported that Georgian anti-aircraft systems tracked the incursions and that an official note of protest demanding an explanation had been sent to Russia's Foreign Ministry. According to Georgia the planes were flying at a speed of between 450 and 490 km/h (about 280 to 300 mph). [http://uk.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUKL2389877420070823 Russia says Georgia suffers hallucinations in plane row | Reuters ] ] While at first it seemed that a second similar incident happened on August 22, it later appeared to be the same incident as that of August 21. [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/08/6d00dbd5-d834-4cb2-97b4-9f8e41cc50c9.html Georgia Decries 'Continuous Violation' Of Its Airspace - RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY ] ]

A senior Georgian government official stated on 24 August that Georgian forces had fired at the allegedly Russian aircraft. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6963081.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | Georgia fires at 'Russian plane' ] ] He could not confirm whether the plane was shot down, but added that a nearby section of forest, in Abkhazia's Kodori Gorge (Upper Abkhazia) was on fire, and Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said residents reported hearing "an explosion" after Georgian forces fired on the plane. [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/08/4a0262fc-7f33-411e-928d-46c928762eb6.html Tbilisi Investigating Reports Of Plane Downed In Kodori - RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY ] ] Investigators have been dispatched to examine whether the plane was downed. Georgian officials said that the possible downing was not reported earlier because they were still checking information.

On August 26, the Georgian Foreign Ministry’s website published a statement saying that from August 20-22, the "continuous violation of Georgian airspace was observed by the radars of the Defense Ministry and eyewitnesses" in Upper Abkhazia. Utiashvili explained that "these planes entered from, and returned to, Russia, therefore we think they were Russian planes. This is why we want Russia to take part in the investigation." Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mandzhgaladze stated earlier that Georgia was close to participating in a NATO program that would integrate Georgia's radar system into that of NATO.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070823/ap_on_re_eu/georgia_russia] This would give the alliance more information about Georgia's airspace and would help determine the truth if similar incidents would occur.

Russia

The Russian Ministry of Defence denied the accusation and General Yuri Baluyevsky dismissed Georgia's claim of Russian planes violating its airspace as "hallucinations" because "warplanes do not fly at such speed. Even helicopters fly at only slightly lower speeds." Russia also suggested that Georgian leaders fabricated the incidents to derail planned consultations about South Ossetia.

On August 26, the Russian Ministry of Defence strongly denied that Russian jets violated Georgian territory, referring to Georgia's accusation that Russian jets violated Georgia's air space continuously during August 20-22. Aleksandr Drobyshevsky said that "All our jets were at the airdromes at the time when the ostensible intrusion into Georgian airspace took place,“ as saying. He added that Air Force jets "didn't make any flights in the area."

Abkhazia

The de facto foreign minister of Abkhazia, Sergei Shamba, confirmed on August 26 that an unidentified plane went down over its territory this week and said that he believed it to be a Georgian plane or perhaps even a US spy plane. He further added the plane "has in the past repeatedly violated our airspace. It went down by itself, no one downed it." He said the plane came from the Black Sea and went down in the mountains of Upper Abkhazia.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • 2007 Georgia missile incident — The 2007 Georgia missile incident refers to the landing of a missile in the Georgian controlled village of Tsitelubani in the Gori district near the Georgian Ossetian conflict zone, some 65 km (40 miles) north west of Tbilisi, the capital of… …   Wikipedia

  • 2007 in Georgia (country) — yearbox in?= in Georgia (country) cp=20th Century c=21st century cf=22nd century yp1=2004 yp2=2005 yp3=2006 year=2007 ya1=2008 ya2=2009 ya3=2010 dp3=1970s dp2=1980s dp1=1990s d=2000s da=0 dn1=2010s dn2=2020s dn3=2030s Incumbents*President of… …   Wikipedia

  • Georgia–Russia relations — Georgian–Russian relations are the relations between Georgia and Russia and between the Georgian and Russian people in particular, lasting from the 18th century. During 18th century Russia, Ottoman Empire and Persia vied for control over the… …   Wikipedia

  • History of Georgia (country) — History of Georgia This article is part of a series Prehistory …   Wikipedia

  • 2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns — Infobox Military Conflict conflict=2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns partof= Georgian Abkhazian conflict caption= date=March 8, April 20, May 4, 8, 12, 2008 place=Ochamchira and Gali districts, Abkhazia casus= territory= result=Aggravation of… …   Wikipedia

  • Shamil Basayev — Abdallah Shamil Abu Idris Al Bassi Shamil Basayev during the First Chechen War, December 1995. Nickname Abdallah Sha …   Wikipedia

  • Battle off the coast of Abkhazia — Naval engagement off the coast of Abkhazia Part of 2008 South Ossetia War …   Wikipedia

  • Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus — (Russian: Конфедерация горских народов Кавказа) is a militarized political organization composed of militants from the North Caucasian republics of the Russian Federation. This controversial organization, later renamed into the Confederation of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of politics topics — NOTOC TopicTOC Politics This is a list of political topics, including political science terms, political philosophies, political issues, etc. Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. Although the term is generally applied …   Wikipedia

  • Korean Air Lines Flight 007 — Flight 007 redirects here. For other uses, see Flight 7 (disambiguation). Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Artist s rendition of HL7442, the KAL 747 lost during Flight 007 Occurrence summary …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”