Tbilisi’s Economic Aspirations Spark Security Concerns

On June 5, Georgia announced plans to build a second civilian airport near Tbilisi. During a recent government meeting, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili reiterated this decision and justified it with the government’s intentions to turn the country into an international air transport hub (Facebook.com/GaribashviliOfficial, June 5). In 2005, management of Tbilisi International Airport, on the initiative of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, was transferred to Turkish company TAV Georgia (TAV) (Tbilisiairport.com, accessed June 12). At…