Vaziani Military Base

The Georgian military base of Vaziani is located about twenty kilometers outside Tbilisi at Latitude 41.6947 Longitude 45.0467. The main base is spread over 10,000 hectares.

Under the Soviet Union, it was the 137th Guards District Training Centre, originating from the Soviet 1st Guards Mechanized Corps.

The Russians retained control of a number of military bases even after Georgian independence. Vaziani was one of then, the others being Gudauta, Akhalkalaki and Batumi.

It was from Vaziani that Igor Giorgadze was taken on a military flight to Moscow after the 1995 assassination attempt on President Eduard Shevardnadze.

At the OSCE Summit in Istanbul (1999), the Russian Federation and Georgia released a joint statement that Russian military bases at Gudauta and Vaziani will be disbanded and withdrawn by 1 July 2001.

Russia finally ceded control on June 29, 2001.A battalion of Georgia's 11th brigade then took possession. This brigade provides the core of Georgia's rapid-deployment force.

In July 2008, it was the site of Immediate Response 2008, which were U.S. training operations for Georgian forces.

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References

* [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=24&issue_id=2056&article_id=18505 The Jamestown Foundation]

* [http://www.osce.org/documents/mcs/1999/11/4050_en.pdf OSCE Istanbul Document 1999]

* Rustavi 2

* [http://www.stratfor.com Stratfor]

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