TBILISI. Dec 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Stationing of Turkish military planes at a Georgian airfield is Georgia's domestic affair, Colonel Alexander Lutskevich, head of the press center of the Russian troops group in the Trans-Caucasus region, said on Wednesday.
The group headquarters will not comment on the possible stationing of Turkish warplanes at the Marneuli airfield that has been modernized thanks to financial support from Ankara, Lutskevich told reporters in Tbilisi. "It is the business of politics or Russia's supreme military command," he said.
Earlier media reports quoted "high-ranking officials of the Russian troops group in the Trans-Caucasus region" as saying that the Russian military were concerned with Turkey's intention to place its warplanes in Marneuli.
The Marneuli military airfield was modernized by Turkey in accordance with NATO standards. It can accept any types of planes, including fighters and heavy bombers, 24 hours a day.
The possibility of stationing Turkish combat aviation in Georgia is a source of concern for Armenia. A source in the Armenian law-enforcement agencies told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday that basing of Turkish warplanes close to Armenian borders was running contrary to recent statements of Georgian leaders assuring that Tbilisi would never do anything affecting interests or national security of Armenia.