Georgia announces final decision on joining anti-ISIS coalition
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
The Defense Ministry said Georgia has considered last week various plans on joining the coalition against Islamic State.
As a partner of the U.S. and close NATO ally, Georgia looked into several options to take part in anti-ISIS coalition operations. The ministry reported that the final decision will be made at a high political level.
Georgia's joining the coalition against ISIS became topical after the Foreign Policy magazine reported that the country proposed the U.S. to host training camps for Syrian rebels. Authorities of the country has unanimously rejected the report by the magazine, noting that Georgia's participation in the coalition will be limited only to humanitarian missions.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said Georgia's joining the fight against ISIS will be symbolic, as none of the Georgian soldiers will take part in the operations of the coalition.
The U.S. air forces started to strike the ISIS positions in Syria last week. Armed forces of Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan joined the strikes, as well. French and British forces have also got in the coalition's military operations.
"Georgia's joining the anti-ISIS coalition will be symbolic. We have decided at the Security Council's meeting that our contribution to the coalition will be only humanitarian, no military assistance is planned and none of our soldiers will take part in the operations," Garibashvili said in New York on September 26.
Herewith, Garibashvili excluded the media reports on possible establishment of training centers for Syrian rebels. "We are not planning to create training facilities in our territory, that's wrong information," he noted.