CORRECTED VERSION: Erdoğan’s Words about ‘Reclaiming Ajaria’ Generated by AI

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 4 – A video clip was released showing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saying he believes that “Turkey will reclaim Ajara,” a 400,000-strong autonomous republic in southwestern Georgia adjoining Turkey whose residents are overwhelmingly ethnic Georgia but a third of whom are Muslims and speak a Turkish-influenced Georgia dialect. 

               Not surprisingly, this clip set off alarm bells in Georgia and other parts of the former Soviet space, but it was a fake, generated by AI. I regret falling for that trap, but alas, the risks of doing so are increasingly great given the expansion of manipulation of that kind. I want to correct my article in that respect but most of the rest devoted to Ajaria remains true and does deserve attention. 

            Despite the hopes of some in Turkey and Russia, the Ajars did not develop the kind of ethnic or regional identities that might have led them to challenge Tbilisi as the Abkhaza and Ossetians did after Georgia acquired independence 35 years ago (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/05/national-traitors-in-moscow-in-2004.html).

            But Turkish influence has been growing in recent years, with Turkish businessmen dominating the economy and visiting Turkish officials behaving as if they were already in power there, developments that have worried Georgians and also Turkic peoples on the former Soviet space concerned about Ankara’s intentions.

            According to one commentator, “the internet is full of articles about the "creeping annexation" of Adjara. But they are outdated. The annexation has effectively already happened. Real power in the region lies with Turkish businessmen and the Turkish clergy. And if things do not go according to plan, Turkish security officials will step in” (asia24.media/news/ankara-ne-sprashivaet-kak-tbilisi-molcha-teryaet-adzhariyu/).

            Such judgments will only further inflame the situation and may create a new problem for Georgia and for adjoining states in the south Caucasus, especially as it moves to become a major east-west transit bridge, with Turkey seeking to expand its role and other countries, Russia in the first instance using its influence and its AI manipulations to prevent that.