It is only at the Ljubljana airport that I find that my internet ticket purchase has revealed all the possible small scams I only discovered at the beginning of the journey. Stewardesa kindly tells me that she can’t wait for me to reach my final destination and that I have to change not only the plane but the airport, which is at least 70km away from Istanbul Aéroport, in Istanbul. Send me to an office with Turkish Airlines agents at Brnik Airport. There, they told me that this move from one airport to another in terms of a connecting flight was also their first case and that I should look for information in Istanbul. My ticket provider had already canceled my previously booked and paid flight by referring me to their contractor in India so that I could reconcile a new flight with Turkish Airlines. Also, this phone conversation went at my cost of $ 50.
On a Sunday morning, the flight to Istanbul is a pleasant, beautiful view of the wooded areas of the Balkans, good food and service that is no longer in Europe, friendly travelers in my neighboring seats. After landing at the all-new Istanbul Aéroport Airport, replacing Atatürk Airport, the aircraft took a very long time following perfectly arranged airport routes before stopping and we continued our bus journey to the airport building. On the bus, a male Turk gave me a friendly seat by nationality, and a young Turkish couple helped me with information on how to get to the second Sabiha Airport, named after the first female pilot in Turkey. But when I wanted to convert € 30 to the Turkish Lira, the real saga began. Three official exchange offices required me to write down all my personal details, including my annual income, to change this amount. telephones, flats, citizenship … I finally found a bank willing to swap borders in the amount of bus fare, sandwich and beverage. On the one hand, I experience unexpected kindness on the part of the locals, who as a woman I did not expect, and at the same time incomprehensible bureaucracy and interference with personal data, so to speak, for the value of a few burekes. At the Sabida airport, I had trouble checking in, at the checkpoints the police and staff were pleasant and there were no complications.
For Tbilisi, planes run in both directions from and to Istanbul in the night. I still wonder if it’s for security, because it’s not that far back when the Turks accused the Russians of shooting down their plane. I am waiting for the issue no. getting on a plane to Tbilisi and struggling with shutting down all possible electronic data transmissions, because just one wrong click on “cellular data on” cost me almost € 40, which shows how big a communication eclipse is between the European Union, where everything is types of communications and data transmission very cheap compared to Turkey. This is a communication blockade because most people cannot afford such expensive communication. That is why we also live on both sides with narrower behaviors about both culture, politics and the belief that we are each on our own planet.
I am referring to the numbers in order to become more aware of the kind of “communication prosperity” associated with the costs of data transmission and telephony within the European Union.
The flight from Istanbul to Tbilisi begins exactly at sunrise. The aircraft is dimmed most of the flight time. After about half an hour of driving, they turn on the lights and serve us dinner, not abundantly but well. Stewards and flight attendants but they are above all friendly and helpful. There is a government employee at the airport in Tbilisi who takes me to the hotel. He discusses his youth, which he spent as an expat along with his parents in Moscow. His life journey led him back to his hometown of Georgia.
It expresses the pain of a nation to which Russia occupied part of its territory in 2008, namely Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Getting to know the country on a study visit to a delegation of former MEPs-FMA is a remarkable event. Georgia was occupied by the Russians in 1922 and annexed to the Soviet Union and became independent on April 9, 1991. It has had several wars with Russia and still has a conflict today over the occupation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It is a country of about 800,000 emigrants, 3.5 million citizens and one million capital Tbilisi. After independence, it was marked by individual periods of internal unrest, especially during elections. It is a land of diversity in terms of architecture and the differences between rich and poor. It is the world cradle of wine production and the invention of amphorae. According to tradition, Prometheus is said to have brought the first fire under the Caucasus.
The vast majority of the population supports and wants to join the EU and NATO. The EU also reciprocally promotes integration through, inter alia, financial assistance of EUR 120 million. Economic growth is 4.7%, inflation is around 3%. Opportunities are presented to them in historically established industries, the furniture industry and also in the military aviation industry. We used to admire MIG aircraft manufactured at Tbilisi at air rallies. Favorable climate conditions call for the development of year-round local food production, which is also a hotbed for the development of culinary-related tourism. During the period of independence, the share of tourism is increasing. An interesting project supported by EU funds is the development of hiking in the Caucasus, where the biodiversity area is protected.
The government is committed to developing the country towards the gradual introduction of European standards. The ruling party and the opposition agree on two points: they support integration with the EU and NATO and advocate a peaceful resolution of the conflict with the Russians. They already have an integration agreement and a trade agreement with the EU. Georgia is a leader in the region in terms of development, with regard to Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Armenia and Moldova.
When the autonomous provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia declared independence in August 2008, only Russia recognized them and occupied them within a few days. The then President of the European Council, Nikolas Sarkozy, was able to negotiate an agreement with the Russians on a peace agreement and on the activation of the European Peacekeeping Mission (www.eumm.eu). Today, there are about 300 members who help people on both sides of the border. Even after eleven years, there is no visible progress between Russia and Georgia.
In 2018, they elected Georgia President Salome Zurabishvili, who was born in France to Georgian parents and returned to Georgia a year after studying and having a successful career. The Georgia Dreams Party, which has a majority in parliament, is politically dominant. Parliament has 150 Members, of which the ruling party has 115. There is minimal representation of women.
Geargian Dreams is one of the observers of the European Group of Social Democrats, but also has party leader Ibidzin Ivanishvili, the richest man in Georgia, estimated to have 30% of GDP, which could amount to about 4 billion euros. The opposition joining the observer in the European People’s Party is small and very critical. It points to the abolition of television channels that reflect the views of the opposition, as well as to judicial bias and corruption. The government is accused of leading her from a background of Ivanishvilli, who is not elected but is the leader of the DG party. More tension is also generated by the planned change in the electoral system and the 2020 parliamentary elections. The government is accused of clientelism, which is reflected, for example, in the former personal guard of a leader of a government party, and today he is the Minister of the Interior.
Our FMA delegation was very well received, the hospitality of the hosts was above expectations. I was personally impressed by the injustice that happens to children on both sides of the borders of occupied areas that they do not have access to education. The world has remained insensitive to such injustices for far too long!
The clock rings at half past two in the morning. I’m not even sleeping, waiting for departure to the airport. At the reception I get a hearty breakfast in the package, the car arrives at precisely the hour and a friendly girl escorts me to the airport building and helps me find a location to check. So in the middle of the night I had never flown, I thought it would be more or less empty at the airport. Much to our surprise, however, the airport is full, with flights to MinsK, Tel Aviv, Istanbul starting from 2 in the morning. Georgians can only connect to Europe via Turkey.
I give her yogurt, juice and bread so she and her chauffeur can recover a little from the night ride. I put the sandwich in my bag, which in turn causes confusion with the X-ray of my luggage. The sandwich is triangular in shape and upon re-examination, customs officers smile at the conclusion that it is only breakfast.
I order Turkish coffee at the restaurant. What an unforgettable taste! I remember this two years ago when I drank Turkish coffee in Bosnia. It cannot be ordered and drunk anywhere in Europe. The waitresses and waitresses are also very prompt and friendly. Departure of the aircraft is accurate without delay at four and fifteen minutes. Through the connecting flight in Istanbul, I land in Ljubljana amidst the blue of the sky on a sunny morning, with the gratitude that I have been given to live in my home country of Slovenia and at the same time in the European Union. The only dark feeling of the day is the sight of Adria Airways flying at the airport because the company is bankrupt. Unfortunately, this is also Slovenia in the European Union.
