GEORGIAN OFFICIAL DISMISSES PUTIN CALL FOR REFERENDUM
RIA Novosti, Moscow
6 Jul 06
Tbilisi, 6 July: No referendum on the status of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia within Georgia is possible until Georgia’s territorial
integrity is restored in full, Georgian Security Council Secretary
Kote Kemularia has told RIA Novosti.
“Until Georgia’s territorial integrity is restored within the borders
recognized by the UN as well as by Russia, and every single refugee
returns to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, no referendum can take place,”
he said.
Kemularia recalled that a referendum on Georgia’s independence took
place in Georgia, with both South Ossetia and Abkhazia then within it,
on 31 March 1991.
“Back then the whole of Georgia (Georgians, Russians, Abkhazians,
Armenians, Greeks, Ossetians, Jews, Azeris), including those who
lived in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, voted for a united and
independent Georgia. So until our territorial integrity is restored
in full, no new referendum can replace that one,” he believes.
[Passage omitted]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress