GEORGIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA: GEORGIA DOESN’T WANT TO BE AT WAR WITH RUSSIA
arminfo
2008-08-11 15:18:00
ArmInfo. Georgia does not want to be at war with Russia but
the situation in South Ossetia left practically no alternative,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Armenia
Revaz Gachechiladze says in an interview with ArmInfo. Presenting
Georgia’s viewpoint on the developments, the Ambassador said that on 8
August the Russian Federation made a direct and full-scale attack on
Georgia: both the territory of its province of South Ossetia and the
territory rather far from the conflict zone. Russian planes bombed
the towns of Gori, Kareli, Poi, Senaki, Marneuli, Tbilisi and the
airdromes of other tows. ‘It can be called nothing but a strategy
of aggression. It is very distressing that I have to speak in such
way of a country we perceive as friendly and we have common history
and even fraternal relations with. But now, unfortunately, it is
nothing but aggression. ‘Peace-enforcement’ as Russian Federation
representatives call this cannot be legitimate without relevant
decisions of international organizations, specifically the UN Security
Council. It is known that UN Security Council could not adopt any
specific decisions on the issue since many countries insist that not
only Georgia but also Russia be responsible for it. All the norms
and principles of the international law were violated.
Russian Federation makes a challenge to the international community
again and threatens to the established international order and
stability in the Caucasus. Naturally, ‘blast’ in one region in the
Caucasus may have negative response in other regions. A question
may arouse why everything happened. Of course, Georgia undertook
an action a day before to establish constitutional order inside the
internationally recognized borders and did not exceed its territory
by a single centimeter. Georgia intended to disarm the bands of
separatists to create conditions for peaceful development of the
region.
Georgia is known to have developed the so-called ‘road plan’
of settlement of South-Ossetic problem that was approved by OSCE
Ministerial Council in Ljubljana. The plan provided for rehabilitation
of the region and very great economic assistance to that region. But
the region, of course, was to remain in Georgia having very wide
autonomy. By the way, at the first stage the RF Foreign Minister also
approved the plan. However, quite a few days later, when the text was
studied in the Kremlin, they understood that the plan might become
a real settlement to the problem and created all the conditions in
order the marionette regime in Tskhinvali refuses from the plan’,
the Ambassador says. He says that despite that Georgia continued
diplomatic efforts for the following two years proposing the region
unlimited autonomy as part of Georgia and economic rehabilitation. Many
diplomats in Tbilisi visited Tskhinvali, studied the situation and
proposed settling the problem.
However, Tskhinvali refused from everything. Moreover, Moscow
increased the military aid to Tskhinvali regime and a great quantity
of military equipment was delivered there which was not stipulated
by any agreement. ‘Starting from 2000 Russian passports were actually
distributed in the separatist regions of Georgia and the greatest part
of the population adopted Russian citizenship. That was a fact of gross
interference into the internal affairs of Georgia. After the greatest
part of the population in South Ossetia and Abkhazia become citizens
of RF, peacemakers on the border with Abkhazia – formal peacemakers of
CIS that were Russians in reality, and peacemakers on the border with
South Ossetia from CIS and North Ossetia turned from neutral mediators
into supporters of one of the conflicting parties. Russian leadership
has repeatedly stated that it intends to protect the rights of its
citizens whenever they were in the world. By the way, there were many
citizens of Russia also in Israel, but Russia does not take any measure
to help those people for some unknown reasons’, the Ambassador says.
‘How Georgia fell into its enemies’ trap?’ article by Edward Lucas
published in London Times on 10 August was very proper. Lucas describes
the scenario of the trap: at first to provoke, then to wait for
response and then to reply with a prevailing military force. To say
that Georgia wants war is to say nonsense. President Saakashvili has
repeatedly stated that war with Russia is fatal for Georgia. We had
no intention and desire to war with Russia. We do not need that and
it is very dangerous. But the situation in South Ossetia had left no
alternative actually’, the diplomat says.
He said that on August 7 presidential representative, Minister for
Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili was sent to Tskhinvali to negotiate
with local leadership. Representative of Russian Foreign Ministry
Popov was there as well. ‘Yakobshvili was not received. He was
ignored. In addition, the president called on ceasing fire from
Tskhinvali at Georgian villages. Maybe it was not intensive fire,
but it was constant and unbearable. Evidently, it was done to involve
Georgia into military actions. Georgia went to military actions and
established control almost over the entire region within a day.
It would allow starting peaceful development and rehabilitation of
the region. However, about 24 hours later RF sent an army, planes,
tanks and other military equipment to Georgia. To see how Ossetic
was the so-called ‘South-Ossetic leadership’, suffice it to look at
the list of its leaders.
There are citizens of Russia, mostly ethnic Russians sent to
Tskhinvali by Moscow. Actually it turns out that the leadership was
not local by appointed by Moscow. Naturally, Russia began to protect
the separatist regions of Georgia and establish ‘order’ there. What
takes place is very painful but international community cannot be
in a role of observer. Many countries have declared their support
to Georgia. Not only the USA, but also Great Britain and many other
countries- members of UN Security Council support Georgia.
Unfortunately, many international media rely on the misinformation
by Moscow that represents Georgia as an aggressor and outlines
‘ethic purges’. In the meantime we have repeatedly stated that we
have nothing against the Ossetic people who peacefully reside also
in Tbilisi and other towns and villages of Georgia. Moscow tries
to diabolize our leadership whereas devils sit in quite a different
place’, the Ambassador says.