sarCevi CONTENTS 02 redaqtoris sveti 02 Editor’s Column 03 Cveni gverdi 03 Our Page 04 analitika 04 Analytics • lia ClaCiZe - cxinvali: virtualuri realoba • Lia Chlachidze - Tkhinvali: The Virtual Reality 10 saerTaSoriso CarTuloba 10 International Involvement • interviu saqarTveloSi evrokavSiris monitoringis • Interview With The Head of The European Union misiis xelmZRvanelTan Monitoring Mission in Georgia 15 cxinvali 15 Tskhinvali • Temur cxurbaTi - parlamentarizmis 25 weli • Temur Tskhurbati - 25 Years of Parliamentarism 17 Interview 17 interviu • Paata Zakareishvili: Growing Interest to Georgian • paata zaqareiSvili: afxazur mosaxleobaSi qarTuli Passports in Abkhazian Population pasportebisadmi interesi izrdeba 22 Conflict Zone 22 konfliqtis zona • Tsitelubani • wiTelubani 26 Civil Activity 26 samoqalaqo aqtivoba • Caucasian House • kavkasiuri saxli • ICCN • ICCN 33 Photo-Report 33 fotoreportaJi • Oliko Tsiskarishvili - The Heroes Used to Fear • oliko ciskariSvili - SiSs SeCveuli gmirebi • Giorgi Chubinidze - 25 Years of Displacement • giorgi CubiniZe - devnilobis 25 weli 39 Region 39 regioni • Dimitri Kaulashvili - Nagorno-Karabakh Negotia- • dimitri yaulaSvili - mTiani yarabaRis molaparake- tions without Results bebi Sedegis gareSe • Centralization and the Kosovo Conflict • centralizacia da kosovos konfliqti 49 Academic Societies 49 akademiuri wreebi • Jemal Gakhokidze: Abkhazians Must Enjoy Spe- • jemal gaxokiZe: afxazebma unda isargeblon gansa- cial Privilegies kuTrebuli privilegiebiT • Bezhan Khorava: Abkhazia is an Organic Part of • beJan xorava: afxazeTi saqarTvelos organuli Georgia nawilia 60 Blog 60 blogi • Guranda Bursulaia - Fellow Citizen and not an IDP • guranda bursulaia - Tanamemamule da ara devnili • Mamuka Tsukhishvili - Perevi • mamuka cuxiSvili - perevi • Salome Khvadagiani - Why Russia is a Bad Neighbor • salome xvadagiani - ratom aris ruseTi cudi mezobeli 68 Prose 68 mwerloba • Tamerlan Tadtaev • tamerlan Tadtaevi 72 Poetry 72 poezia • Tsitsino Babutsidze • cicino babuciZe

redaqtori vaxo Samugia EDITOR Vakho Shamugia saredaqcio sabWo: Temur arboliSvili, zurab bendianiSvili, EDITORIAL BOARD: Temur Arbolishvili, Zurab Bendianishvili, Giorgi Stepnadze, Temur Tskhurbati, Vakho giorgi stefnaZe, Temur cxurbaTi, vaxo Samugia, malxaz miqelaZe Shamugia, Malkhaz Mikeladze qarTuli teqstebis redaqtori mamuka cuxiSvili EDITOR OF GEORGIAN TEXTS Mamuka Tsukhishvili inglisuri teqstebis mTargmnel-redaqtori TRANSLATOR-EDITOR OF ENGLISH TEXTS Giorgi giorgi ruxaZe Rukhadze fotografebi: oliko ciskariSvili, giorgi CubiniZe, PHOTOGRAPHERS: Oliko Tsiskarishvili, Giorgi Chubinidze, Toma suxaSvili Thoma Sukhashvili administratori lali omiaZe ADMINISTRATOR Lali Omiadze dizaineri-damkabadonebeli xaTuna mesxiSvili DESIGNER Khatuna Meskhishvili gamomcemeli `samoqalaqo forumi mSvidobisaTvis~ PUBLISHED BY THE CIVIL FORUM FOR PEACE

Jurnali vrceldeba ufasod. redaqciis nebarTvis gareSe masalebis gadabeWdva akrZalulia. Magazine is circulated free-of-charge. Republishing materials without consent from the editorial office is prohibited.

The Forum 2016 #1 1 redaqtoris sveti EDITOR’S COLUMN

piriveli nomeri Jurnalisa, romelsac Tqven es esaa unda gaecnoT, Seiqmna im xalxis erToblivi ZalisxmeviT, romlebic arsebulma realobam e.w. „sazRvris“ sxvadasxva mxares moaqcia. aq gver- digverd aris qarTveli da osi Jurnalistebis statiebi, axalgazrda blogerebis postebi da The first issue of the magazine that you are about to get mweralTa Semoqmedeba. mkiTxvels aqvs unikal- acquainted with has been created by joint efforts of those uri Sansi, pirvelwyarodan gaigos is, Tu ra xdeba who have been left on different sides of the so called dRes cxinvalis regionSi da rogoria cxovreba “border” by the current reality. Here you can together mavTulxlarTebis orive mxares. see the articles by Georgian and Ossetian journalists, JurnalSi Tqven ixilavT saintereso analiti- posts by young bloggers and literary works. Our readers kur statiebs, interviuebs eqspertebTan da have the unique chance to know firsthand about today’s saxelmwifo Tanamdebobis pirebTan, akademiuri situation in Tskhinvali region and about life on both sides wreebisa da saerTaSoriso organizaciebis war- of the barbed-wire fence. momadgenlebTan. aseve gaecnobiT samoqalaqo In the magazine, readers will find interesting analytical seqtoris CarTulobas mxareebs Soris ndobis articles, interviews with experts and State authorities, aRdgenis procesSi da im Sedegebs, rasac maT mi- representatives of academic society and of international aRwies. SexedavT arsebul realobas maTi gad- organizations. Readers will learn about the civil soci- mosaxedidan. konfliqtis zonaSi gadaRebuli ety involvement in the confidence building process be- fotoreportaJebiT SegiZliaT SeigrZnoT is tween the sides and about the results they have already saSineli kvali, romelic 2008 wlis agvistos achieved; and see the existing reality from their view- omma dagvitova. omis eqo igrZnoba im masalebSi, point. Photo-reports made in the conflict zone will let romelsac osi da qarTveli avtorebi gvTavazo- our readers feel the terrible traces that have been left ben. es gasagebic aris, radganac im sisxlianma by August 2008 war. The war echoes from the articles dReebma maT Tvalwin Caiara da sulebSi saSineli written by Ossetian and Georgian authors, which is un- iarebi dautova, romlis moSuSebac SeuZlebelia. derstandable as those bloody days have directly affected gvinda gansakuTrebiT aRvniSnoT is, rom am no- them and have left horrible wounds on their souls; the merSi gamoqveynebulia niWieri axalgazrdebis wounds that can never be healed. saintereso masalebi Cvens ZiriTad Temaze. The We would like to note that the given issue includes in- Forum Tavis gverdebs damwyeb mkvlevarebsa da teresting materials on main topics by talented young Semoqmed adamianebs didi siamovnebiT momaval- authors. The Forum will offer its pages to beginner re- Sic dauTmobs. searchers and writers with great pleasure in future too. darwmunebuli varT, rom Jurnalis gacnobis We are confident that your awareness of the processes Semdeg, Tqven ufro metad informirebulni gax- underway in Georgian-Ossetian-Abkhazian societies debiT qarTul-osur-afxazur sazogadoebebSi will be raised after reading our magazine. mimdinare procesebze. I would like to wish The Forum and its readers the long- gvinda Cvens Jurnalsa da mis mkiTxvels xan- term and interesting communication.  grZlivi da saintereso urTierToba vusurvo. 

Sincerely, pativiscemiT, Vakho Shamugia vaxo Samugia

2 The Forum 2016 #1 Cveni gverdi OUR PAGE samoqalaqo forumi mSvidobisaTvis 2007 wels dafuZn- da konfliqtis mxareebis monawileobiT da dRemde sak- maod rTuli da winaaRmdegobebiT aRsavse gza ganvlo. aRniSnul periodSi 40-mde proeqti ganvaxorcieleT, Catarda mravali saintereso RonisZieba, Camoyalibda samSvidobo dialogis araerTi formati. gaweulia sak- maod mZime da Sromatevadi samuSao. yovelive amaSi 250- ze metma adamianma miiRo monawileoba qarTuli, osuri da afxazuri mxridan. The Civil Forum for Peace was founded in 2007 by participa- organizaciis mTavari mizanic swored konfliqtiT tion of conflicting sides and has already gone through very com- gayofil sazogadoebebs Soris komunikaciebis da- plicated road, full of obstacles and barriers. During the afore- myareba da ndobis aRdgenaa. es mravalkomponentiani da mentioned period we have implemented up to 40 projects, have xangrZlivi procesia, raSic Cveni mokrZalebuli wvli- organized numerous interesting events and have formed several lis Setanas vcdilobT. formats of peace talks. Very hard work has been conducted. erT-erTi komponenti, romelic xels Seuwyobs ndobis Over 250 individuals from Georgian, Ossetian and Abkhazian aRdgenis procesSi informirebulobis gazrdas kon- sides have participated in all these processes. fliqtiT gayofil sazogadoebebSi arsebuli ganwyo- The main goal of the Organization is promotion of active com- bebis Sesaxeb, aris warmodgenili Jurnali The Forum. munication and support to confidence building process between Cvenma gamocdilebam gvaCvena, rom dabalansebuli da the conflict-divided communities. This is a very complex and obieqturi informaciis gavrceleba, didwilad ganapi- long-term process, which we attempt to contribute to as much robebs sandoobis gazrdas konfliqtis mxareebs Soris as we can. TanamSromlobisa da dialogis procesSi. One of the components which can promote raising awareness of JurnalSi gamoqveynebuli iqneba qarTveli, osi da afx- the conflict-divided communities within the confidence build- azi avtorebis mier warmodgenili, rogorc sainforma- ing process is the presented The Forum Magazine. Experience cio, ise analitikuri Sinaarsis masalebi, interviuebi has shown that circulation of balanced and unbiased information da fotoreportaJebi. aqtiurad viTanamSromlebT highly conditions the level of confidence in the process of coop- ucxoel kolegebTan, maT Soris, Cvens partniorebTan eration and dialogue between the conflicting sides. aSS-dan, evropidan da kavkasiis regionidan. Sevecdeb- iT, mkiTxvels mivawodoT detaluri informacia bal- The Forum will feature both informational and analytical ma- kaneTis, kviprosis, samxreT kavkasiisa da sxva regio- terials, interviews and photo-reports submitted by Georgian, nuli konfliqtebis Sesaxeb. Abkhazian and Ossetian authors. We will actively cooperate with foreign colleagues, including partners from the USA, Eu- Cveni avtorebi iqnebian Jurnalistebi, samoqalaqo rope and the Caucasus region. We will attempt to provide to sazogadoebis wevrebi, saeqsperto da akademiuri wree- our readers detail information about the conflicts in the Balkans, bis warmomadgenlebi. Cyprus, South Caucasus and other regions. Jurnalis saredaqcio politika mTlianad orientire- Our featured authors will be journalists, civil society members, bulia konfliqtebis mSvidobiani gzebiT mogvarebis experts and academicians. resursebis warmoCenaze da mzad varT, viTanamSrom- loT nebismier adamianTan da instituciasTan, ro- Editorial policy of the magazine is fully oriented at revealing melic am kuTxiT SemogvTavazebs saintereso inicia- resources for peaceful resolution of conflicts and we are ready to tivebs. cooperate with every person and institution which will propose interesting initiatives in the aforementioned direction. The Forum-is gamocema dagegmilia yovelkvartalurad da gavrceldeba ufasod. vimedovnebT, rom aRniSnu- The Forum will be published quarterly and will be circulated li Jurnali daakmayofilebs mkiTxvelis interess da free-of-charge. We hope that The Forum will of high interest for Seiqmneba realuri sivrce samSvidobo procesebis gasa- readers and will act as the real space for covering peacebuilding Suqeblad.  processes.  pativiscemiT, Temur arboliSvili Sincerely, Temur Arbolishvili samoqalaqo forumis Tavmjdomare Chairman, The Civil Forum for Peace

The Forum 2016 #1 3 analitika ANALYTICS lia ClaCiZe, analitikosi cxinvali: virtualuri realoba Lia Chlachidze, Analyst TKHINVALI: THE VIRTUAL REALITY

samxreT kavkasiis regionSi arsebuli eTnokonfliqtebi Ethnic conflicts existing in the South Caucasus periodi- periodulad sakmaod mwvaved Segvaxsenebs xolme Tavs da cally remind of themselves quite acutely and show that gvaCvenebs, rom momxdari tragediis upirvelesi msxverpli the primary victim of all the happened tragedies is a hu- adamiania, romlis cxovrebas daRs asvams ara mxolod uSua- man, whose life is plagued with not only the trauma re- lod konfliqtisas miRebuli travma, aramed is Zalebi, rom- ceived during the conflict itself, but also by the forces lebic politikuri, ekonomikuri, socialuri da kulturuli which try to disguise the existing reality and to have sferoebis monopolizebiT, nebismieri CvenganisTvis saTuT control over the daily life of population by monopoliz- grZnobebze apelirebiT cdiloben arsebuli realobis Se- ing political, economic, social and cultural spheres and niRbvas da mosaxleobis yoveldRiur yofa-cxovrebaze kon- appealing to the tender feelings of each of us. One of the trolis damyarebas. amis erT-erT yvelaze naTel magaliTs clearest examples of the aforementioned is Tskhinvali warmoadgens mtkivneuli warsulis, depresiuli awmyosa da region with its painful past, depressive present and dark muqi ferebis momavlis mqone cxinvalis regioni. swored ami- future. Due to that, in the presented article, instead of tomac, winamdebare statiaSi Cven SevecadeT eTnosebs Soris discussing the broken bridges and other similar problems arsebuli politikuri gaucxoebis da viwronacionalisturi caused by current political estrangement and by narrow sentimentebis, SeiaraRebuli dapirispirebiT gamowveuli nationalistic sentiments and armed conflict, we have de- xidCatexilobis da sxva msgavsi problemis ganxilvis nacv- cided to focus on the general everyday social problems, lad, yuradReba dagveTmo im zogadi yofiTi problemebisT- which are universal for anyone who shares elementary vis, romelic saerToa nebismierisTvis, vinc iziarebs elemen- human values and especially for the absolute majority of tarul adamianur faseulobebs, gansakuTrebiT ki cxinvalis Tskhinvali region population which directly faces those regionSi mcxovrebi mosaxleobis im udidesi nawilisTvis, problems. romelic uSualod awydeba yvela am problemas. It is noteworthy that until 2004, Tskhinvali region man- sagulisxmoa, rom 2004 wlamde, cxinvalis regioni, ekonomi- aged to be economically independent, which was rea- kuri TvalsazrisiT axerxebda damoukidebel reJimSi arse- soned by its transit function between Georgia and Rus- bobas, rasac uzrunvelyofda regionis satranzito funqcia sia. During 2004-2006, despite the suspension of direct saqarTvelosa da ruseTs Soris. 2004-2006 wlebSi, pirdapiri transit, the region continued with the given function, tranzitis Sewyvetis miuxedavad, regioni mainc agrZelebda although the Russian embargo on Georgian products im- aRniSnuli funqciis Sesrulebas, Tumca gadamwyveti mniSvn- posed in 2006 and the 2008 put an end to the process eloba iqonia 2006 wels ruseTis mier dawesebulma embargom and Tskhinvali region appeared in actual isolation and qarTul produqciaze da 2008 wlis omma, riTac cxinvalis re- became completely dependent on the financial assistance gioni moeqca faqtobriv izolaciaSi da mTlianad damokide- allocated by Russia. buli aRmoCnda ruseTidan gamoyofil finansur daxmarebaze. Just like everywhere else, in Tskhinvali region also the cxinvalis regionSi, iseve rogorc sxvagan, mZime socialur grave social and economic problems are blamed on the da ekonomikur problemebs xSirad ukavSireben adgilobriv corruption ruling the local bureaucratic structures. The biurokratiul aparatSi gamefebul korufcias. Seqmnili su- existing situation may actually not be allowing to con- raTi SesaZloa marTlac ar tovebs sxva alternativebis ganx- sider other alternative reasons, although, the facts and ilvis SesaZleblobas, Tumca, Cvens xelT arsebul faqtebsa data we have, give the basis to claim that the economic da raodenobriv monacemebze dayrdnobiT Tu vimsjelebT, collapse in Tskhinvali region cannot be solely reasoned cxinvalis regionis ekonomikuri kolafsi SeuZlebelia gan- by local factors and the corruption of authorities working pirobebuli iyos mxolod lokaluri faqtorebiT da adgi- in the local (Tskhinvali) administrative structures. lobriv (igulisxmeba cxinvalis) administraciul aparatSi In order to understand the given situation it is necessary dasaqmebul CinovnikTa TavgasulobiT. to analyze the expenditures and distribution of material am mxriv, STabeWdilebis Sesaqmnelad yvelaze mniSvnelovania assistance allocated by Russia to Tskhinvali region, by

4 The Forum 2016 #1 analitika ANALITICS ruseTidan cxinvalis regionisTvis gamoyofili materialuri consideration of current demographic data. Name- daxmarebis xarjvisa da ganawilebis analizi, maT Soris, regionSi ly, it is known that Russian subsidies allocated to arsebuli demografiuli monacemebis gaTvaliswinebiTac. ker- Tshinvali during 2008-2011 was 43 billion rubles Zod, rogorc cnobilia 2008-2011 wlebSi cxinvalis regionisT- (forbes.ru reported that during the given period vis gamoyofili rusuli dotaciis odenoba Seadgenda 43 mlrd. Tskhinvali region received approximately 30 bil- rubls (forbes.ru-s monacemebiT miTiTebul periodSi, cxinvalis lion rubles from Russian Federal budget, 2 billion regionis dasaxmareblad, daaxloebiT 30 mlrd. rubli gamoyo rubles from Moscow Government, 10 billion ru- ruseTis federalurma biujetma, 2 mlrd. - q. moskovis mTavrobam, bles from Gazprom Company and another 1 billion 10 mlrd. - kompania „gazpromma“ da kidev 1 mlrd. rubli Seagrova rubles from the Special Fund. If consider the then specfondma. im periodSi arsebul valutis kurss Tu gaviTval- exchange rate, the sum amounts to approximately iswinebT, saubaria daaxloebiT 1.43 mlrd. aSS dolarze). 1.43 billion USD). Tanxis uzarmazarma moculobam da am Tanxis „xarjvis“, ufro The zero economic effect resulted from the given zusti iqneba Tu vityviT - „gaflangvis“ Sedegad miRebulma nu- enormous amount and from the “spending” or to lovanma ekonomikurma efeqtma, aiZula kremli gadaexeda Tavisi be more precise from the “embezzlement” of it finansuri politikisTvis regionSi. aRniSnuli gadawyvetilebis forced Kremlin to reconsider its financial policy in safuZvelze, 2012 wels moxda „samxreT oseTis respublikis so- the region. As result, Moscow initiated the South cialur-ekonomikuri ganviTarebis xelSewyobis sainvesticio Ossetia Republic Social-Economic Development programis“ inicireba, romlis pirveladi proeqtis Tanaxmad 2014 Support Program, based on the first project of wlisTvis regioni unda gadasuliyo avtonomiuri ganviTarebis which the region should have changed to autono- reJimze, Tumca dRemde srul dotaciaze arsebobs (2016 wlis mous development regime, although, Tskhinvali biujetis 92. 2% Seadgens moskovidan gadmoricxul finansebs). region still enjoys the full subsidization (92.2% of the total 2016 budget come on funds transferred aranakleb STambeWdavia bolo wlebSi ruseTis mier gamoyofili from Moscow). finansuri daxmarebac. Financial assistance received from Russia during cxrili 1. ruseTis mier cxinvalis regionisTvis gamoyofili last several years is also quite impressive. finansuri daxmareba 2012-2016 wlebSi (valutis kursis gaTval- iswinebiT). Table 1. Financial assistance allocated by Russia to Tskhinvali region during 2012-2016

weli daxmarebis moculoba daxmarebis moculoba (mln. rubli) (mln. aSS dolari) Year Amount of assistance Amount of assistance (million rubles) (million USD) 2012 5 486 182.896 2013 4 302 143.416 2014 5 614 170.150 2015 6 600 94.285 2016 8 202 124.242

zemoTaRniSnuli cxrilis Tanaxmad, 2012-2016 wlebSi, rusuli The given table shows that during 2012-2016 finanasuri daxmarebis moculobam Seadgina 30.204 mlrd. rubli the volume of Russian financial assistance was (daaxloebiT 715 mln. aSS dolari), rac saerTo jamSi (2008 wli- 30,204 billion rubles (approximately 715 million dan dRemde) aRwevs 73 mlrd. rubls (im periodSi arsebuli sa- USD), which in total (from 2008 until present) Sualo kursis gaTvaliswinebiT 2.147 mlrd. aSS dolari). nebism- amounted to 73 billion rubles (according to the ieri CvenTaganisTvis gasagebia, rom es kolosaluri masStabebis average exchange rate – 2.147 billion USD). It Tanxaa 36 000-iani regionisTvis. erT sul mosaxleze gadaan- is more than clear that it is a colossal amount gariSebiT gamodis, rom regionis TiToeuli macxovreblisTvis of money for the region with the population of (xazs vusvam - ara ojaxisTvis, aramed TiToeuli sulisTvis) 8 36,000. If we calculate per capita, it appears

The Forum 2016 #1 5 analitika ANALITICS

wlis ganmavlobaSi, yovelwliurad gamoyofili that for each resident of Tskhinvali region (again, iyo daaxloebiT 7 500 aSS dolari. nebismieri not per household, but per capita) have been allo- saerTaSoriso reitingis mixedviT, yovelive cated 7,500 USD per year… every year, during 8 es avtomaturad aqcevda rigiT oss saSualoze years. Any international rating would say that ev- maRali Semosavlis mqone moqalaqed, romelsac ery ordinary Ossetian should be a citizen with high xarisxiani mkurnalobis, normaluri ganaTlebis revenue, having the possibility of receiving high- da periodulad sazRvargareT dasvenebis Sesa- quality medical care, normal education and spend- Zlebloba eqneboda, Tumca vipoviT ki iseT ada- ing vacations abroad; although, would one be able mians, romelic ityvis rom mas weliwadSi 7 500 to find a citizen who would say that they are being aSS dolars aZleven? given 7,500 USD per year? realurad msgavsi masStabis finansuri It is apparent that embezzlement of such financial resursebis gaflangva aRemateba cxinvalis re- resources would be impossible for the local au- gionis adgilobriv Tanamdebobis pirTa Sesa- thorities in Tskhinvali region. Clearly, the main Zleblobebs. naTelia, rom arsebuli meqanizmi, existing mechanism primarily works for the benefit upirveles yovlisa, xels aZlevs moskovSi arse- of Moscow authorities, who use different corrup- bul wreebs, romlebic sxvadasxva korufciuli tive schemes and misappropriate amounts allocated sqemebis gamoyenebiT, iqve, adgilze itaceben to Tkhinvali region already in Russia; as result the cxinvalis regionisTvis gamoyofil fulad sax- amounts to be used up to Tskhinvali sharply de- srebs, ris Sedegadac regionSi asaTvisebeli fi- crease. To be more precise, major part of the allo- nansebis raodenoba mkveTrad klebulobs. ufro cated amounts do not come from Moscow to Tskh- gasageb enaze rom vTqvaT, gamoyofili Tanxis invali at all. In addition, usage of such financial udidesi nawili moskovidan cxinvalSi saerTod levers makes it possible to involve certain represen- ar Cadis. amasTan, msgavsi finansuri berketebis tatives of Tskhinvali governing group in minor cor- gamoyenebiT, SesaZlebeli xdeba cxinvalis re- ruptive deals and as result to have complete control gionis mmarTveli gundis calkeuli warmomad- over them. genlebis wvrilman korufciul garigebebSi CarTva da Sesabamisad maTi kontroli. cxrilSi moyvanili uzarmazari Tanxebi cxady- obs, rom, oficialuri monacemebiT Tu vim- sjelebT, cxinvalis regioni ukve ayvavebulia da cxovrebis doniT uTanabrdeba evropis re- gionebs. Tumca, oficialuri dokumentaciis naklebad sandoobaze miuTiTebs rusuli dafi- nansebiT infrastruqturuli proeqtebis ganx- orcielebis nimuSic. kerZod, statistikuri monacemebiT, rusuli dafinansebis didi nawili gamoyofilia regionis dasaxlebuli punqtebis saavtomobilo gzebis SekeTebaze, rac qmnis aqtiuri samuSaoebis mimdinareobis STabeW- dilebas. realurad ki, sagzao samuSaoebis Ses- asruleblad gamoyofili Tanxebi ZiriTadad ix- arjeba rusuli samxedro bazebis dislokaciis The mentioned enormous amounts show that if we adgilebis mimdebare gzebis saremontod. aRniS- consider official data, Tskhinvali region is already nuli warmoadgens regionis mimarT kremlis flourishing and has already reached the level of cinikuri damokidebulebis TvalsaCino ilus- development of European countries; although, the tracias, romelic xasiaTdeba adgilobrivi os- low credibility of official documentation is once uri mosaxleobis interesebis sruli ugulvebe- more confirmed by the example of implementa- lyofiT. tion of infrastructural projects by means of Russian fondis „strategiuli kvlevebis centri - re- funding. Namely, by statistical data, large part of gioni“ mier 2013 wels SemuSavebul iqna cxinva- Russian funding is allocated for the reparation of lis regionis ganviTarebis strategia, romelic roads in the villages of the region, which creates moicavs periods 2030 wlamde. dokumentis the impression of active reconstruction works being

6 The Forum 2016 #1 analitika ANALITICS

Tanaxmad, ekonomikis ganviTarebis xelSewyo- bis mizniT, gansakuTrebuli yuradReba unda daeTmos hidroenergetikuli resursebis aT- visebis sakiTxs. 2013 wlidan dRemde cxinva- lis regionis ekonomikuri ganviTarebis pro- eqtebSi (furcelze) yovelwliurad xvdeba hesebis mSeneblobis sakiTxi - magaliTisTvis: 2015 wlis monacemebiT saubaria „500-500 mln. rublis Rirebulebis 4 hidroeleqtrosadguris mSeneblobaze, romelTa meSveobiT unda ganxor- cieldes eleqtroenergiis eqsporti ruseTis federaciaSi (anu cxinvali deniT unda amarageb- underway. In reality, the funds allocated for roads are mainly des ruseTs...), rac uzrunvelyofs damatebiTi, spent for reparation of roads surrounding the Russian military stabiluri Semosavlis wyaros“ Tumca Zalian bases dislocated in the region. The aforementioned is the clear saeWvoa, rom es proeqti ganxorcieldes, an ganx- demonstration of cynical attitude of Kremlin towards the re- orcielebis SeTmxvevaSi raime saxis Semosavali gion, which is characterized with complete neglecting of the moutanos cxinvalis regionis ekonomikas. saqme interests of local Ossetian population. imaSia, rom kavkasionis qedis mdinareebi xasiaT- In 2013, the Strategic Research Center – Region worked out debian sezonurobiT - zamTris TveebSi, rodesac the Tskhinvali region development strategy till the year 2030. gansakuTrebiT maRalia moTxovna eleqtroener- According to the document, in support to the development of giaze, maTze aSenebuli hesebis warmadoba daba- the economy, special attention must be paid to the issue of us- lia, xolo gazafxulis uxvwylianobis periodSi, age of hydroelectric resources available in the region. Since potenciuri gasaRebis bazrebze eleqtroener- 2013 until present, the issue of the construction of hydropower giis importis saWiroeba klebulobs. amasTan, stations is included in the projects for economic development msxvilgabaritiani hesebis mSenebloba aucile- of Tskhinvali region every year – for example: the 2015 docu- blad gamoiwvevs farTo teritoriis datborvas ments read about “the construction of 4 hydropower stations da Seqmnis ekologiuri katastrofis saSiSroe- each worth 500 million rubles, which must result in an export of bas. aRniSnuls emateba isic, rom mSeneblobis electricity to Russian Federation (or Tskhinvali supplies power proeqtis realizebis SemTxvevaSi saTuoa kon- to Russia…), which will become the serious source of addi- struqciaze gaweuli xarjebis dafarvac ki, ris tional income. However, it is doubtful that this project will be gamoc seriozuli investorebi Tavs ikaveben implemented or even if it will be that it will bring any benefit to msgavsi tipis saeWvo proeqtSi sakuTari fulis Tskhinvali economy. The fact is that the Caucasian mountain dabandebaze. es aris erT-erTi ZiriTadi mizezi, range rivers are seasonal – output of hydropower stations con- ris gamoc adgilobrivi Cinovnikebis mravali structed on them is very low in winter (when there is the highest cdis miuxedavad, dRemde ver moxerxda inves- demand for electricity) and during summer high water period, toris mozidva regionis hidroenergetikuli the demand for electricity decreases at potential markets. In ad- resursebis asaTviseblad. dition, construction of large hydropower stations means flood- imave strategiis mixedviT, ekonomikisTvis aseve ing of large territories, which will create the threat of ecological didi mniSvneloba eniWeba adgilobrivi soflis catastrophe. It is also a fact that serious investors refrain from meurneobis ganviTarebas, Tumca viTareba aqac allocating their funds for such doubtful projects, as it is unlikely aranakleb sagangaSoa - regionis ekonomikis up- that even the expenses for the construction of the stations would erspeqtivobis gaTvaliswinebiT, nebismieri moc- be compensated later. This is one of the main reasons of why ulobis investicia sruli kraxisTvisaa ganwir- despite the numerous attempts by local authorities; it has not uli. amis naTel magaliTs warmoadgens sofel been possible to attract investors to the sphere of utilization of xeTagurovos fermeruli meurneobis aSenebi- hydropower resources of the region. sTvis daxarjuli 240 mln. rubli, romelic miR- According to the same strategy, development of local agri- weuli Sedegebis mixedviT (arc erTi Semosuli culture is also of significance for the economy; although, the investori), SesaZloa gadakvalificirdes ro- situation is just as alarming in this field too – considering the gorc sabiujeto Tanxebis aramiznobrivi gamoy- lack of perspective of the economy of the region, any type of eneba. dargSi arsebul katastroful viTarebaze investment is doomed for failure. The good example of this are miuTiTebs is faqtic, rom regionSi aRricxuli 1 the 240 million rubles spent for the construction of the farm in 268 000 Ziri vaSlis xis miuxedavad, q. cxinvalSi Khetagurov village, which, based on the results achieved (not vaSlis importi xorcieldeba CrdiloeT os-

The Forum 2016 #1 7 analitika ANALITICS

eTidan. es ZiriTadad ganpirobebulia imiT, rom rusuli a single investor joining in), can be qualified as biurokratia yuradRebas aqcevs mxolod furcelze ga- unreasonable budget expenditure. Another in- mosaxul monacemebs da naklebad interesdeba adgilze dication of the catastrophic situation in the field realurad arsebuli viTarebiT, romelic umetes SemTx- is the fact that despite the existence of 1 268 vevaSi savalaloa. 000 apple trees in the region, apples are being cxadia, rom cxinvalis regionSi arsebuli umZimesi eko- imported to Tskhinvali City from North Osse- nomikuri viTareba, Sesabamis gavlenas axdens socialur tia. This is mainly conditioned by the fact that garemozec da saxezea regresi nebismieri sasicocxlod Russian bureaucracy pays attention only to the mniSvnelovani produqtisa. am mxriv gansakuTrebiT sayu- data on paper and focuses less on the real situ- radReboa jandacvis sfero, sadac dasaqmebuli 305 eqi- ation in the region, which, in most of the cases mis da aseulobiT medpersonalis SromiTi anazRaureba is deplorable. mesame samyaros qveynebis donezea, rac aferxebs rogorc It is apparent that the grave economic situa- profesiuli ganviTarebis, ise kanonis farglebSi muS- tion in Tskhinvali region affects the social en- aobis motivacias. amitomac, oficialur dokumentebSi vironment and results in the regression of all aRwerili STambeWdavi statistikuri monacemebis miRma, the vitally important spheres. The situation is jandacvis sferoSi gamefebulia korufcia da eqimTa particularly important in the healthcare sphere. dabalkvalificiurobiT gamowveuli sikvdilianobis Salaries of 305 doctors and hundreds of medical mateba. garda amisa, skolebsa da sabavSvo baRebSi Catare- personnel employed in healthcare sphere are at buli kvlevis mixedviT, gamoikveTa momavali TaobisTvis the level of the third world countries (average sagangaSo viTareba janmrTelobis kuTxiT. kerZod, kvle- salary of a doctor is 14,137 rubles or 214 USD; vis Tanaxmad, mozardebSi gavrcelebulia kuW-nawlavis salaries of medical personnel are far lower). traqtisa da saWmlis momnelebeli organoebis daavadebe- This hampers the motivation for professional bi (sxva daavadebaTa CamonaTvalSi mniSvnelovan adgils development and the desire to work legally. ikavebs fsiqiuri da qcevis aSliloba), rasac upirveles Due to that, despite the impressive statistical yovlisa ganapirobebs uxarisxo sakvebisa da jandac- data represented in official documents, there vis uefeqto sistemis kombinacia. viTarebas amZafrebs is very high corruption in healthcare sphere ukanasknel periodSi onkologiur daavadebaTa SemTx- and increase of mortality due to low qualifica- vevebis mkveTri matebac, radgan mosaxleobas xeli ar tion of doctors. Aside from that, the research miuwvdeba prevenciul-profilaqtikur samedicino ser- conducted in schools and kindergartens has out- visebze. gamomdinare aqedan, regionSi darRveulia ada- lined the alarming situation in view of health mianis erT-erTi umTavresi - xarisxiani samedicino mom- condition of the future generation. Namely, the saxurebis miRebis ufleba, rac warmoqmnis sxva, masTan research has shown serious spread of gastroin- mizez-Sedegobriv kavSirSi myof problemebs. testinal diseases among juveniles (among other arsebuli saWirboroto sakiTxebidan erT-erTi yvelaze spread diseases are psychological and behavior disorders). All this is primarily reasoned by the combination of low-quality catering and ineffective healthcare system. The situation is further exacerbated by the increase of the cases of oncologic diseases, as local population have no access to preventive medical services. Con- sidering all the aforementioned, one of funda- mental human rights – right to quality medical services is violated in the region, which causes other, related serious problems. One of the most acute from existing problems is the demographic situation, which can be ana- lyzed from two different angles. On one hand, negative demographic processes promote the sustaining of negative economic tendencies and on the other hand, the so called “drain of brains” makes implementation of important economic

8 The Forum 2016 #1 analitika ANALITICS

mniSvnelovani demografiuli sakiTxia, romelsac Sesa- and political reforms in Tskhinvali region impossible. The Zloa ori kuTxidan mivudgeT. erTis mxriv, uaryofiTi aforementioned tendency is confirmed by the statistics ac- demografiuli procesebi xels uwyobs negatiuri eko- cording to which Ossetian students studying in Russian nomikuri tendenciis SenarCunebas, xolo meores mxriv, higher education institutions based on quotas allocated e.w. „tvinebis gadineba“ SeuZlebels xdis cxinvalis re- to Tskhinvali region population (approximately 80 quo- gionSi mniSvnelovani ekonomikuri an politikuri re- tas per year) do not return, which results in low educa- formebis ganxorcielebis SesaZleblobas. aRniSnul tion level in the region and sustainment of accompanying tendencias adasturebs statistika, romlis mixedvi- negative effects. Tac ruseTis umaRles saganmanaTleblo dawesebule- Aside from that, the birth-mortality statistics is also a sig- bebSi cxinvalis regionis mosaxleobisTvis gamoyofil nificant problem in view of demography. The given sta- adgilebze (daaxloebiT 80 kvota weliwadSi) wasuli osi studentebi, rogorc wesi ukan aRar brundebian, rac xels uwyobs regionSi arsebuli ganaTlebis dabali donis da misi Tanmdevi uaryofiTi efeqtebis SenarCu- nebas. garda amisa, demografiis TvalsazrisiT mniSvnelo- van problemas warmoadgens Sobadoba-sikvdilianobis statistika, romelic mkveTrad uaryofiTia - 2009-2014 wlebSi cxinvalis regionSi daibada 1 700 da gardaicva- la 3 000 adamiani, xolo 2015 wlis oficialuri monace- mebis mixedviT, dabadebulTa da gardacvlilTa Tana- fardoba TiTqmis proporciulia (560 dabadebuli da tistics is highly negative – 1,700 have been born and 3,000 523 gardacvlili). Tumca, am SemTxvevaSi, saqme gvaqvs have deceased in Tskhinvali region during 2009-2014 and statistikiT manipulaciasTan, radgan 560 axalSobili- in 2015, according to official data, the numbers of the dan, 260 daibada cxinvalis regionis farglebs gareT newborns and of the decreased is almost proportional (560 (faqtobrivad, statistikis gasamyareblad, ruseTis born and 523 deceased). Still, it has to be noted that here federaciaSi dabadebuli bavSvebi miaTvales adgilo- we see manipulation with statistics as from the 560 new- briv namats). bunebrivia, rom demografiuli viTarebis borns, 260 have been born outside of Tskhinvali region (in pozitiur WrilSi warmosaCenad realuri statisti- fact, for improving the statistics, they have included chil- kuri monacemebis SeniRbva badebs kiTxvas, Rirs Tu ara dren born in Russian Federation to the Tskhinvali region arsebuli socialuri politikis gagrZeleba, rodesac data). Naturally, forging of real statistical data for rep- misi erTaderTi xelSesaxebi Sedegi mxolod uZvelesi resenting the demographic situation in a positive context osuri soflebis dacla da cxinvalis regionis gaukac- creates the question about the advisability of continuation rielebaa? of the current social policy as long as the only real result aRwerili viTarebis analizi cxadyofs, rom cxinvalis of it are the abandoned ancient Ossetian villages and rapid regionSi Seqmnilia virtualuri realoba, rodesac depopulation of Tskhinvali region. sabWoTa biurokratiis „brwyinvale“ tradiciebis „gaT- Analysis of the described situation clearly shows that the valiswinebiT“, furcelze uzarmazari Tanxebi ixarje- virtual reality has been created in Tskhinvali region; while ba mosaxleobis keTildReobisTvis, Tumca sinamdvile- “by consideration” of the “brilliant” traditions of Soviet Si yvelaferi ukvalod qreba ekonomikis „Sav xvrelSi“. bureaucracy enormous amounts of money are being spent da bolos, davZenT, rom cxinvalis regionis probleme- for the wellbeing of population on the paper, in reality ev- bi aRniSnuliT ar amoiwureba da reloba moiTxovs adg- erything disappears in the “economic black hole”. It is ilobrivi mosaxleobisTvis saWirboroto sxva mravali noteworthy that the aforementioned is not the only prob- Tema ganvixiloT. gamomdinare iqidan, rom mocemuli lem for Tskhinvali region residents and it is necessary to statiis formati ar gvaZlevs saSualebas meti infor- further discuss numerous other problems that local popu- macia gavaSuqoT, imeds vitovebT, rom mogvianebiT lation faces. Due to the fact that format of the given article mogvecema arsebuli problemebis ufro safuZvlianad does not allow more detail research, we hope that in future (meti konkretikiT) ganxilvis SesaZleblobac.  there will be the opportunity to more comprehensively discuss all the existing problems. 

The Forum 2016 #1 9 saerTaSoriso CarTuloba INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT interviu saqarTveloSi evrokavSiris monitoringis misiis (EUMM) xelmZR- vanelTan baton kestutis iankauskasTan (Kęstutis Jankauskas) “samoqalaqo forumi mSvidobisaTvis” mier gamocemuli Jurnalis The Forum pirveli nomrisTvis.

Interview with the Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia Am- bassador Kęstutis Jankauskas for first issue of the Civil Forum for Peace magazine The Forum.

ras warmoadgens EUMM-is misiis mandati saqarTveloSi da romel sferoebSi da teritoriebze moqmedebs is? evropis kavSiris monitoringis misia SeuiaraRebeli samo- What is the mandate of the EUMM mission in Georgia qalaqo sadamkvirveblo misiaa, romelSic monawileoben and which areas and territories it covers? monitorebi evrokavSiris wevri qveynebidan. EUMM saqa- The European Union Monitoring Mission is an unarmed rTveloSi 2008 wlis seqtemberSi Camovida, mas Semdeg rac civilian monitoring mission manned by monitors from EU evrokavSiris mediaciis Sedegad xeli moewera eqvspunqtian Member States. EUMM arrived in Georgia in September SeTanxmebas, romelmac wertili dausva agvistos oms. Cveni 2008, following the EU-mediated Six Point Agreement mandati, romelic mas Semdeg ar Secvlila, moqmedebs saqarT- which ended the August war. Our mandate, which has re- velos mTel teritoriaze da oTxi ZiriTadi amocanis gada- mained unchanged since then, is valid throughout all of sawyvetad muSaobs: Georgia and covers four specific tasks:

• xels vuwyobT moklevadiani da grZelvadiani stabiluro- • We contribute to the short- and long term stability to pre- bis SenarCunebas, SeiaraRebuli Setakebebis ganaxlebis pre- vent return to hostilities; venciis mizniT; • We support the process of enabling people living on both • xels vuwyobT administraciuli gamyofi xazis (ABL) orive sides of the Administrative Boundary Lines (ABL) to re- mxares mcxovreb mosaxleobas, ganaaxlon usafrTxo da norm- sume safe and normal life; alur pirobebSi cxovreba; • We actively contribute to building confidence among the • aqtiurad vuwyobT xels mxareebs Soris ndobis aRdgenis conflict parties; process; • We provide EU Member States and institutions with ac- • evrokavSiris wevr saxelmwifoebs da struqturebs vawvdiT curate factual information on the conflict related situation zust da faqtobriv informacias saqarTveloSi konfliqt- in Georgia. Tan dakavSirebuli situaciis Sesaxeb. Can you provide us with some statistics of what kind of SegiZliaT, mogvawodoT garkveuli statistikuri infor- accidents happens on so called “border” and in buffer macia, Tu ra saxis incidentebi xdeba e.w. „sazRvarze“ da zones. What are the reactions and mechanisms used by “buferul zonaSi”? ra saxis reagirebas axdens da ra meqa- EUMM during these accidents? nizmebiT xelmZRvanelobs EUMM aseTi incidentebis war- moSobisas? The ABLs and subsequent “borderisation” has divided many local communities, villages, families and people who gamyofma xazma da Semdgomma „borderizaciam“ dayo adgi- used to live in common neighbourhoods. It has made free- lobrivi Temebi, soflebi, ojaxebi da adamianebi, romlebic dom of movement very difficult, sometimes even impos- manamde saerTo samezobloebSi cxovrobdnen. Sedegad, me- sible. People who continue to live close to ABLs encounter tad SeizRuda Tavisuflad gadaadgilebis ufleba; zogierT a variety of difficulties in their daily lives – during cultiva- SemTxevaSi ki - SeuZlebelic gaxda. gamyof xazTan jer kidev tion of agriculture land, irrigation, herding livestock, local mcxovrebi adamianebi yoveldRiurad mraval sirTules aw- trade, medical cases, visiting graveyards and holy places, ydebian sasoflo-sameurneo miwebis damuSavebisas, morwyvi- visiting each other and their neighbours. It equally applies sas, saqonlis saZovarze gayvanisas, adgilobrivad vaWro- to people living on both sides of the ABLs in Abkhazia, bisas, samedicino daxmarebis miRebisas, sasaflaoebze da South Ossetia and Tbilisi administered territory. wminda adgilebSi gasvlisas, erTmaneTTan stumrad misvli- sas. es yvelaferi Tanabrad exeba afxazeTTan da samxreT os- Sometimes people are not sure where the line runs, so eTTan gamyof xazze mcxovreb adamianebs da maT, vinc Tbili- they are afraid to cultivate their fields, orchards or herd sis mier kontrolirebad teritoriaze cxovrobs. livestock. Sometimes they are told to stop cultivating land

10 The Forum 2016 #1 adamianebma xSirad ar ician, Tu sad gadis gamyofi xazi da plots that they and their families have worked previously. amitom eSiniaT sakuTari miwis, baR-bostnebis damuSaveba If they cross the line, often unintentionally, they are usu- an saqonlis saZovrad gayvana. zogjer maT ukrZalaven ally detained. Last year, 2015, EUMM registered 492 de- im miwebis damuSavebas, romlebzec isini da maTi ojaxebi tention cases. There may be even more, since we are not adre muSaobdnen. rodesac isini gadakveTen „sazRvars“, always informed. xSir SemTxvevaSi maT, rogorc wesi, akaveben. gasul 2015 There is variety of other incidents – air space violations, wels, EUMM-ma daafiqsira dakavebis 492 faqti. SesaZloa alleged shootings, grass fires, damage to infrastructure, aseTi incidentebis raodenoba metic iyo, radgan infor- detection of mines or unexploded ammunition, etc. macias maT Sesaxeb yovelTvis ar gvawvdian. Sometimes accidents lead to gatherings and demonstra- xdeba aseve sxva saxis incidentebic - sahaero sivrcis tions very close to the ABL, where armed security actors darRvevis faqtebi, savaraudo srolebi, balaxis xanZre- are present. bi, infrastruqturis dazianeba an aufeTqebeli naRmebis What does the Mission do? First of all, we patrol along aRmoCena da a.S. zog SemTxvevaSi incidentebi iwvevs the ABLs, engaging with communities and stakeholders. gamyof xazTan saprotesto Sekrebebis da demonstra- Our presence sometimes helps to avoid incidents and ciebis Catarebas, sadac warmodgenili arian xolme Sei- provides situational awareness and early warning at all araRebuli Zalovani struqturebi. times and at all levels within EU. Secondly, we main- ras akeTebs aseT dros misia? pirvel rigSi, Cven vaxdenT tain a so called Hotline which enables us and security gamyof xazze patrulirebas da vurTierTobT adgilo- actors on both sides of the ABL to exchange information briv TemebTan da monawile mxareebTan. Cveni iq yofna around the clock – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. When zogjer xels uwyobs incidentebis Tavidan acilebas, something happens we quickly dispatch a special patrol amaRlebs evrokavSiris SigniT informirebulobis zrdas to the spot to verify the situation. Sometimes we facilitate da adreul gafrTxilebas nebismier dros da nebismier meetings on the ABL between security actors and try to doneze. meore rigSi, Cven vamuSavebT e.w. cxel xazs, ro- find solutions. Then these incidents are usually discussed melic saSualebas aZlevs gamyofi xazis orive mxares mo- at IPRM (Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism) qmed usafrTxoebis struqturebs, gacvalon informacia meetings every month. 24 saaTis da weliwadSi 365 dRis ganmavlobaSi. rodesac In case of accidents do you have communication with raRac xdeba, Cven swrafad vagzavniT specialur patruls Abkhazian and [South] Ossetian sides? If yes with adgilze, raTa davazustoT arsebuli situacia. zogi- whom? erT SemTxvevaSi vaxdenT gamyof xazze usafrTxoebis aqtorebs Soris Sexvedrebis fasilitacias gamosavlis Yes, we do communicate. The Hotline mechanism men- povnis mizniT. Semdgom, rogorc wesi, es incidentebi ga- tioned above and facilitated by the EUMM connects nixileba IPRM-is (incidentebis prevenciisa da adreuli specially designated Hotline Holders in Tbilisi, Sukhumi reagirebis meqanizmi / Incident Prevention and Response Mecha- and Tskhinvali. With our assistance they can exchange nism) farglebSi Catarebuli yovelTviuri Sexvedrebisas. information, pass messages, ask questions, clarify de- tails. Because of its nature and the stand-by readiness incidentebis warmoSobisas gaqvT Tu ara komunika- of all parties involved, the Hotline has proved to be an cia afxazeTis da [samxreT] oseTis mxareebTan? Tu ki, extremely efficient mechanism to handle ABL-related konkretulad visTan? incidents. In 2015, the Hotline was activated more than diax, gvaqvs maTTan komunikacia. zemoT naxsenebi cxeli 1,100 times. xazis meqanizmi, romelsac fasilitacias EUMM uwevs, If an incident cannot be solved though the Hotline or erTmaneTTan akavSirebs TbilisSi, soxumsa da cxinvalSi needs follow-up discussions face-to-, it can be raised moqmed specialur cxel xazebs. Cveni daxmarebiT maT sa- during the Incident Prevention & Response Mechanism Sualeba aqvT gacvalon informacia, gaugzavnon erTma- (IPRM) meetings. In Ergneti, on the ABL to South Os- neTs mesijebi, dasvan kiTxvebi da daazuston detalebi. setia, these meetings take place every month and are fa- misi bunebidan gamomdinare da yvela CarTuli mxaris cilitated by EUMM and OSCE representatives with all mzaobis gaTvaliswinebiT cxeli xazi metad efeqturi local security actors around the table. In Abkhazia we meqanizmia gamyof xazze warmoSobil incidentebze re- have just restarted the IPRM at the end of May 2016 af- agirebisTvis. 2015 wels cxeli xazi 1100-ze metjer amo- ter four years of disruption. The IPRM meetings in Gali qmedda. are chaired by UN with EUMM’s participation. I hope Tuki incidentis daregulireba cxeli xazis meSveoibiT that the IPRM meetings in Gali will now also start taking SeuZlebelia, an Tu saWiroa damatebiTi diskusiebi, Ses- place monthly. These meetings, launched in early 2009 aZlebelia aseTi sakiTxebis IPRM formatis Sexvedrebze are meant specifically to discuss the incidents and try to dayeneba. ergneTSi, samxreT oseTTan gamyof xazze aseTi prevent them. Sexvedrebi yovelTviurad imarTeba EUMM-is da euTos Last but not least – the Head of Mission reports on the fasilitaciiT da yvela adgilobrivi usafrTxoebis aq-

The Forum 2016 #1 11 torebis monawileobiT. afxazeTSi cota xnis win ganvaaxleT security situation on the ground at the Geneva Interna- IPRM, 2016 wlis maisSi, oTxwliani SeCerebis Semdeg. galSi Cat- tional Discussions, which take place four times a year, arebul IPRM-is Sexvedrebs Tavmjdomareobs gaero, EUMM-is and at all times to the EU structures in Brussels. monawileobiT. imedi maqvs IPRM-is farglebSi Sexvedrebi gal- If there are communication and negotiation with Sic yovelTviur reJimSi gadava. 2009 wlis dasawyisSi dawyebu- Abkhazian and [South] Ossetian sides to enlarge the li es Sexvedrebi specialurad incidentebis gansaxilvelad da mandate of EUMM in those territories? maTi prevenciis mizniT aris dagegmili. The Mission mandate given by EU in 2008 is wide aseve, misiis xelmZRvaneli angariSs abarebs usafrTxoebis enough. However, we do not have access to Abkhazia situaciis Sesaxeb Jenevis saerTaSoriso molaparakebebisas, and South Ossetia. Discussions take place but so far romlebic yovelwliurad imarTeba da aseve briuselSi moqmed they did not produce a desirable result. evrokavSiris sxvadasxva struqturebs. We keep patrolling the areas where we do have access, mimdinareobs Tu ara molaparakebebi afxazeTis da [samxreT] especially along the ABLs. Local people there say that oseTis mxareebTan EUMM-is mandatis am teritoriebze ga- they feel safer when they see the EUMM, when they farToebis sakiTxze? know that there is an international presence. I’m sure 2008 wels evrokavSiris mier Seqmnili misiis mandati sakmarisad that people on the other side would feel the same way. farToa. Tumca, Cven ver CavdivarT afxazeTsa da samxreT os- We are an international unarmed civilian monitoring eTSi. molaparakebebi mimdinareobs, Tumca sasurvel Sedegs mission exercising operational impartiality. We are not jer-jerobiT ver mivaRwieT. of any danger to anybody, and I’m sure that Abkhazia and South Ossetia would benefit from our presence Cven vagrZelebT patrulirebas im teritoriebze sadac Ses- and objective monitoring as well. vla SegviZlia, gansakuTrebiT gamyofi xazis gaswvriv. ad- gilobrivebi acxadeben, rom Tavs ufro usafrTxod grZno- Do you think that your mandate is effective and ad- ben, rodesac axlomaxlo EUMM xedaven. darwmunebuli var, equate in peace building process? gamyofi xazis meore mxaris mosaxleobac igive azris iqneboda. Yes, I think that our mandate is fully adequate under Cven saerTaSoriso SeuiaraRebeli samoqalaqo monitoringis the current circumstances. It is being examined and misia varT, romelic saoperacio miukerZoeblobis principiT evaluated by EU Member States regularly, and the muSaobs. Cven aravisTvis safrTxes ar warmovadgenT da darw- Mission set-up is being adjusted as necessary. munebuli var, rom afxazeTi da samxreT oseTic moigebda Cveni iq yofniT obieqturi monitoringis ganxorcielebis Sedegad. Last year the Mission went through some reforms which enabled us to make our monitoring more flex- Tqveni azriT, ramdenad efeqturi da situaciasTan Sesabam- ible and reactive. We have established an Analytical, isia Tqveni mandati samSvidobo procesSi? Reporting and Outreach Department enabling us to diax, Cemi azriT Cveni mandati dRevandeli situaciis srulad better fuse the information received from a variety of adekvaturia. evrokavSiris wevri saxelmwifoebi regularu- sources and to provide EU Member States and Institu- lad amowmeben da afasebem mandats da Sesabamisad xdeba misiis tions with better reports. It helps EU to take better in- misadageba arsebul situaciasTan. formed policy decisions. We were also given a special fund called the Confidence Building Facility or Project gasul wels ganxorcielda garkveuli reformebi misiaSi, ramac Cell enabling us to support cross-ABL outreach, dia- Cveni monitoringi ufro moqnili da efeqturi gaxada. Camovay- logue and understanding. alibeT analitikuri, saangariSo da savele gasvlebis departa- menti, ramac saSualeba mogvca ukeTesad SevkriboT informacia In April this year EU Member States conducted a so da evrokavSiris wevr saxelmwifoebs da struqturebs ukeTesi called Strategic Mission Review where they re-exam- angariSebi gavugzavnoT. es evrokavSirs exmareba ukeTesad in- ined Mission tasks and mandate in the current security formirebuli gadawyvetilebebi miiRos. Cven aseve gamogviyves environment. They concluded that Mission is “healthy specialuri fondi, romelsac ewodeba „ndobis aRdgenis meqa- and fit for purpose” and recommended extending the nizmi“ an „saproeqto ujredi“, romlis meSveobiTac mxars vuW- EUMM mandate for additional two years until Decem- erT gamyofi xazis gaswvriv aqtivobebs, dialogs da urTierT- ber 2018. We were as well given additional technical gagebas. and analytical tools. ama wlis aprilSi evrokavSiris wevrma saxelmwifoebma ganax- Having said that, we will constantly monitor and adjust orcieles e.w. strategiuli misiis gadaxedva, romlis pro- if needed. This is a dynamic process and we have to cesSic moxda misiis amocanebis da mandatis dRes arsebuli be flexible and adapt. If we do not keep pedalling the usafrTxoebis garemos Sesabamisi xelaxali Sefaseba. maTi bike, we will eventually fall down. daskvniT misia „jansaRi da miznis Sesaferisia“ da rekomende- Needless to say, we coordinate very closely within bulia EUMM-is mandatis gagrZeleba kidev ori wliT, 2018 EU-Family – the European Union Special Represen- wlis dekembramde. Cven aseve gamogveyo damatebiTi teqnikuri tative (EUSR) for the South Caucasus and the crisis

12 The Forum 2016 #1 da analitikuri instrumentebi. in Georgia and the EU Delegation to Georgia which helps all of us making our work more consistent and Sedegad, Cven vagrZelebT mudmiv monitorings da vecdebiT comprehensive. saWiroebis Sesabamisad movaxdinoT adaptacia. es dinamiuri procesia da Cvenc moqnilebi unda viyoT. Tuki ar gavagrZelebT What do you think about the last accident, which pedlebis trials velosipedze, aucileblad davecemiT. happened in the village of Khurcha and Georgian cit- izen was shot by so called Abkhazian border guard? ra Tqma unda, Cven mWidro koordina­cias vaxdenT evrokav- Siris ojaxTan (EU-Family) - ev­ro­kavSiris speci­ ­alur warmo­ We have condemned this tragic incident where armed ma­dgenlobasTan sam­xreT kavkasiaSi da evrokavSiris delega- security actors from the Abkhaz side crossed the ABL ciasTan saqarTveloSi, rac gvexmareba Cveni saqmianobis ufro at the Nabakevi-Khurcha Crossing Point and carried Tanmimdevrulad da siRrmiseulad ganxorcielebaSi. out the fatal shooting of an unarmed man. This is one of, if not the most, serious incident since 2008. ras fiqrobT sofel xurCaSi momxdari bolo incidentis Ses- axeb, romlis Sedegadac saqarTvelos moqalaqe cecxlsasr- We have activated the Hotline after the incident and oli iaraRiT iqna mokluli afxazi mesazRvris mier? liaised with Abkhaz and Russian security actors. We have actively participated in the emergency IPRM Cven davgmeT es tragikuli incidenti, rodesac afxazeTis Sei- meeting in Gali on 27 May, devoted to this particular araRebulma pirebma gadmokveTes administraciuli gamoyofi incident. Materials were shared at that meeting to as- xazi nabakevi-xurCas gamSveb punqtze da cecxlsasroli iara- sist the ongoing Abkhaz investigation. I believe that it Ridan esroles uiaraRo adamians. es erT-erTi, Tu ara yvelaze will produce concrete results very soon, and that the seriozuli incidentia, rac 2008 wlis Semdeg moxda. Cven gavaaqtiureT cxeli xazi inciden- tis Semdeg da davukavSirdiT afxazeTisa da ruseTis usafrTxoebis struqturebs. aqtiuri monawileoba miviReT IPRM-is sagangebo SexvedraSi, romelic 27 maiss gaimarTa galSi, zustad am incidentis gansaxilvelad. mjera, rom konkretuli Sedegebi male iqneba da damnaSave Sesabam- isad daisjeba. aseTi saxis incidentebi konfliqtis tragikuli gadmonaSTebia da yvelaferi unda gakeTdes maTi Tavidan asacileblad. Tumca, aseTi incidentebi saSualebas gvaZlevs, rom swori daskvnebi gamovitanoT. Cvenma misiam daarwmuna yvela mxare, rom mzadaaa informaciis perpetrator will be brought to justice. Incidents like gacvlis fasilitaciisTvis, raTa daxmareba gaewios gamoZiebas. that are tragic reminders of the conflict and everything ra unda gakeTdes saqarTvelos mxridan aseTi saxis inciden- should be done to avoid them. However, they also offer tebis Tavidan asacileblad, raTa saqarTvelos moqalaqee- opportunities to move forward, and I very much hope bma Tavi usafrTxod igrZnon? that right conclusions will be made this time.

EUMM-is warmoamdgenlebi xurCaSi incidentidan mcire xanSi The Mission has assured all parties involved that it Cavidnen. Cven am teritoriaze regularul patrulirebas vax- stands ready to facilitate further exchange of informa- orcielebT, magram axla ukve gavzardeT Cveni warmomadgen- tion to help the investigation. loba afxazeTTan administraciuli gamyofi xazis gaswvriv What could be done from Georgian side to prevent mdebare kontrolirebad sasazRvro wertilebSi, gorSi da such kind of accidents, that Georgian citizens can mcxeTaSi momuSave Cveni savele oficrebis daxmarebiT. Cveni feel secure? mizania adgilobrivebis yoveldRiuri cxovreba normalur pi- robebSi dabrundes da Tavidan aviciloT daZabuloba. Rrmad The EUMM were on the spot in Khurcha shortly af- mjera, rom es yvelas interesebSia. ter the incident. We regularly patrol there, but now we have increased our presence along the ABL with Ab- Cven aseve SevamCnieT qarTuli policiis mxridan patruli- khazia at controlled crossing points with the help of rebis gaaqtiureba. gvaqvs informacia, rom saqarTvelos sam- monitors from our Gori and Mtskheta Field Offices. Tavrobo struqturebSi mimdinareobs Sida konsultaciebi We want the local life there to return to normal as soon Semdgomi nabijebis Sesaxeb. process yuradRebiT vakvirdebiT, as possible and to avoid tensions. I believe this is in SeTanxmebuli teqnikuri memorandumis Sesabamisad.

The Forum 2016 #1 13 xazi minda gavusva IPRM-is formatSi Sexvedrebis mniSvnelo- everybody’s interest. bas. es konfliqtis prevenciis meqanizmia, romelic diskusi- We have also noticed increased patrolling from the Geor- is da incidentebis prevenciis SesaZleblobas iZleva. afxa- gian Police. We understand that Georgian institutions zeTis SemTxvevaSi es umniSvnelovanesi instrumenti oTxi are undergoing internal consultations about further mea- wlis ganmavlobaSi ar gamoyenebula. Cvens xelT arsebuli sures. We keep following the issue closely pursuant to the yvela resursi unda gamoviyenoT am meqanizmis efeqturad Technical Memoranda we have agreed. muSaobisTvis. Cemi azriT, es xels Seuwyobs Zalian adminis- traciuli gamyofi xazis gaswvriv usafrTxoebis uzrunve- I would like to stress the importance of the IPRM meet- lyofas da prognozirebis SesaZleblobas. ings here. It is a conflict prevention mechanism designed to allow discussion and prevent incidents. In case of ra saxis komunikacia gaqvT samSvidobo da ndobis aRdge- Abkhazia this important tool was not used for over four nis sakiTxebze momuSave organizaciebTan? aris Tu ara es years. We should all do everything in our power to make TanamSromloba da komunikacia sasargeblo da efeqturi that mechanism work. I believe it can help to create more da gexmarebaT Tu ara is Tqvens saqmianobaSi EUMM-is man- predictability and security along the very busy ABLs. datis farglebSi? What kind of communication do you have with the or- regionSi samSvidobo da ndobis aRdgenis sakiTxebze mo- ganizations working on peace and confidence building muSave arasamTavrobo da samoqalaqo organizaciebi metad issues. If this communication is useful and effective mniSvnelovan da mZime samuSaos asruleben, romelic ga- and help you in your work within the EUMM mandate? miznulia adgilobrivi mosaxleobis sasargeblod. Cven varT Ria dialogisa da TanamSromlobisTvis yvelasTan, visac er- NGOs and Civil Society Organizations working on peace Toblivi muSaobis survili aqvs gamyofi xazis orive mxridan. and confidence building in the regions do a very impor- zogierT maTganTan ukve gvaqvs didi xnis TanamSromlobis tant and hard work for the benefit of local people. We da komunikaciis gamocdileba. es organizaciebi CvenTvis are open and ready for dialogue and cooperation with all Rirebuli da soliduri partniorebi arian. regularulad those who want to work together, on both sides of the vawyobT diskusiebs maTTan erTad mrgvali magidis for- ABL. With some of them we have long standing coop- matSi, sadac erTmaneTs vuziarebT ideebsa da gamocdilebas. eration and communication. They are our valuable and isini gvexmarebian ukeT gavigoT adgilobrivi mosaxleo- solid partners. bis saWiroebebi; zogjer isini bunebrivi partniorebi arian We are regularly organising roundtable discussions with „ndobis aRdgenis meqanizmis“ mier mxardaWerili proeqtebis them where we all can share ideas and experience. They ganxorcielebisas. Cveni misiis TanamSromlebi monawileobas help us to better understand the need of locals, sometimes iReben samoqalaqo sazogadoebis mier organizebul vorqSo- they are natural partners for implementation of projects pebSi, konferenciebsa da sxva saxis RonisZiebebSi. supported by our Confidence Building Facility. Our mis- rac Seexeba saerTaSoriso organizaciebTan TanamSromlo- sion staff members participate in different workshops, bas, Cven mWidrod vmuSaobT euTos-Tan da gaerosTan da ara conferences and other events organized by Civil Society mxolod IPRM-is Sexvedrebis formatSi. Organizations. ras urCevdiT saqarTvelos xelisuflebas da saqarT- As to cooperation with International Organisations, we veloSi da okupirebul teritoriebze ndobis aRdgenis work closely with the OSCE and the UN, not least in sakiTxebze momuSave arasamTavrobo organizaciebs? relation to the IPRM meetings. Cven gvakisria monitoringis da ara mrCevlis misia. rac saqa- What would you advise to the Georgian government rTveloSi muSaobis 8 wlis ganmavlobaSi davinaxeT aris is, and NGOs working with confidence building issues in rom xalxma da xelisuflebam kargad icis ra aris gasakeTebe- Georgia and at its occupied territories? li da situaciasac kargad umklavdebian. konfliqtis mogva- We are a monitoring, not an advisory mission. In what rebas dro da moTmineba sWirdeba, TavSekaveba da amave dros we have seen in almost 8 years of our work in Georgia, gamZleoba, Tanmimdevruloba da moqniloba - erTdroulad. the people and government know what to do, and they procesebSi CarTva rTulia, magram absoluturad aucilebe- handle the situation well. Conflict resolution requires li da Cvenc mzad varT mxari davuWiroT yvela im iniciativas, time and patience, listening and understanding, restraint romelic mimarTuli iqneba gamyofi xazis gaswvriv dialogi- but also stamina, consistency and flexibility at the same sa da urTierTgagebis gaaqtiurebisaken. Cven gavagrZelebT time. Engagement is difficult, but absolutely needed, and am procesebis mxardaWeras Cveni profesionaluri midgomiT we stand ready to support all efforts to reach out across da miukerZoebeli da obieqturi monitoringis meSveobiT, an- the lines to bring more dialogue and understanding. We  gariSgebiT da ndobis aRdgenis xelSewyobiT. will continue to contribute with our professional attitude and impartial objective monitoring, reporting and confi- dence building. 

14 The Forum 2016 #1 cxinvali TSKHINVALI

Temur cxurbaTi, Jurnalisti parlamentarizmis 25 weli samxreT oseTSi Temur Tskhurbati, Journalist 25 YEARS OF PARLIAMENTARISM IN SOUTH OSSETIA

“paddzaxadon nixas” (Паддзахадон Ныхас) - erTi periodi ase uwo- debdnen samxreT oseTis parlaments. gare mfarvelebis gulis mosagebad, oportunistebma es saxelwodeba gaauqmes. Cemi azriT, sruliad usafuZvlod, radgan „nixasis“ instituti oseTSi sau- Paddzakhadon Nikhas (Паддзахадон Ныхас) – kuneebis ganmavlobaSi arsebobda da Tavisi arsiT is swored par- this is how South Ossetian parliament was called laments warmoadgenda. pirveli sityva „saxelmwifos“ niSnavs, for some time. To please the foreign patrons, op- radgan „nixasebi“ arsebobda soflebSic da xeobebSic ki. es saxel- portunists abolished that name. I think in vein, wodeba sruliad sazogadoebrivia. as the institute of “nikhas” existed in Ossetia for centuries and inherently it was nothing but parlia- rac iyo, iyo; es yvelaferi warsuls Cabarda. samxreT oseTis par- ment. The first word (paddzakhadon) means state, lamenti ukve 25 wels iTvlis. sakmaod seriozuli periodia, rac as there used to be village, ravine and national aRiniSna kidec sazeimo SekrebiT, romelzec mowveulebi iyvnen (Ossetian) nikhases. samTavrobo delegaciebi yofili sabWoTa kavSiris respublike- bidan, romlebmac ukve aRiares samxreT oseTis damoukidebloba. Anyway, those are the stories of days gone by. maT Soris iyo ruseTi, CrdiloeT oseTi, afxazeTi, yarabaRi, dnes- The newest South Ossetian parliament has already trispireTi da donbasis orive respublika. 25 wlis iubile dae- counted 25 years. It is a serious period of time, mTxva meeqvse mowvevis parlamentis muSaobis periods, romelmac which was marked with solemn assembly by in- organizeba gaukeTa aRniSnul RonisZiebas. sazeimo Sekreba stan- vitation of governmental delegations from former dartuli wesiT warimarTa - milocvebiT da sazeimo sityviT ga- USSR countries that have recognized the indepen- mosvlebis TanxlebiT. originaluri, albaT mxolod is iyo, rom dence of South Ossetia. Among those countries Sekrebis Tavyriloba mihyavda ara romelime moqmed parlamen- were Russia, North Ossetia, Abkhazia, Karabakh, tars, aramed tarzan kokoevs, romelic Tanamdebobrivad aranai- Pridnestroye and both Donbass republics. The rad ar iyo dakavSirebuli mimdinare RonisZiebasTan; is samxreT 25th anniversary came on the sixth convocation oseTis respublikis Sinagan saqmeTa saministros Stabis ufrosia. of parliament, which was organizer of the celebra- CavTvaloT, rom es misi mWermetyvelebis da deputatyofilobis tion. The solemn assembly was conducted in a aRiareba iyo. standard from; with congratulations and solemn speeches. Original probably was the fact that the SeZlebisdagvarad SevajamoT parlamentis mier ganvlili gza. assembly was led by not somebody from the act- samxreT oseTis respublikisTvis umniSvnelovanesi gadaw- ing MEPs, but by Tarzan Kokoev, who did not yvetilebebi miRebuli iqna pirveli mowvevis parlamentis mier have any positional affiliation with the action; he da is samarTlianad iTvleba danarCeni mowvevis parlamentebs was the Chief of Staff of the MIA of South Os- Soris yvelaze qmedunarianad da mcodned. pirveli mowvevis par- setian Republic at that moment. We may assume lamentis wevroba gmirobis tolfasi iyo, radgan aravin icoda Tu that it was a tribute to his eloquence and his pas rogor warimarTeboda respublikis Semdgomi bedi; samxreT os- as an MEP. eTi damokidebuli iyo gare Zalebze, romlebic nebismieri gziT SeiZleboda warmarTuliyo da deputatis mandati SesaZloa cixis Let us summarize the path already left behind saknis saSvic ki gamxdariyo. iyvnen deputatebi, romlebmac „ing- by parliament. The momentous decisions for the lisurad wasvla“ arCies, damSvidobebis gareSe. saWiro gaxda dam- Republic of South Ossetia were made by the first atebiTi arCevnebis Catareba, radgan parlamentis muSaobisTvis parliament and it is rightly considered as the most saWiro qvorumi ar ikribeboda. vfiqrob, xmamaRla unda iTqvas, efficient and competent from all the convocations. rom aseT deputatebs Soris eduard kokoiTic iyo - romelic dam- Membership of the first parliament was equal to atebiTi arCevnebis Semdeg parlamentis muSaobaSi CarTuli aravis a heroic deed, as nobody at that time knew what unaxavs. amis miuxedavad, is samxreT oseTis meore prezidenti gax- the future fate of the republic would be; the very da, sakmaod demokratiulad da legitimurad arCevnebis mogebis small Republic of South Ossetia depended on out- Sedegad. side powers, which could have changed direction any time and an MEP mandate could have turned davubrundeT pirvel parlaments. maSindel deputatebs dRe- into a pass to prison cells. vandel pirobebTan SedarebiT bevrad uares situaciaSi uwevdaT muSaoba. saparlamento sesiebze midiodnen fexiT, Tu qalaqis saz- There were MEPs who preferred to leave without

The Forum 2016 #1 15 Rvrebs garedan modiodnen sazogadoebrivi, an sxva nebism- saying goodbye. It was necessary to conduct additional ieri arsebuli transportiT. zamTarSi Zalian Tbilad ic- elections, as the existing quorum was not enough for vamdnen, radgan parlamentis Senoba ar Tbeboda. maSindel the functioning of the parliament. I believe it has to be parlaments avtoparki saerTod ar hqonda, dRevandelisgan said that among those was Eduard Kokoity, who has gansxvavebiT, romelic uZvirfasesi avtomanqanebiT sarge- never been seen working in parliament after the addi- blobs. dRes Tbili tansacmeli ukve aqtualuri aRar aris. tional elections. Despite that, he became the second parlamentarebi Zvirfasi pijakebiT iwoneben Tavs, xolo president of the Republic of South Ossetia; after win- 08.08.08 omis Semdeg aRdgenili parlamentis SenobaSi kom- ning the elections quite democratically and legally. forticaa da Tbila kidevac. Let’s go back to the first parliament – it had to work yvela mowvevis parlamentis muSaoba mimarTuli iyo respub- in conditions which cannot be compared to the present likis gadarCenisken da miRebul kanonebs ufro arsebul ones at all. MEPs living in Tskhinvali used to walk to realobebs usadagebda, vidre TviTon qmnida kanonebs. ara- parliament and those who lived outside of the city used Riarebuli respublikis SesaZleblobebi metad mwiri iyo. public or any other available transport means. In winter situacia Zireulad Seicvala ruseTis federaciis mier re- they wore very warm cloths, as there was heating in spublikis aRiarebis Semdgom. samxreT oseTSi fulis serio- the parliament building at that time. Parliament did not zuli Semodineba daiwyo. masTan erTad Semovida rusuli ko- have its car park at all; unlike the current parliament, rufciac. gaCnda ampartavnuli cdunebebic. parlamentaris which uses very expensive off-road vehicles. Warm savarZeli simdidris da gavlenis mopovebis mniSvnelovani cloths have also been “cancelled”; current MEPs flaunt wyaro gaxda. deputatis sanatreli mandatis misaRebad nebi- in fashionable suits; it is very warm and comfortable smieri SesaZlo meTodebis gamoyeneba daiwyo. in the parliament building renovated after the war of 080808. Work of MEPs of all the convocations was directed at the survival of the republic and all the parlia- ments more adapted laws to existing realities, than dic- tating the necessary laws themselves. The capabilities of the unrecognized republic were too low. The situation radically changed after Russia recognized the indepedence of the republic. Serious money start- ed flowing into South Ossetia. Such positive changes brought with itself the Russian corruption. Serious temptations appeared and the MEP chair turned into a serious source of wealth and influence. People started using all the possible methods for getting an MEP man- date. The change to party system, which was necessary Tavis droze, arsebuli aucileblobiT gamowveuli, arCev- when it was introduced, has outlived its usefulness in nebis partiul sistemaze gadasvlam dRevandel pirobebSi current conditions. Parliamentary majority was gained aqtualoba dakarga. parlamentSi umravlesoba moipova par- by the party which has promised to people for the re- tiam, romelic respublikis mosaxleobas ruseTis Semadgen- public to become part of Russian Federation. Naturally, lobaSi Sesvlas dapirda. bunebrivia, rom es gadawyvetileba the given decision depended not on the ruling party, but ara maTze, aramed ruseTze iyo damokidebuli da es gaer- on Russia; and of course the unity did not take place. Tianeba ar moxda. amavdroulad, samxreT oseTSi arsebobs Meanwhile, in South Ossetia there are serious forces seriozuli Zalebi romelTac xelewifebaT respublika that can take the republic to the self-sustainable level, TviTkmar doneze gaiyvanon... miuxedavad amisa, moqmedi par- while the current parliament still pushes forward the lamenti kvlav agrZelebs ruseTis federaciaSi Sesvlis idea of entering Russian Federation, which in return, ideis eqspluatirebas, rac seriozulad uSlis xels sakanon- seriously hampers the effective work of the legislative mdeblo organos SemoqmedebiT muSaobas. body. To the merits of the current parliament can be moqmedi parlamentis damsaxurebad SeiZleba CaiTvalos attributed the desire to change the work of parliament parlamentis muSaobis profesionalur safuZvlebze gaday- to professional basis and to change the elections system vanis survili da saarCevno sistemis partiulidan maJori- from party system to majoritarian-proportional system. tarulze gadasvla. cxovreba samxreT oseTs seriozuli Life brings serious challenges and risks to South Os- gamowvevebis da riskebis winaSe ayenebs da maT gadawyvetaSi setia and solutions of many of them depend on parlia- didi roli eniWeba parlaments anu respublikaSi mcxovreb ment; which means on the people of the republic. Peo- xalxebs. rogoricaa xalxi iseTia xelisuflebac! ple and government are the same! This means, fate of ase rom, samxreT oseTis respublikis bedi swored maT arCev- the people of the Republic of South Ossetia depends on anzea damokidebuli.  their own choice. 

16 The Forum 2016 #1 interviu INTERVIEW afxazur mosaxleobaSi qarTuli pasportebisadmi interesi izrdeba GROWING INTEREST TO GEORGIAN PASSPORTS IN ABKHAZIAN POPULATION

saqarTvelos yvela winamorbed xelisuflebas konfliqturi regionebisadmi Tavisi politika hqonda. gamonakliss arc amJamindeli mTavroba warmoadgens. raSi mdgomareobs am sakiTxisadmi saqarTvelos moqmedi mTavrobis Tavisebureba, amis Sesaxeb The Forum-s Serigebisa da samoqalaqo Tanasworobis sakiTxebSi saqarTvelos saxelmwifo ministri, batoni paata zaqareiSvili esaubra. All the previous governments of Georgia had their own policy on conflict regions.The current power in force is not an exception either. The peculiarity of the approach of the current government towards the given issue was explained to the Forum by the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia, Mr. Paata Zakareishvili. batono paata, bolo sami wlis ganmavlobaSi xelisu- Mr. Paata, the approach of the government to conflict flebis midgoma konfliqturi regionebis mimarT regions has changed during last three years. What Seicvala. am yvelaferma ra pozitiuri da negatiuri positive and negative results have that brought? cvlilebebi gamoiRo? In general, any action taken in politics brings to cer- zogadad, politikaSi nebismieri qmedeba iwvevs garkveul tain results, especially when it concerns conflicts. The Sedegs, gansakuTrebiT ki maSin, Tu saqme konfliqtebTan main barrier is that our opponents (I mean Abkhazian gvaqvs. mTavari sirTule mdgomareobs imaSi, rom Cveni and Ossetian communities), behind which in reality oponentebi (vgulisxmob afxazur da osur sazogadoe- stands Russia, are not interesting in regulating the situ- bebs), romelTa zurgs ukan realurad ruseTi dgas, situa- ation. ciis regulirebiT ar arian dainteresebulni. isini Casaf- They are always in a crouching position, waiting for us rebul poziciaSi imyofebian, cdiloben Cvens „gamoWeras“, to fail, but usually it is in vein. Today, official Tbilisi rogorc wesi, uSedegod. dRes Tbilisidan ar ismis radi- does not make radical statements, as it happened dur- kaluri gancxadebebi, rogorc es wina xelisuflebis dros ing the previous government and accordingly Abkha- iyo da Sesabamisad, afxazur da osur politikur elitas zian and Ossetian political elite finds it difficult to uWirs Cveni kritika. isini „cud da agresiul saqarT- criticize us. They are unable to “sell” “the bad and ag- velos“ veRar „hyidian“ Tavis sazogadoebas, veRar aSine- gressive Georgia” to their societies and cannot threaten ben maT da amitom cdiloben is pozitiuri mesijebi, rac them with it and as result are trying their best to con- Cvengan midis, maqsimalurad damalon. ceal positive messages sent by us. iyo dro, rodesac TbilisSi, mixeil saakaSvilis mmarTv- There was time when during Mikheil Saakashvili’s elobis dros maRali tribunebidan ismoda sityvebi: „Cven reign official Tbilisi was making statements such as – amas didxans ver moviTmenT“, „Cven amas ver avitanT“ da “We will not tolerate that for long”; “We will not take sxv. msgavsi ritorika iseT Temaze, rogoric aris kon- that” and etc… Such rhetoric on the topic as conflicts fliqtebi, miuRebelia. diax, Cven moviTmenT da avitanT is unacceptable. Yes, we will tolerate everything for as yvelafers imden xans, ramdenic es saqarTvelos intere- long as it will be in the interests of Georgia; for as long sebs, qarTuli, osuri da afxazuri sazogadoebebis Serige- as it will be necessary for reconciliation of Georgia, basa da mSvidobis damyarebas dasWirdeba. erTmaneTis pa- Abkhazian and Ossetian societies and achievement of tiviscemisa da interesebis gaTvaliswinebis gareSe Cven peace. erTad cxovrebas ver SevZlebT. dRes maT ar vemuqrebiT tankebiT, Tumca diax, „vemuqrebiT“ evropaSi Tavisufali We will not be able to live together without mutual gadaadgilebiT, radganac vizaliberalizaciis Semdeg, qa- respect and without considering each other’s interests. rTuli biometriuli pasportebis mqone pirebs SeeZlebaT Today, we are not threatening them with tanks, but yes, evropaSi wasvla, ganaTlebis miReba, ganviTareba. es aris we are “threatening” them with free movement in Eu- is, riskenac swrafvas xmelTaSua zRvaSi uamravi adamiani rope, as after visa liberalization, persons holding Geor-

The Forum 2016 #1 17 interviu INTERVIEW ewireba, maT ki am sikeTiT sargebloba yovel- gvari sirTuleebis gareSe SeeZlebaT. mTavari miRweva dRevandeli xelisuflebis midgomisa aris is, rom konfliqtur re- gionebSi aRar isvrian da xalxi ar iRupeba. Cveni mmarTvelobis dros ar Seqmnila ara- nairi axali gamowveva, yvela is problema, iqneba es mavTulxlarTebis gavleba Tu ada- mianebis ukanono dakaveba, Cven ase vTqvaT, memkvidreobad gvergo da yvelanairad vcdi- lobT maT gavumklavdeT. samwuxarod, afxazuri mxare, miuxedavad yvelafrisa, sul ufro aqtiurad ganagrZobs galis qarTuli mosaxleobis Seviwroebas, rac gamoixateba misi rusifikaciis mcdelobaSi. gian biometric passports will be able to go to Europe, auqmeben qarTul skolebs, Tumca adgilobrivi mosaxleo- to get education and to develop. This is what so many ba mainc axerxebs mSobliuri enis Seswavlasa da srulfa- people sacrifice their lives to in the Mediterranean Sea sovani saSualo da umaRlesi ganaTlebis miRebas, raSic and they will be able to have these benefits without any Cvenc, Sesabamisi saxelmwifo programebis saSualebiT complications. xels vuwyobT. The main achievement of the current government’s ap- saqarTvelos teritoria 1990-ian wlebSi momxdari pro- proach is that there are no more shootings and people cesebis gamo sxvadasxva eTnikuri jgufis warmomad- do not die in conflict regions. No new challenges have genlebma datoves, Tumca dRes maTi nawili brundeba been created during our governance; all the problems, qveyanaSi, samwuxarod, zogierT maTgans qarTuli pa- be it the installation of barbed-wires or illegal detain- sportebis aRebasTan dakavSirebiT garkveuli prob- ment of Georgian citizens, we have “inherited” and we lemebi eqmnebaT. Tqvens uwyebas ra saxis daxmarebis aR- are trying our best to deal with them. moCena SeuZlia maTTvis? Unfortunately, despite everything, Abkhazian side msgavsi sakiTxebi individualurad wydeba. aris SemTx- even more actively continues oppressing Gali region vevebi, rodesac maT Sesabamisi dokumentacia wesrigSi ar Georgian population, which is expressed in the attempt aqvT, an ver amtkiceben, rom okupirebul teritoriebze of their rusification. They are abolishing Georgian cxovrobdnen. bolo periodSi qarTuli pasportebisadmi schools, but local population still manages to learn interesi gansakuTrebiT maRalia, Sesabamisad, misi aRebis Georgian language and to receive proper secondary procesi, usafrTxoebis zomebidan gamomdinare garkveul and higher education, which we assist them in through procedurebTan aris dakavSirebuli. pirvel rigSi, maT coinciding state programs. unda mimarTon iusticiis saministros. SeuZliaT mogvm- arTon Cvenc da kanonis farglebSi davexmarebiT. Representatives of different ethnic groups left Geor- gia due to the processes underway in the country aRsaniSnavia, rom afxazeTis teritoriaze, am etapze 400- during the 1990’s; although, some of them are now ze met pirs (galis mosaxleobis gamoklebiT. TH) saqarT- returning to Georgia. Some of them face certain velos moqalaqis pasporti aqvs. gansakuTrebiT didia problems in receiving Georgian passports. What kind pasportis aRebis survili im afxazTa Soris, romlebic of assistance can your Office provide to them? TurqeTSi garkveul saqmianobas ewevian. moskovsa da an- karas Soris daZabuli urTierTobebis gamo, rusuli Such issues are decided upon individually. There are specsamsaxurebi im afxazebs, romlebic TurqeTSi xSirad cases, when they do not have necessary documentation Cadian, eWvis TvaliT uyureben, amitomac es ukanasknelni in order or they cannot prove that they have lived at cdiloben aiRon qarTuli pasportebi da TurqeTSi saqa- occupied territories and are not representing the occu- rTvelos mxridan Sevidnen. amas erTvis vizaliberaliza- pation regime. Interest to Georgian passports has been ciis perspeqtiva, romelic am survils kidev ufro gazr- increasing lately and naturally the process of getting dis. the passports is now related to certain additional proce- dures due to security reasons. They must first address Tqveni erT-erTi upirvelesi iniciativa kanonSi „saqa- the Ministry of Justice. They can also come to us and rTvelos okupirebuli teritoriebis Sesaxeb“ garkveu-

18 The Forum 2016 #1 interviu INTERVIEW

li cvlilebebis Setana iyo. Tqveni azriT, ra within the law we will assist them in contacting the Sedegebs gamoiRebs es cvlileba da parlamen- Ministry of Justice. tSi misi miRebis procesi ratom gviandeba? It is noteworthy that for the moment over 400 per- es cvlileba Cvens mier, Cveni nebiT iyo inicireb- sons (excluding the Gali region population; TH) have uli. parlamentSi is pirvelive mosmeniT gavida. Georgian passports. The desire for getting passports saparlamento opozicia yovelmxriv cdilobda is especially high among Abkhazians; those who have procesis CixSi moqcevas. Tumca, am periods dae- some businesses with Turkey. Due to the tension in the mTxva saprezidento arCevnebi, axali konstitu- relations between Moscow and Ankara, Russian intel- ciis miReba, rac rigi sxva kanonebis ganxilvas ligence is suspicious about Abkhazians who often trav- moiTxovs da parlamentma es sakiTxi droebiT el to Turkey. Due to that, the latter try to receive Geor- gverdze gadado. Cemis mxriv mxolod is SemiZlia, gian passports and to travel to Turkey through Georgia. rom parlamentarebs yoveli sesiis win movu- Adding to that the visa liberalization perspective, this wodo, daubrundnen „kanons okupirebuli teri- will further increase the desire for Georgian passports. toriebis Sesaxeb“, Tumca es procesi Zalian gvi- One of your first initiatives was certain amendments andeba, rac albaT im SiSiTac aris gamowveuli, to the Law on Occupied Territories of Georgia. In rac mis ganxilvas axlavs, radganac oponentebi your opinion, what results will this initiative bring mwvave da demagogiuri gancxadebebiT mis miRebas and why the process of approval of these amendments ewinaaRmdegebian. aravin iTxovs am kanonis gau- by Parliament is being prolonged? qmebas, aravin exeba kanons „saxelmwifo sazRvris Sesaxeb“, ubralod gvsurs zemoxsenebuli kan- The amendments were initiated by us. It was approved onis dekriminalizacia. anu, okupirebul teri- by Parliament in the first hearing. Parliamentary op- toriaze gadaadgilebis damrRvevis winaaRmdeg position tried their best to deadlock this initiative; al- aRiZras ara sisxlis samarTlis saqme, aramed, though, submission of the initiative coincided with the daekisros mas administraciuli sasjeli, jari- Presidential elections, adoption of the new Constitu- ma, romlis gadaxdiTac is avtomaturad saqarT- tion and number of other important laws, so Parliament velos teritoriul mTlianobasac aRiarebs. am temporarily postponed the discussion. On my behalf, adamianebis cixeSi Casma Cven arafers gvaZlevs. I can only call on the MEPs on the threshold of ev- (Sss-s statistikuri monacemebis mixedviT, 2009 ery session to return to the discussion of the Law on wlidan 2015 wlis martis mdgomareobiT 3221 da Occupied Territories. The process is being delayed 3222 muxlis darRvevisaTvis sul 333 piri iqna probably because of the fear of what will accompany dakavebulia, xolo 105 piri gasamarTllda. TH) the process of discussion, as its opponents will resume sadReisod mivaRwieT imas, rom am muxliT adami- making harsh demagogical statements. We are not re- anebs ar apatimreben, isini ixdian jarimas, Tumca questing abolishment of the law and we are not influ- ara rogorc administraciuli, aramed rogorc encing the Law on the State Borders; we just call for sisxlis samarTlis danaSaulisaTvis, rac albaT the decriminalization of the aforementioned law. This momavalSi maT did problemebs Seuqmnis. means, not pressing criminal charges against those who violate the rules of movement on occupied terri- realurad, Cven viWerT da vasamarTlebT im tories, but imposing administrative punishment, a fine, pirebs, romlebic patiosnad modian da cdi- by paying which they will automatically recognize the loben qveynis teritoriaze Semosvlas. ai mag- territorial integrity of Georgia. Imprisonment of peo- aliTad, Semovida piri saqarTveloSi mdinare ple does not bring any results. (According to the MIA fsoudan, gaiara rusuli sasazRvro-gamSvebi statistical data, from 2009 through March 2015, 333 punqti, magram aqeT mxares, okupaciis gamo mas persons have been detained for vilation of the articles qarTveli mesazRvre ar xvdeba, amis Semdeg is mo- 3221 and 3222 and 105 persons have been convicted. dis mdinare engurTan, sadac qarTuli policiis TH) For the moment we have achieved the fact that saguSagoa, da aq mas akaveben kanonis darRvevis people are not being arrested for those violations; they gamo. arada is patiosnad modis, ar imaleba, rom pay the fine, but not as for administrative violation, but surdes farulad Semosvla, saguSagos avliT as for criminal felony, which will probably create seri- amas umartivesad moaxerxebs. me ar vambob, rom is ous problems for them. udanaSauloa, magram vimeoreb, amis gamo am ada- mianis dapatimreba usamarTlobaa. gadaixados Actually, we arrest and convict persons who honestly jarima. come and try to enter the territory of Georgia legally.

The Forum 2016 #1 19 interviu INTERVIEW igive SeiZleba iTqvas okupirebul teritoriaze For example, a person enters Georgia from Psou River, gacemul dokumentaciaze, iqneba es qorwinebisa Tu going through Russian border guard checkpoint, but on dabadebis mowmoba. es dokumentebi ar Seesabameba this side they are met by Georgian border guards because saqarTvelos kanonmdeblobas. Cven veubnebiT maT, of occupation; after this they come to Inguri River, to the gadmobrZandiT, dabadebuli bavSvi aq, saqarTvelos Georgian police checkpoint and they are detained for vio- kanonmdeblobiT gaTvaliswinebuli procedurebiT lating the border. However, they are not trying to hide; gaatareT registraciaSi, aiReT oficialuri cno- if they wanted to sneak in, they would simply do it by bebi da isargebleT im sikeTeebiT, rasac saxelmwifo bypassing the checkpoint. I am not saying that they are gTavazobT. innocent, but I repeat, arresting them for this is not fair. They must pay the fine. am etapze Tbiliss, soxumsa da cxinvals Soris aris Tu ara raime saxis TanamSromloba? The same can be said about the documentation issued at occupied territories; be it marriage or birth certificate. diax. ase magaliTad, aprilis TveSi qarTulma, osurma Those documents do not coincide with Georgian legis- da afxazurma mxareebma gaaTavisufles patimrebi. maT lation. We tell them to come and to register a newborn gadaecaT maT mier moTxovnili pirebi, Cven ki Cvens baby according to the procedures enforced by Georgian mier moTxovnili ukanono patimrobaSi myofi pire- legislation; take the official certificates and enjoy all the bi, erTis garda. darCenil pirze vmuSaobT da galis benefits that the country is offering. incindentebis prevenciis meqanizmebis farglebSi am sakiTxs aucileblad davsvamT dRis wesrigSi. Is there any type of cooperation between Tbilisi, Sokhu- mi and Tskhinvali currently? ltolvilTa da gansaxlebis saministros daxmarebiT aseve vTanamSromlobT sabrZolo moqmedebebisas da- Yes. For example, in April, Georgian, Ossetian and Ab- RupulTa gadmosvenebis sakiTxebSic. rogorc mogex- khazian sides exchanged prisoners. We handed over to senebaT, gaixsna babuSeras samarxi, igegmeba agreTve them the persons requested by them and they handed over kidev sxva samarxebSi dakrZaluli qarTveli me- the illegal prisoners requested by us, except of one. We brZolebis gadmosvenebac. keep working for the handover of that one person and will raise the given issue in framework of the Gali Prevention aRsaniSnavia isic, rom okupirebul teritoriaze ram- Mechanisms. denjerme imyofeboda saqarTvelos energetikis min- istri kaxi kalaZe, romelmac adgilze gadawyvita rigi Through cooperation with the Ministry of IDPs and Set- mniSvnelovani sakiTxebi. tlement we also cooperate in the issues of the reburial of conflict victims. As you know, Babushera burial ground rogorc osur da afxazur, aseve qarTul sazogadoe- has been opened already; reburial of Georgian soldiers baSi xSirad ismis kiTxva, Tu ramdenad mizanSewo- from other burial grounds is also planned. nilia afxazeTis de-iure xelisuflebisa da samxreT oseTis droebiTi administraciis arseboba. Tqven It is also noteworthy that Minister of Energy of Georgia rogor SeafasebdiT am uwyebebis saqmianobas ? Kakhi Kaladze has visited the occupied territory several times and has achieved agreements of the number of im- minda giTxraT, rom samxreT oseTis droebiTi admin- portant issues. istraciis Seqmnis principuli winaaRmdegi viyavi, radganac igi Seiqmna im teritoriaze, romelzec Ta- Ossetian, Abkhazian and Georgian societies often ask vis droze ioseb stalinma sruliad usafuZvlod da the question on how reasonable is the existence of the voluntaristulad Seqmna samxreT oseTis avtonomi- de jure government of Abkhazia and Administration of uri olqi, romelic zviad gamsaxurdias mmarTvelobis South Ossetia. How would you assess the work of these dros, aseve voluntaristulad gauqmda. 2006 wels ki structures? mixeil saakaSvilis iniciativiT kvlav aRdga es admin- I would like to say that I was principally against the istraciul-teritoriuli erTeuli Zvel sazRvrebSi, creation of the Temporary Administration of South Os- im sazRvrebSi, romelsac Cven ukanonod miviCnevdiT. setia, as it was formed at the territory, at which Joseph gansxvavebuli viTarebaa afxazeTis uzenaes sabWoze, Stalin created the South Ossetia Autonomous County romelic omamde, afxazeTis mTeli mosaxleobis mier completely baselessly and voluntarily and which was iqna arCeuli. marTalia dRes man dakarga samarT- later abolished also voluntarily by Zviad Gamsakhurdia. lebrivi, magram ar daukargavs politikuri legitima- In 2006, Mikheil Saakashvili initiated recreation of the cia, rac Zalian mniSvnelovania. administrative-territorial entity within the old borders; dRes, saubari maT gauqmebaze uadgiloa. maT Camoscil- the borders that we already announced illegal. The situ-

20 The Forum 2016 #1 interviu INTERVIEW daT politikuri komponenti da mTlianad socialur- ation is different with the Supreme Council of Abkhazia, kulturuli amocanebis Sesrulebaze arian gad- which was elected by the whole population of Abkhazia arTulni, rasac kargad asruleben. ase magaliTad, before the war. Although they have today lost the legal isini okupirebuli teritoriebidan samkurnalod stasus but have not lost the political legitimacy, which is gadmosul pirebs akvalianeben, akavSireben CvenTan, very important. Semdeg ki Cven vaxdenT reagirebas. Tumca miviCnev, Their abolishment would be improper now. Political com- rom saWiroa maTi reformireba, raTa moxdes maTTvis ponent has been taken away from them and are completely gamoyofili Tanxebis ufro efeqturi xarjva da a.S. responsible for implementing social-cultural tasks, which rogor afasebT arasamTavrobo seqtoris rols mx- they fulfill successfully. For example, they provide guid- areTa Soris ndobis aRdgenis procesSi? ance to those who come for medical treatment from oc- cupied territories; connect them with us and we react after. arasamTavrobo seqtors udaod didi roli akisria Still, I believe that these structures must be reformed in am saqmeSi. minda SegaxsenoT, rom mec am sferodan order to have more effective spending of funds allocated movdivar. es xalxi erTgvari mxvnelebis rols as- to them and etc. ruleben, amzadeben niadags, raTa Sesabamisi politi- kuri gadawyvetilebebis miReba ufro ioli iyos. How would you assess the role of the NGO sector in the confidence building process between the sides? rodesac am sferoSi viyavi, xelisuflebis mxridan xSirad mesmoda braldebebi, rom TiTqos Cven vafu- The NGO sector undoubtedly has big role in this process. WebdiT saqmes, rac sruliad ar Seesabameba sinamd- Let me remind you that I come from this sphere too… viles. arasamTavrobo seqtori an giwyobs xels, an These people are like plowmen, they prepare the ground vera, is xels verafriT ver SegiSlis. politikosTa in order for necessary political decisions to be easier to mxridan msgavsi gancxadebebi mxolod da mxolod be made. maTi arakompetenturobis dafarvas emsaxureba. When I was in this sphere, I often heard accusations from arasamTavrobo seqtori xalxTa Soris urTierTo- the government that we were making problems, which is bebis aRdgenasa da gamyarebaSi mniSvnelovan rols not true at all. NGO sector either is of help or not; it cannot asrulebs. interfere in any way. Such statements by politicians are qarTuli arasamTavrobo seqtoris warmomadgen- only aimed at concealing their incompetence. NGO sector lebi ramdenad arTmeven Tavs am amocanas? plays a significant role in the resumption and strengthening of relations between peoples. simarTle giTxraT, maTi mxridan ufro met Tanam- Sromlobasa da aqtiurobas velodebi. rodesac me To what extent to Georgian NGO sector representatives viyavi am sferoSi, Tavad vawyobdi Sexvedrebs afxa- cope with the given task? zur da osur mxareebTan da viwvevdi politikosebs, To be honest, I expect more cooperation and activity from vmonawileobdi sxvadasxva koncefciebis SeqmnaSi da their side. When I worked in that sphere I myself orga- vTavazobdi maT Cinovnikebs. dRes ki praqtikulad nized meetings with Abkhazian and Ossetian sides and igives gakeTeba miwevs, arasamTavrobo seqtori dRes invited politicians; participated in the development of dif- Jurnalistis rolSi ufroa, anu maTi mxridan inicia- ferent concepts and proposed them to authorities… Today, tiva praqtikulad ar modis. ase magaliTad, yofilma I actually have to do the same; NGO sector is more in the premier-ministrma irakli RaribaSvilma gaakeTa role of journalists today, meaning that there is in fact no gancxadeba erebis TviTgamorkvevaze, ramac afxa- initiative from their side… For example, there was a state- zur da osur sazogadoebaSi didi interesi gamoiwvia, ment from the former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili Tumca aq arc erT arasamTavrobo organizacias am on the self-determination of nations, which resulted in Temaze debatebis Catarebis survili ar gamouTqvams. big interest from Abkhazian and Ossetian communities, igive pasiurobiT Sexvda yvela Cems gancxadebas fed- although, none of the local non-governmental organiza- eralizaciis Sesaxeb, iyo kritika oponentTa mxridan, tions expressed the desire to organize debates on the topic. magram msjeloba ar yofila. The same reluctance was in response to my statement on imedi maqvs, es realoba Seicvleba da arasamTavrobo federalization; there were critics from opponents, but no seqtori sakuTar Sexedulebebs konfliqtebTan da- discussion… kavSirebul sakiTxebSi ufro xmamaRla da aqtiurad I hope the given reality will change and the NGO sector gamoTqvams.  will speak about their opinions on the issues related to con- flicts louder and more actively. 

The Forum 2016 #1 21 konfliqtis zona CONFLICT ZONE konfliqtis zonispira soflebis mZime xvedri wiTelubani

THE HARD FATE OF VILLAGES BORDERING THE CONFLICT ZONE TSITELUBANI

cxovreba rTulia, gansakuTrebiT maSin, rodesac cxov- Life is hard, especially when you live in a con- rob konfliqtis regionSi da rodesac Seni saxlidan ram- flict region and when there is the so called “bor- denime metrSi e.w. „sazRvari“ gadis, romelic mavTulxl- der” several meters away from your home; “the arTebiT aris aRniSnuli. im mZime realobam, romelic 2008 border” marked with barbed wires. The harsh wlis agvistos omis Semdeg Seiqmna, Sida qarTlis rigi so- reality created after August 2008 war has left flebis mosaxleobas „memkvidreobad“ didi problemebi the population of certain villages of Shida Kartli dautova. maT Soris aris goris municipalitetis sofeli region with the “heritage” of serious problems. wiTelubani, romelic odesRac 350 komls iTvlida. dRes One of such villages is Tsitelubani, which used mosaxleobis raodenoba Semcirebulia. rTul politikur to count 350 households back in the old times. viTarebasTan erTad, amis mizezi socialuri fonic aris. Nowadays, number of population has decreased.

PHOTO - Goga Aptsiauri

Sedegad didia migracia, gansakuTrebiT axalgazrdebisa, Complicated political situation and grave social romelTa nawili TurqeTSi, nawili ki TbilisSi midis sa- background has reasoned high migration, espe- muSaod. zogierTi ki kontraqtis safuZvelze msaxurobs cially of youth, part of which goes in search of qarTul jarSi. am SemTxvevaSic erT-erTi mTavari faqtori jobs to Tbilisi or to Turkey. Some of them serve maRali xelfasia. in Georgian army based on contracts; the main motivator in this case too is the high salary. gasuli wlis Semodgomaze ganviTarebulma movlenebma wi- Telubnelebis mTavar saarsebo wyaros - mesaqonleobas The Last fall developments created serious da soflis meurneobas didi safrTxe Seuqmna. rusulma sa- threats for the main sources of livelihood of okupacio reJimma e.w. „sazRvris“ aRmniSvneli banerebi so- Tsitelubani residents – livestock and agriculture. flelebis kuTvnil savargulebsa da saZovrebze gaavlo. Russian occupation line placed the so called Sedegad, sameurneo miwebis didi nawili baners miRma aR- “border” marking banners at the agriculture moCnda. rusma „mesazRvreebma“ adgilobrivebi mkacrad lands and pastures owned by the villagers. As gaafrTxiles, rom „sasazRvro zolis“ damrRvevebi dakave- result, major part of agricultural lands appeared

22 The Forum 2016 #1 konfliqtis zona CONFLICT ZONE buli iqnebian. samwuxarod, isini mxolod gafrTxilebiT ar kmayofildebian da kon- fliqtis regionispira soflebis mkvidrT xSirad apatimreben. pirvel SemTxvevaSi piri ixdis jarimas 2000 rublis odenobiT, meore SemTxvevaSi 5000 rubls, xolo „saz- Rvris“ kvlav darRvevis SemTxvevaSi gan- isazRvreba patimroba vadiT - 2 Tvidan 6 wlamde. adgilobrivTa TqmiT, gatacebul- Ta mimarT fizikur Seuracxyofas adgili ar aqvs. aRsaniSnavia, rom xSirad rusi ja- riskacebi xalxs qarTuli mxaris mier kon- trolirebad teritoriazec apatimreben. amas ki imis gamo sCadian, rom TiToeuli „sazRvris damrRvevis“ dakavebaze premias iReben. erT-erTi aseTi bolo SemTxveva maisis Tvis dasawyisSi moxda. rusebma 17 wlis laSa Tvauri Tavisi saqonlis mwyems- visas daakaves. on the other side of the banners. Russian “border guards” strictly „dakavebis SemTxevebi xSiria, imitom rom warned the locals that the trespassers of the “borderline” would be es sazRvari isea gavlebuli, sad visi mi- detained. Unfortunately, it was not just the warning and Russian waa, ver gaigeb. laSa saqonels mwyemsavda, soldiers often arrest residents of the villages bordering the conflict ra drosac naxiri imaT teritoriaze aR- region. At first detainment a person pays 2,000 ruble fine; second moCnda. laSac gadayva. uceb movardnen, detainment the fine goes up to 5,000 rubles and if it happens the third daiWires da cxinvalSi waiyvanes. naxiri time, a person can be sentenced to imprisonment from 2 months to 6 TviTonve gadmorekes ukan. ori dRis Sem- years. Locals say that the detained are not being physically abused. deg, cxinvalSi mcxovrebma Cvenma naTesavma It is noteworthy that Russian soldiers often detain people at the ter- jarima gadaixada da gamouSves. rogorc ritories controlled by Georgian side. They do this because they get TviTon hyveba, kargad eqceodnen“ - uTxra bonuses for the detainment of each “trespasser.” One of the last The Forum-s laSa Tvauris dedam, qeTevanma. cases like this took place in the beginning of May, when Russians Tavad laSa ki ramdenime megobarTan erTad detained Lasha Tvauri, 17, when he was herding his cattle. axla TurqeTSia samuSaod wasuli. “Detainment facts are so frequent because the borderline is very ob- wiTelubnelebs sarwyavi wylis problemac scure; it’s hard to understand whose land is where. Lasha was herd- awuxebT. uwyloba sasoflo-sameurneo sav- ing cattle when herd went to their territory; Lasha tried to follow and argulebs azianebs da mosavals anadgurebs. they came immediately, captured him and took him to Tskhinvali. „RmerTis imedze varT, wvima rodis mova. Russians herded the cattle back themselves. Two days later, our wvima rwyavs Cvens baRebs, magram xandaxan relative who lives in Tskhinvali paid the fine and they let him go. As iseT gvalvas iWers, yvelaferi xmeba da mS- he told us they were treating him well there,” Lasha Tvauri’s mother ralze vrCebiT. saxelmwifo mxolod imaSi Ketevan told the Forum. Right now, Lasha and several of his friends gvexmareba, rom bunebrivi airis milebi have left to work in Turkey. Semogviyvana da 200 lariani vauCerebi gad- Tsitelubani villagers face the problem of irrigation water too. Lack mogvca. soflis meurneobis saministros of water damages the agricultural lands and destroys their harvest. saxelmwifo proeqtSic movxvdiT, miwebi dagvimuSaves, magram niadagi Tu ar moir- “We pray for rain to come. Rain irrigates our orchards, but some- wya, damuSavebas aba ra azri aqvs?! gzac ki times it is such droughts that everything withers and we stay without ar gvaqvs wesieri, wvimis mere gasvla Wirs. harvest. The only help from government was that they installed meti yuradReba gvWirdeba, aseT adgilas, natural gas pipeline and gave us 200 GEL vouchers. We have also aseT pirobebSi rom vcxovrobT“ - uTxra been included in the State project of the Ministry of Agriculture; The Forum-s wiTelubnis macxovrebelma they cultivated our lands, but what is the point in cultivating if the darejan RvTisiaSvilma. lands are not irrigated?! We don’t even have an adequate road; we have problem with getting to our lands after it rains… We need more aRsaniSnavia, rom wiTelubani Sereuli attention as we live in such a place and in such conditions,” Tsitelu-

The Forum 2016 #1 23 konfliqtis zona CONFLICT ZONE

sofeli iyo. erTmaneTis gverdigverd cxovrobdnen qa- bani resident Darejan Gvtisiashvili told the rTveli, osi da sxva erovnebis adamianebi. 1990-ian wleb- Forum. Si ganviTarebuli politikuri movlenebis gamo sofeli It is noteworthy that Tsitelubani used to be osuri mosaxleobis nawilma datova, Tumca wiTelubnel- a mixed village. Georgians, Ossetians and Ta TqmiT, 2008 wlis agvistos omamde irgvliv mdebare people of other nationalities still live here osur dasaxlebebTan, sadac bevr maTgans naTesavebi hy- side by side. Political events of the 1990’s avs, intensiuri urTierToba hqondaT. samwuxarod, saok- forced part of Ossetian population to leave upacio jarebis mier gavlebuli e.w. „sademarkacio xaze- the village, although, according to Tsitelu- bis“ gamo maTTan kontaqti am etapze Sewyda. wiTelubanSi bani residents, before August 2008 war they 1980-ian wlebSi, stiqiuri ubedurebis Sedegad aWaris used to have intensive contacts with sur- regionSi dazaralebuli ojaxebic aris Casaxlebuli. rounding Ossetian villages, in which many 2007 wels, saqarTvelos xelisuflebis iniciativiT, of them have relatives. Unfortunately, due to azerbaijanidan sofel wiTelubanSi Caasaxles 1944 the so called “demarcation lines” organized wels represirebul Turq-mesxTa eqvsi ojaxi. saxelm- by the occupation forces those contacts have wifom maTTvis SeiZina saxlebi da erTjeradi daxmarebis been suspended. Families, victims of the saxiT misca Tanxa 3000 laris odenobiT. erT-erTi maT- natural disaster of 1980 in Adjara region ganis, heidar latipovis (pipinaZis) TqmiT, saxelmwifos have also been resettled to Tsitelubani at that daxmareba mxolod amiT Semoifargla. repatrirebul time. ojaxebs ar miuRiaT soflad macxovrebelTaTvis esoden Six families of Meskhetian Turks repressed mniSvnelovani miwis nakveTebi sameurneo saqmianobi- in 1944 were resettled from Azerbaijan saTvis da, rac mTavaria, isini dRemde elodebian imas, to Tsitelubani by the initiative of the then Tu rodis miiReben saqarTvelos moqalaqeobis damadas- government of Georgia in 2007. The State turebel mowmobebs. purchased houses for them and gave them „TiTqmis aTi welia aq vcxovrobT, adgilobrivebTan Za- one-time financial welfare of 3,000 GEL. lian kargi urTierToba gvaqvs. religiur Tu eTnikur According to one of them, Heidar Latipov (Pipinadze), that was the only governmen- tal assistance those families received. The repatriated families did not receive agricul- tural lands, so necessary for people living in a village and most importantly, they are still waiting to receive the passports of Georgian citizens. “We have been living here for almost ten years; we have very good relations with the locals. There has never been any opposition on religious or ethnic grounds. Our main problem is that we still have not received cit- izenship. Due to that we are unable to pur- chase agricultural lands and children cannot receive education; because of that, many of them do not speak Georgian. We do not benefit from the state programs intended for Georgian citizens either… I was arguing on this very actively when there was the previ- niadagze rame dapirispireba aq arasdros ar yofila. Cve- ous government here and I was imprisoned ni mTavari problema aris is, rom am dromde moqalaqeoba with fabricated charges in 2010. In 2012 vera da ver mogvaniWes. amis gamo verc miwis nakveTebi I was amnestied and I addressed the new SeviZineT da verc bavSvebi axerxeben ganaTlebis miRe- government with the same claims. They are bas, ris gamoc bevrma qarTuli ena ar icis. verc im sax- arguing that we are violating the passport elmwifo programebiT vsargeblobT, rac saqarTvelos regime, but of course we do. Until lately, moqalaqeebzea gaTvlili. am sakiTxs wina xelisuflebis citizen of Azerbaijan had the right to stay in

24 The Forum 2016 #1 konfliqtis zona CONFLICT ZONE

drosac aqtiurad vayenebdiT, ris gamoc 2010 wels, SeTiTxnili braldebiT damakaves. 2012 wels amnistia Semexo da am moTxovniT kvlav mivmarTe mTavrobis warmomadgenlebs. gvedav- ebian imas, rom sapasporto reJims varRvevT, magram aba ra iqneba, bolo dromde azerbaijanis moqalaqes saqarTveloSi 30 dRis ganmavlobaSi hqonda yofnis ufleba, mere sazRvari unda ga- daekveTa. dRes es vada erT wlamde gaizarda, ma- gram mainc, am siSoreze amdenma ojaxma win da ukan rogor unda viaroT?! amisi arc finansuri da arc fizikuri saSualeba ar gvaqvs“ - Tqva heidar pipinaZem. misive TqmiT, maTi Semosavlis mTavari wyaro naqiravebi nakveTebis damuSave- baa, rac ukve naxsenebi uwylobis problemis gamo, Zalian rTulia. Georgia during 30 days and after they had to cross the bor- wiTelubneli heidar pipinaZe repatrirebuli der. The given period has been prolonged to one year now, mesxebis moqalaqeobis miRebasTan dakavSire- but how can such a big family keep going back and forth bul sakiTxze xedavs erTaderT gamosavals. es all the time?! We do not have neither financial nor physical aris saqarTvelos prezidentis gankarguleba possibility of that,” Pipinadze said. According to him, their maTTvis moqalaqeobis miniWebis Sesaxeb. main source of income is the cultivation of rented lands, „me iuristi var da vici, rom msgavsi brZaneba which is also very problematic due to the aforementioned mxolod gansakuTrebul SemTxvevaSi gamoicema lack of irrigation problem. im pirebze, romlebic qveynis winaSe TavianTi Tsitelubani resident Heidar Pipinadze sees only one solu- gansakuTrebuli damsaxurebisTvis gamoirCev- tion to the problem of granting of citizenship to repatriated ian. Tavs ar viqebT, magram aseT rTul regionSi, Meskhetians. It is the Georgian President’s Decree on grant- rTul pirobebSi vcxovrobT, vuZlebT am sirTu- ing them the citizenship. leebs, arafers viTxovT, garda moqalaqeobisa. amwamsve mzad var qarTulis sanacvlod, uari “I am a lawyer and know that such decrees are issued only vTqva azerbaijanul pasportze“ - ambobs heidar on special occasions and citizenship is granted only to those pipinaZe. who have been distinguished by their activity in favor of the country. I don’t want to praise myself, but we live in such a aRsaniSnavia is, rom Jurnalistebs, wiTelubanSi complicated region, such grave conditions, but we stand to saqmianoba SeiaraRebuli qarTveli samarTal- the hardships and do not ask for anything but citizenship; I damcavebis TanxlebiT uwevT. amasTan, isini am ready to refuse Azerbaijan passport in exchange for the dasaxlebul punqtSi ucxo pirebis Sesvlas mka- Georgian one,” Pipinadze says. crad akontroleben. amas isini xsnian im moti- viT, romelic moqmedebs usafrTxoebidan gamom- It is noteworthy that journalists have to work in Tsitelubani dinare soflis SesasvlelTan. blok-saguSagoze escorted by armed Georgian law enforcers. In addition, the dislocirebul policielebsa da adgilobriv law enforcers are also registering names of all strangers en- mosaxleobas erTmaneTTan kargi urTierToba tering the village. They explain this by security reasons. aqvT. They are dislocated at the block-post at the entrance to the village. The policemen and locals have good relations. miuxedavad uamravi sirTulisa, wiTelubnisa da konfliqtis regionispira sxva soflebSi Despite of many difficulties, life continues in Tsitelubani and cxovreba grZeldeba. other villages bordering the conflict region… 2008 wlis agvistos omi Tavisi mZime SedegebiT, Meanwhile, August 2008 war with its grave consequences samwuxarod, albaT Tavs araerTxel Segvax- will unfortunately keep reminding us of itself.  senebs. 

The Forum 2016 #1 25 samoqalaqo aqtivoba CIVIL ACTIVITY rogor unda moxdes saqarTelos sazogadoebis multikulturalizacia xedva “kavkasiuri saxli”-dan WAYS OF MULTICULTURALIZATION OF GEORGIAN SOCIETY The Caucasian House Vision

TiTqmis ori aTeuli welia, rac „kavkasiuri saxli“ Sem- ecnebiT, samSvidobo da saganmanaTleblo saqmianobas eweva. mas mWidro urTierToba aqvs kavkasiaSi mcxovreb TiTqmis yvela eTnosis warmomadgenlebTan da am mimar- TulebiT eweva sxvadasxva saxis saqmianobas. organizaci- is funqciasa da saqmianobaze The Forum-s misi aRmasrule- beli direqtori giorgi kanaSvili esaubra. batono giorgi, rodis daarsda „kavkasiuri saxli“ da ras saqmianobas eweva igi? „kavkasiuri saxli“ 1990-iani wlebis dasawyisSi daars- da. is mTargmnelTa kolegiis uflebamonacvle iyo, romelsac oTar nodia xelmZRvanelobda. misi im saxiT Seqmna, ra saxiTac is dRes funqcionirebs, cnobili mwer- alisa da sazogado moRvawis qalbaton naira gelaSvilis saxels ukavSirdeba. Cven orientirebulni varT rogorc saganmanaTleblo, aseve kulturul da samSvidobo pro- Caucasian House has been conducting cultural, eqtebze. es idea mas Semdeg gaCnda, rac kavkasiis regioni peacekeeping and educational activities for over ten samxedro konfliqtebma moicva. „kavkasiur saxls“ surda years. It has close collaboration with representatives xazi gaesva im garemoebisaTvis, rom miuxedavad urTierT- of different ethnos living in the Caucasus and is en- dapirispirebisa, kavkasiaSi mcxovreb xalxebs Zalian gaged in a variety of activities in the given direction. bevri ram aerTianebT. xSirad tardeba konferenciebi da Executive Director of the Caucasian House Mr. Gior- Sexvedrebi, sadac monawileobas iReben dapirispirebul gi Kanashvili spoke with the Forum about the Orga- mxareTa warmomadgenlebi. bolo sami wlis ganmavlobaSi nization functions and activities. saqarTveloSi Camoyvanili gvyavda rus eqspertTa 15 jgufi, romlebmac Sexvedrebi gamarTes rogorc mTav- Mr. Giorgi, when was the Caucasian House founded robis, aseve samoqalaqo seqtoris warmomadgenlebTan and what activities is it engaged in? da qarTvel eqspertebTan. Tavis mxriv, saqarTvelodan Caucasian House was founded in the beginning of the ruseTSi Casuli iyo ori analogiuri jgufi. 1990’s. It was the successor of the Board of Transla- Cveni saqmianobis erT-erT mTavar prioritets sagamom- tors, which was headed by Otar Nodia. The way the cemlo saqmianoba warmoadgens. weliwadSi daaxloebiT organization functions today is connected to the name aTi wigni ibeWdeba. veweviT mTargmnelobiT aqtivobasac. of celebrated writer and public figure Naira Gelas- wignebi iTargmneba rogorc qarTulidan ucxour, aseve hvili. We are focused on educational, cultural and ucxouridan qarTul enaze. ase magaliTad, „kavkasiuri peacekeeping projects. The given idea came up when saxlis“ mxardaWeriT giorgi lobJaniZem originalidan the Caucasus region started facing military conflicts. gadmoTargmna „yurani“, ramac qarTvel musulmanTa didi Caucasian House aimed to emphasize the fact that mowoneba daimsaxura. qarTulidan Turqul enaze iTargm- despite the confrontations, the peoples living in the na „daTa TuTaSxia“. agreTve, qarTulidan qurTul enaze Caucasus region have a lot in common. We often or- gadaiTargmna „vefxistyaosani“. CvenTan funqcionirebs ganize conferences and meetings by participation of „kulturuli kalendari“, romlis farglebSic saqarT- representatives of conflicting sides. During last three veloSi mcxovrebi sxvadasxva eTnosis warmomadgenlebi years we have brought 15 groups of Russian experts RonisZiebebs awyoben, raTa warmoaCinon sakuTari kul- to Georgia, which met with government authoritiesx tura da wes-Cveulebebi. and Georgian experts and civil sector representatives.

26 The Forum 2016 #1 samoqalaqo aqtivoba CIVIL ACTIVITY

„kavkasiuri saxli“ mWidrod TanamSromlobs „hein- Two analogous groups also visited Russia for the rix biolis” fondTan, saganmanaTleblo fondTan same cause. „horizonti“, agreTve sxva saerTaSoriso orga- One of the main priorities of our work is the pub- nizaciebTan. lishing activity. Up to ten books are being pub- aqvs Tu ara „kavkasiur saxls“ raime saxis urT- lished every year. We also conduct translating ierToba afxazur da osur sazogadoebebTan? activities. Books are being translated from Geor- gian to foreign and from foreign to Georgian Tavdapirvelad minda giTxraT, rom „kavkasiuri languages very often. For example, by support saxlis“ SeqmnaSi afxazi da osi erovnebis pirebsac from the Caucasian House Giorgi Lobzhanidze didi wvlili miuZRviT. ase magaliTad, „kavkasiuri translated the Koran from the original language, saxlis“ erT-erTi damfuZnebeli gaxlavT afxazi which was highly appreciated by the Georgian qalbatoni ana wvinaria, romelsac afxazeTSi in- Muslims. Data Tutashkhia was translated from tensiuri kontaqtebi hqonda. gvyavda aseve osi Georgian to Turkish language. Also, Vepkh- erovnebis TanamSromeli qalbatoni naira bepievi istkaosani (The Night in the Tiger’s Skin) was da a.S. qarTul-osuri da qarTul-afxazuri urT- translated from Georgian to Kurd language. We ierTobebi „kavkasiuri saxlisTvis“ yovelTvis operate the Cultural Calendar, in framework of prioritetuli iyo. which representatives of different ethnos living afxazebsa da osebTan garkveuli saxis urTier- in Georgia organize different events for highlight Toba am etapzec gvaqvs. Zalian saintereso Sexve- their culture and customs. drebi imarTeba saqarTveloSi britaneTis sael- Caucasian House closely collaborates with the Cos dafinansebiT, „samxreT kavkasiuri forumis“ Friedrich Boil Foundation, Educational Fund farglebSi. es Zalian mniSvnelovani formatia, Horizon and different international organiza- sadac sazogadoebrivad Tu politikurad aqti- tions. uri pirovnebebi, gansakuTrebiT ki axalgazrdebi monawileoben da sxvadasxva sakiTxebs ganixi- Does the Caucasian House have any type of laven. zogierT qarTvel, os Tu afxaz amJamindel contacts with Abkhazian and Ossetian sides? maRalCinosans msgavs SexvedrebSi monawileoba First of all, I would like to say that persons of Ab- araerTxel miuRia da rogorc praqtika aCvenebs, khazian and Ossetian nationality have great mer- maTi es gamocdileba maT saqmianobaze SemdegSi it in the creation of the Caucasian House. For pozitiurad aisaxa. am Sexvedrebze xdeba informa- example, one of the founders of the Caucasian ciisa da codnis gacvla, saerTo samomavlo sapro- House, Abkhazian woman Ana Tsvinaria, who eqto ideebis Casaxva, stereotipebis msxvreva da had intensive contacts in Abkhazia; we have also a.S. am formatiT Sexvedrebi minsksa da belgradSi had Ossetian staff member Naira Bepieva and so ukve Catarda da imedia kvlav gagrZeldeba. Tumca on. Georgian-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhazian arsebuli realobidan gamomdinare, mizezTa gamo relations have always been of priority for the es kontaqtebi myifea. Caucasian House. ra saxis winaaRmdegobas awydebiT maTTan urT- We have certain type of communication with Ab- ierTobisas? khazians and Ossetians at this stage too. Interest- ZiriTadi winaaRmdegoba afxazur da osur mxare- ing meetings are being organized in framework saa. qarTuli mxare, piriqiT, cdilobs xeli Seu- of the South Caucasus Forum by funding from wyos msgavsi RonisZiebebis Catarebas, miiCnevs ra, the British Embassy in Georgia. It is a very in- rom saerTo kulturul-saganmanaTleblo pro- teresting format, which publicly and politically eqtebi politikur dRis wesrigzec pozitiurad active individuals; especially youth participate aisaxeba. adgilobrivi de-faqto politikuri el- in and discuss different issues. Some currently ita da rusuli specsamsaxurebi qarTul-osur da active Georgian, Ossetian and Abkhazian high qarTul-afxazur Sexvedrebsa da maT monawileebs officials have participated in such meetings and eWvis TvaliT uyureben. maTze fsiqologiur ze- the practice shows that the given experience pos- wolas axdenen. es bunebrivic aris, radgan maT ar itively affects their future work. Exchange of in- awyobT urTierTobis daregulireba. maT mimarT formation and knowledge, development of joint wayenebuli braldebebi ZiriTadad demagogiasa future project ideas, breaking of stereotypes and

The Forum 2016 #1 27 samoqalaqo aqtivoba CIVIL ACTIVITY da populizmzea dafuZnebuli. Tumca, samwuxarod, etc. takes place during the given meetings. Meetings Sedegi gamoaqvs da Tbilisisagan gansxvavebiT, sox- within the given format have already been organized umsa da cxinvalSi msgavs SexvedrebSi monawileobis in Minsk and Belgrade and hopefully the process will msurvelTa raodenoba mcirea. am mxriv qarTul-osuri continue; although, due to the existing reality the given da qarTul-afxazuri urTierTobebi raRaciT hgavs contacts are quite fragile. erTmaneTs. soxumsa da cxinvalSi Tbiliss iseTive eW- What kind of barriers do you face when communicat- vis TvaliT ucqeren, rogorc moskovs TbilisSi. ing with them? samwuxarod, rusuli specsamsaxurebis aqtivoba am The major resistance is from Abkhazian and Ossetian kuTxiT efeqturia, gansakuTrebiT, cxinvalsa da sides. Georgian side tries to promote organization of CrdiloeT kavkasiaSi. afxazuri samoqalaqo sazoga- such events, believing that joint cultural-education doeba ufro myarad dgas sakuTar poziciebze, Tumca projects can have positive affect on the political situ- wnexi didia da rodemde gauZleben mas, rTuli saTq- ation too. Local de-facto political elite and Russian melia.

batono giorgi, saqarTvelos mosaxleoba sakmaod intelligence services regard Georgian-Ossetian and multieTnikuria. Tqveni azriT, ramdenad adeqva- Abkhazian meetings and their participants with suspi- tur politikas atarebs saqarTvelos xelisufleba cion. They are being oppressed psychologically. It am jgufebis mimarT? is natural, as they are not interested in regulating the relations. Accusations made against them are mainly samwuxaroa, magram Cveni qveynis multieTnikuroba am based on demagogy and populism, although, unfortu- dromde mxolod mocemulobad rCeba. vera da ver xde- nately, such actions bring results and unlike Tbilisi, the ba am realobis sazogadoebaze asaxva. isini araadeq- number of those willing to participate in such meet- vaturad, araproporciulad arian CarTulni qveynis ings is lower in Sokhumi and Tskhinvali. In this re- saqmianobaSi. amis naTel magaliTad Tbilisis sakre- gard, Georgian-Ossetian and Abkhazian relations are buloc gamodgeba. dedaqalaqSi mravalricxovani somewhat similar. Tbilisi is regarded is with the same somxuri, qurTuli, azerbaijanuli da sxv. jgufebia, suspicion in Sokhumi and Tskhinvali as Moscow is in Tumca qalaqis sakrebulos Semadgenloba mxolod eT- Tbilisi. nikuri qarTvelebiT aris dakompleqtebuli. es maSin, rodesac maTma mniSvnelovanma nawilma qarTuli ena Unfortunately, activities of Russian intelligence ser- kargad icis. vices are effective, especially in Tskhinvali and the

28 The Forum 2016 #1 samoqalaqo aqtivoba CIVIL ACTIVITY saxelmwifo enis codna mniSvnelovania. Tumca, North Caucasus. Abkhazian civic society defends its positions Zalian problematuri sakiTxia, gansakuTrebiT more firmly, although the pressure is high and it is hard to say regionebSi. bolo dros, jer kidev wina xelisu- for how long they will be able to resist. flebis mmarTvelobis periodSi am mxriv gadaidga Mr. Giorgi, Georgian population is quite multiethnic. In garkveuli pozitiuri nabijebi, iqneboda es sax- your opinion, is the governmental policy on the given groups elmwifo programa “4+1”, saganmanaTleblo cen- adequate enough? trebis Seqmna maTi kompaqturad dasaxlebis adgi- lebSi, agreTve am regionebTan damakavSirebeli It is unfortunate, but the multi-ethnicity of our country still saavtomobilo gzebis SekeTeba. Sedegi nel-nela remains as a given. It is still a problem to reflect the given iCens Tavs. ase magaliTad, dRes sul ufro meti reality on the society. They are involved in the country activi- azerbaijaneli Tu somexi axalgazrda swavlobs ties inadequately and disproportionately. Tbilisi Sakrebulo is saqarTvelos umaRles saswavleblebSi. aRsaniS- a clear example of that. There are numerous Armenian, Geor- navia isic, rom axalgazrdebi euflebian qarTul gia, Azerbaijani and other groups in the capital, although, the enas, arian aqtiurebi da aqvT survili TviT- city Sakrebulo is staffed only by ethnic Georgians. And this realizebisa. Zalian xSirad isini monawileoben happened when majority of them speak good Georgian. zogadi Tematikis forumebsa da SexvedrebSi, sa- Knowledge of the state language is important, but very prob- dac sakuTar azrs qarTulad afiqsireben. Tumca, lematic, especially in the regions. Certain positive efforts have rogorc praqtika gviCvenebs, am kuTxiT samuSao been taken in the given direction lately, starting from the pre- jer Zalian bevria. saWiroa zemoxsenebuli pro- vious government times, such as the state program 4+1, Edu- gramebis daxvewa da ganviTareba cational Centers and reparation of automobile roads connect- ras urCevdiT xelisuflebas am sakiTxis mo- ing to those regions... The result reveals itself gradually. For sagvareblad? example, more Azerbaijani or Armenian youth enter Georgian higher education institutions nowadays. It is also notewor- pirvel rigSi, problema aris is, rom arc erT thy that youth learns Georgian; they are active and have the politikur Zalas, iqneba es saxelisuflebo Tu will for self-realization. For example, they often participate in opoziciuri, ar gaaCnia mkafio xedva eTnikuri da the general thematic forums and meetings, speaking out their sxva umciresobebis Sesaxeb. arsebuli xedvebi Za- opinion in Georgia; although, as the practice shows, there is lian trafaretuli da zedapirulia, rac realo- still a lot to be done in the given direction. Perfection and de- baze asaxvas ver hpovebs. am SemTxvevaSi poziti- velopment of the aforementioned programs is necessary. uri diskriminaciis momxrec ki var, raTa maTTvis gamoiyos specialuri kvota da sazogadoebriv What would advise the government for solving the given is- saqmianobaSi CarTulobis procesi gaizardos. sue? saqme arc ise martivad aris, rogorc amis warmo- The first and foremost problem is that none of the political Cena zogierTs surs. enis codna eTnikuri umci- forces be it the governmental or opposition, have clear vision resobebisTvis sulac ar niSnavs uzrunvelyofil about ethnic and other minorities. The existing visions are momavals. amis naTel magaliTs qisturi Temi war- very superficial, which is not reflected on the reality. In this moadgens. samwuxarod, sazogadoebaSi maRalia case, so speak, I am even for the positive discrimination in undobloba erTmaneTisadmi. saqme gvaqvs ara mx- view of allocating them special quotas and through this in- olod qarTul, aramed am eTnikuri jgufebis na- creasing their involvement in the public activities. cionalizmTanac, rac integraciis process afer- The case is not as easy as some want to show it. Knowledge xebs. of the language does not mean the guaranteed future for ethnic Tumca, rogorc aRvniSne, axalgazrda TaobebSi minorities. The clear example of this is the Kist community. didia interesi saxelmwifo enis Seswavlisa da Unfortunately, the level of distrust in the society is high. We samoqalaqo aqtivobis kuTxiT, rac misasalmebe- are facing nationalism of not only Georgian, but also of those lia da rasac xelisuflebam xeli maqsimalurad ethnic groups, which hampers the integration process. unda Seuwyos. am mxriv gansakuTrebiT aqtiuri Although, as I have mentioned, the interest of youth genera- marneulis municipalitetis azerbaijanuli Te- tions to learning the state language and towards civic activ-  mia. ism is high, which has to be welcomed and which government must maximally provide support to. The most active in this regard is the Marneuli region Azerbaijani community. 

The Forum 2016 #1 29 samoqalaqo aqtivoba CIVIL ACTIVITY midgomebi unda Seicvalos interviu ICCN xelmZRvanelTan nina cixisTavi-xuciSvilTan APPROACHES MUST CHANGE Interview with the Head of ICCN Nina Tsikhistavi-Khutsishvili

kavkasiis regionSi konfliqtebis Sedegad dapirispirebul mxareTa Soris ndobis aRdgenis Temaze ramdenime arasam- Many non-governmental organizations work on the Tavrobo organizacia muSaobs. gamorCeuli adgili am issue of confidence building between conflicting kuTxiT ICCN (konfliqtebisa da molaparakebebis saerTa- sides in the Caucasus region. International Center Soriso kvleviTi centri) ukavia, romelic wlebia am sfer- on Conflicts and Negotiations (ICCN) holds an out- oSi moRvawobs. organizaciis aqtivobasa da am aqtivobebis standing place in the given direction as it has been mniSvnelobaze The Forum-s ICCN xelmZRvaneli, qalbatoni working in the given sphere for many years. Nina nina cixisTavi-xuciSvili esaubra. Tsikhistavi-Khutsishvili, Head of the ICCN, spoke qalbatono nina, rodis daarsda ICCN da ra aqtivobebs with the Forum about the Organization activities and eweva is? the significance of those activities. konfliqtebisa da molaparakebebis saerTaSoriso kv- When was the ICCN founded and what types of ac- leviTi centri profesor giorgi xuciSvilis iniciativiT tivities does it conduct? daarsda 1994 wels. misi saqmianoba miznad isaxavs mSvido- The International Center for Conflicts and Negotia- bis mSeneblobasa da konfliqtebis araZaladobrivi gziT tions was founded by Professor Giorgi Khutsishvili mogvarebas. in 1994. ICCN activities are dedicated to peacebuild- ICCN ramdenime mimarTulebiT muSaobs: pirveli aris pro- ing and conflict resolution by nonviolent methods. fesiuli kvleviTi saqmianoba konfliqtebis analizis ICCN works in several directions… First is the pro- mimarTulebiT, meore, konfliqtebis mogvareba saganmana- fessional research activity in the context of conflict Tleblo-SemecnebiTi programebis (treningebis, semin- analysis; second is conflict resolution by means of arebisa Tu saleqcio kursebis) gziT, romelic adaptirda educational-cultural programs (trainings, seminars adgilobrivi sazogadoebis, kerZod ki devnili mosaxleo- and courses of lectures), which are adapted to the bisaTvis. masSi monawileoba miiRo aTobiT aTasma adamianma, needs of local communities, namely IDPs. Tens of maT Soris Jurnalistebma, politikosebma, studentebma da thousands of individuals, including journalists, poli- a.S. orjer, 2008 wlamde, Sesabamisi kursis organizeba cx- ticians, and students and so on, have participated in invalSic moxerxda. mesame da umTavresi mimarTuleba ki them. Before 2008, it was managed to organize such aris konfliqtis Sedegad gaxleCili sazogadoebis war- courses in Tskhinvali too. The third and most im- momadgenelTa Sexvedrebi, romelic 1995 wlidan siste- portant direction of our work is the organization of maturad imarTeba. swored ICCN organizebiT moxerxda meetings of representatives of conflict divided com- qarTul-afxazuri, 1996 wels ki qarTul-osuri dialogis munities, which we have been organizing systemati- formatSi xalxis Sexvedra. es dRes aris msgavsi aqtivobebi cally since 1995. ICCN was the one to organize the Cvens sazogadoebaSi misasalmebeli, Torem maSin iyo Zalian first Georgian-Abkhazian meeting and in 1996 the didi zewola da kritika piradad baton giorgi xuciSvilis, meeting of people in the format of Georgian-Ossetian radganac omi axali damTavrebuli iyo, amasTan, xelisu- dialogue. Such activities are welcomed in our soci- flebis wevrebi ar malavdnen aRSfoTebas Tu rogor gabeda ety today, but at that time there was serious pressure vinmem da rogor Sexvda afxazebsa da osebs. igive viTareba and criticism towards Mr. Giorgi Khutsishvili, as the iyo soxumsa da cxinvalSic. Tumca, rogorc drom da gamoc- war has just finished at that time and government au- dilebam aCvena, molaparakebebsa da dialogs konfliqtebis thorities openly expressed dissatisfaction with some- mogvarebis sakiTxSi alternativa ar aqvs! one daring to meet Abkhazians and Ossetians. The minda isic aRvniSno, rom konfliqtebisa da molaparake- situation was the same in Sokhumi and Tskhinvali. bebis saerTaSoriso kvleviTi centri araerTxel gamx- Meanwhile, time and experience finally showed that dara kritikis obieqti, radganac Cvens mier gaJRerebuli there is no alternative to negotiations and dialogue in

30 The Forum 2016 #1 samoqalaqo aqtivoba CIVIL ACTIVITY ideebi Tu iniciativebi yovelTvis xvdeboda kritikis qa- the issue of conflicts resolution! rcecxlSi, Tumca, droTa ganmavlobaSi, vamtkicebdiT ra It is also noteworthy that the International Center for Cveni ideis marTebulobas, is iZenda uamrav mxardamWers da Conflicts and Negotiations has often been criticized dRiTidRe farTovdeboda. Cven arasdros SegvSinebia siax- and our ideas or initiatives have always been actively lisa da gamowvevebis. ase iyo maSinac, rodesac 1997 wels opposed; although, with time we have always proven devnilTaTvis adgilobriv arCevnebSi monawileobis ufle- the correctness of our ideas and the ICCN gained baze daviwyeT saubari da mivaRwieT am adamianebisTvis xmis support and those ideas were being implemented. micemis uflebis miniWebas. We have never been afraid of innovations and chal- miuxedavad yvelafrisa, Cven mainc vagrZelebT Cvens lenges. It was the same in 1997 when we started saqmianobas. ratom? imitom rom varT damoukidebelni da speaking out about giving right to vote at local gov- arasodes arcerTi TeTri arcerTi xelisuflebisa Tu ernment elections to IDPs and we achieved the result. saxelmwifosagan ar migviRia. Cveni donorebi arian saerTa- We continue our work despite everything. Why? Be- Sorisi fondebi. Sesabamisad, raRac konkretuli Sida Tu cause we are independent and we have never taken gare politikuri jgufebis interesebis gatarebas Cven ve- any money from none of the governments and states. ravin ver dagvabralebs. es ganapirobebs kidec ICCN-isadmi Our only donors are international funds. As result, no ndobis maRal xarisxs. organizacia kvlav aqtiurad moq- one can blame us in acting according to interests of medebs da exeba rTul da mtkivneul, arapopularul, magram certain political groups. That is why the confidence aucilebel Temebs. ase magaliTad, gasuli wlis oqtomberSi in ICCN is very high. Our Organization continues Cven parlamentSi movaxdineT mosmenis inicireba sakiTxze, active work and discusses complicated and painful, Tu rogor irRveva okupirebul teritoriaze mcxovrebi unpopular, but necessary topics. For example, last pirebis erT-erTi fundamenturi - gadaadgilebis Tavi- October we initiated Parliamentary hearings on the sufleba. es ki avtomaturad, sxva uflebebis darRvevasac issue of violation of one of the fundamental rights of iwvevs. those living in occupied territories – the right to free ras gulisxmobT? movement. This automatically violates their other fundamental rights. vgulisxmob cxinvalis regionsa da afxazeTSi mcxovreb pirebs, romlebic dRes saqarTvelos, SeiZleba iTqvas, rom What do you mean? hyavs getoSi momwyvdeuli. I mean those living in Tskhinvali region and Ab- msgavsi midgoma Tbilisma unda Secvalos. amas avaldebu- khazia, whom, I would say, Georgia is keeping in a lebs araerTi saerTaSoriso konvencia. amasTan, es aucile- ghetto. belia pirvel rigSi mSvidobis aRdgenisa da im propagandis- Such an approach by official Tbilisi must be changed. tuli manqanis winaaRmdeg sabrZolvelad, romelic dRes It is an obligation taken by numerous international soxumsa da cxinvalSi moqmedebs. ram daangria sabWoTa ka- conventions. In addition, it is necessary primarily for vSiri?! gadaadgilebam! gadaadgilebas Tan sdevs informa- the recreation of peace and for opposing the propa- cia, codna, mis winaaRdeg ki yvela maxinji da Zaladobrivi gandist machine what operates in Sokhumi and Tskh- reJimi ususuria. invali today. Why did the Soviet Union collapse?! mesmis, rom qarTuli sazogadoebisTvis es Cveni iniciativa Because of free movement! Free movement is fol- SeiZleba gamaRizianebeli, mtkivneuli da miuRebeli iyos, lowed by new information, knowledge; and all the magram rogorc giTxariT, Cven winaaRmdegobebis ar gve- ugly and violent regimes are helpless against it. Sinia, radganac, rogorc gamocdileba gviCvenebs, droTa I understand that the given initiative may be irritat- ganmavlobaSi yvela is winadadeba rac ICCN mier gaJRerda, ing, painful and unacceptable for Georgian society, warmatebiT dainerga da dRes efeqturad moqmedebs. amas- but, as I have said, we are not afraid of challenges, as Tan, rogorc ukve aRvniSne, am adamianebis gadaadgilebis our experience shows that all the initiatives launched Tavisuflebis uzrunvelyofas saerTaSoriso konvenciebi and introduced successfully by the ICCN are current- saqarTvelos pirdapir avaldebulebs. parlamentSi gaimar- ly effectively working. Along with that, as I have Ta mosmena teritoriuli mTlianobis aRdgenis droebi- already mentioned, Georgia is directly obliged by the Ti komisiis organizebiT. mas adamianis uflebaTa dacvis international conventions for insuring free movement komitetis warmomadgenlebic eswrebodnen. iyvnen agreTve of those people. Hearings have been organized in xelisuflebis, masmediis, arasamTavrobo seqtoris war- Parliament by the Temporary Committee for Rec- momadgenlebic, Tumca es sakiTxi, miuxedavad interesisa, reation of Territorial Integrity, by participation of mizezTa gamo, am dromde adgilidan ar daZrula. representatives of the Committee for Human Rights, gaqvT Tu ara urTierToba afxazuri da osuri arasamTav- government, media and NGO sector; although, de-

The Forum 2016 #1 31 samoqalaqo aqtivoba CIVIL ACTIVITY

robo seqtoris warmomadgenlebTan? spite high interest, there is no result on the given issue yet due to number of reasons. ra Tqma unda. erTmaneTTan Zalian intensiuri da nayofieri urTierToba gvaqvs. cota xnis win gvqon- Do you have communication with Abkhazian and Osse- da Sexvedra 3+3 formatSi, anu, masSi monawileobas tian NGO sectors representatives? iRebda sami aRiarebuli (saqarTvelo, somxeTi da Of course… We have very intensive and fruitful commu- azerbaijani) da sami araRiarebuli (afxazeTi, samx- nication with each other. Just recently we have organized eT oseTi da mTiani yarabaRi) teritoriuli erTeu- the 3+3 format meeting; i.e. by participation of representa- lis warmomadgeneli. es iyo Zalian saintereso da tives of three recognized (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbai- nayofieri dialogi. davsaxeT saerTo saqmianobis jan) and three unrecognized (Abkhazia, South Ossetia and gegmebi, gavcvaleT azrebi. ICCN gaxlavT 2003 wels Nagorno-Karabakh) territorial entities. It was a very inter- Seqmnili „msoflio globaluri qseli SeiaraRebuli esting and fruitful dialogue; we developed plans for joint konfliqtebis winaaRmdeg“ warmomadgeneli Cvens activities, exchanged ideas… ICCN is the representative regionSi da is msgavs RonisZiebebs aqtiurad uwy- of the World Global Network Against Armed Conflicts obs xels. amasTan, momdevno TveSi, kievSi Catardeba created in 2003, in Georgia; and it actively supports such Zalian saintereso konferencia, sadac monawileo- events. In addition, next month in Kiev will be organized bas miiReben afxazi, osi da qarTveli momxseneblebi. a very interesting Conference by participation of Abkha- saubari Seexeba Cvens sazogadoebebSi arsebul vi- zian, Ossetian and Georgian speechmakers. The Confer- Tarebasa da adamianebis uflebaTa dacvasTan dakav- ence will be dedicated to the situation in our communities Sirebul mdgomareobas. and human rights issues. Tqveni azriT, ra roli akisria arasamTavrobo se- In your opinion, what is the role of NGO sector in the qtors ndobis aRdgenis saqmeSi da rogor arTmevs confidence building process and how does it cope with it? igi mas Tavs? I would like to say that you can easily find certain groups minda giTxraT, rom Zalian advilad naxavT rogorc in Georgia, Ossetian and Abkhazian societies that have qarTul, aseve osur da afxazur sazogadoebaTa confidence in each other along with communication and garkveul jgufebs, romelTac erTmaneTSi aqvT ndo- friendship; although, just as easily you will find the groups bac, komunikaciac da megobrobac, Tumca, aseve marti- for which even elementary communication with each vad naxavT jgufebs, romelTaTvisac raime, Tundac other is unacceptable. This problem is everywhere; and elementaruli saxis urTierTobac ki miuRebelia. what do you think, that there are not groups within our es problema dgas yvelgan. rogor ggoniaT, Cvens society that do not have confidence between each other?! sazogadoebaSi ar aris jgufebi, romelTa Sorisac In order for confidence building to be of universal char- ndoba ar aris?! ndobis aRdgena sazogadoebebs Soris acter between our societies, it needs a coinciding policy, sayovelTao xasiaTis rom iyos, amisaTvis saWiroa which, unfortunately does not exist currently. Unfortu- Sesabamisi politika, rac am etapze samwuxarod ar nately, nowadays relations and communication have been arsebobs. dRes urTierToba Caanacvla propagandam, replaced by propaganda, which negatively affects future rac momaval Taobebze negatiurad aisaxeba. swored generations. The given problem must be resolved exactly am Sexvedrebis wyalobiT unda moxerxdes aRniSnuli based on these meetings. problemis mogvareba. Another problem that the NGO sector is facing is the fact kidev erTi problema, rasac arasamTavrobo seqtori that we are not involved in the development of the donor’s awydeba aris is, rom Cven ar vmonawileobT donor- public policy; it is obscure where and who writes it. The Ta sazogadoebis politikis warmoebaSi, romelic inconsistency that characterizes the given policy destroys gaugebaria sad da vis mier iwereba. araTanmimdevru- everything achieved before, which results in the lack of li midgoma, riTac es politika xasiaTdeba, spobs im sustainability and wasting of work and resources. I mean miRweuls, rac aqamde iyo, es ki iwvevs mdgradobis the situation when donor organization directs all of its re- dakargvasa da Sromisa da resursebis wyalSi Cayras. sources to a new region and an old one is left on its own. saubari maqvs situaciaze, rodesac donori orga- As result, the progress already achieved in the latter is lost nizacia mTel Tavis resursebs mimarTavs axal re- and and finally we see crisis there.  gionSi, xolo Zvels ki bedis anabarad tovebs. Sede- gad, am ukanasknelSi ikargeba miRweuli progresi da pasuxad kriziss vRebulobT. 

32 The Forum 2016 #1 fotoreportaJi PHOTO-REPORT oliko ciskariSvili Oliko Tsiskarishvili SiSs SeCveuli gmirebi THE HEROES USED TO FEAR sofelSi mcxovrebi erT-erTi glexis ezoSi SevdivarT, sadac We enter the yard of one of the peasants living in the village; 2008 wlis agvistos omis dros, „kaseturi“ bombebi Camoyares. cluster bombs were dropped to their yard during August 2008 maT adgilze axla yvavilebi yvavis. ergneTSi, axla 247 ojaxi war. Flowers grow where the bombs were dropped now. 247 cxovrobs, omis dros 160 saxli daiwva. miuxedavad imisa, rom wy- families live in Ergneti now; 160 houses were burned during ali da bunebrivi gazi gamoiyvanes, sofelSi darCenilebi miwaze the war. Despite the fact that water and natural gas supply muSaobiT Zlivs irCenen Tavs. maTi damatebiTi Semosavali, an has been organized in the village, those who stayed in the aris pensia, an socialuri daxmareba. sofels, garda imisa, rom village can hardly make living by working on their lands. wylis problema aqvs, moSlilia infrastruqturac – sofelSi Their additional income is either pension or social welfare. ar aris maRazia, afTiaqi, bavSvebisTvis gasarTobi. yvelafer Along with the water problem in the village, there is also amas Tan ugzoobac erTvis. no infrastructure – in the village there is no shop, drugstore, playground for children; adding to all of that the bad roads. „sofelSi, rogorc ginda iare, RamiTac aravin gawuxebT, varT Cveulebrivad, rogorc adre. mTavari isaa, rom xalxs ar uSveben “You can go out in the village as you want; even at night, no- – arc aqeT da arc iqiT. wyalic aRar modis,“ – ambobs 74 wlis body will disturb you; we live as we used to. The main thing ergneTeli elvard ClaCiZe da SemogvCivis, rom „puris fuli“ is that they do not let people over there and over here. There uWirs, – „160 lari maqvs pensia, daxmareba ki – 60, es WamaSi ar is no water too,” – Ergneti resident Elvard Chlachidze, 74, gvyofnis, ara da ojaxSi Svidi suli vcxovrobT“. says and complains that he hardly has money to buy bread. – “My pension is 160 GEL and welfare of 60 GEL; it is not erT-erTma ergneTelma, vinaobis gamxela ar isurva, magram even enough for food and we are seven in the household.” uamravi problema daasaxela: „arc sasmeli da arc sarwyavi wyali ar gvaqvs, gza Cven ar gvaqvs, gadaxedeT arxs, 1931 wels xeliT “We’re tired of complaining all the time; and nobody listens gaiWra. nergebi amovida arxze. viTom sinaTle gamogviyvanes, ro- to us,” – Iamze Chlachidze cannot hide her heartpain. gorc ki qari amovardeba, sami-oTxi dRiT gaTiSuli gvaqvs, mx- One of the residents of Ergneti, who chose to stay incognito, olod gamricxvelianeba araferi gamosavalia“. spoke about many problems: “We have no potable and ir- „sasmeli wyali ar gvaqvs. gaTbobiT ki fiCxebiT vTbebiT”, – rigation water; there is no road. Look at the water-channel; gveubneba tereza mZinaraSvili da gvanaxebs axal moWril vaSli- it was dug by hand in 1931 and now trees grow in it. It was sa da msxlis xeebs, romliTac gaTbobas apireben, SarSan xe-tyiT like they installed electricity supply; when it is windy we sargeblobis vauCerebi hqondaT, wels esec ar aqvT, – “gaziT stay without electricity for three-four days. Metering is not rogor gavTbeT, mere rogor gadavixadoT,“ – amboben xanSiSe- the solution.” sulebi. omis dros, maTi saxlic gaqurdes da gadawves. – „sul “We have no potable water and burn stumps for heating,” gaitanes yvelaferi, axla ki cxinvalidan aravin Semodis, dacva – Tereza Mdzinarashvili says and shows us the recently cut dgas iq“ – gulistkiviliT amboben. apple and pear trees, which they intend to use for heating. 2008 wels sofeli dicic cxeli wertili iyo. am sofelSi cxov- Last year they received firewood vouchers; this year, they robs 80 wlis venera ediSeraSvili, romelmac gadawvas gadaarCi- did not give it to them. “How can we use gas for heating? na soflis xuTi saxli. Cveni stumrobisas gemriel purebs acxob- We will not be able to pay for it after,” the elders say. Their da. „srolebi rom daiwyo, marto viyavi me da Cemi mezobeli Tavisi house was also robbed and burned during the war. – “They qaliSviliT, Rames fermis ukan bunkerSi vaTenebdiT. saxlidan took everything, but now nobody comes here from Tskhin- aT metrSi bombi Camovarda. dRe, Cveulebriv dadiodnen avto- vali; there’s our security there,” – they say in hope. matebiT SeiaraRebulebi da marto imas mekiTxebodnen, axalgaz- Ditsi village was also a hot spot in 2008. Venera Edisherash- rdebi sad iyvnen. muqariT ar memuqrebodnen, magram yvelaferi vili, 80, who has saved five houses in the village during war, aur-dauries, Tu rame gagvaCnda yvelaferi waiRes. rogor ga- still lives in the village. “When the shooting started it was davrCi da saratoveli var-Tqo, movifiqre. Svili momikles-Tqo, only me and my neighbor with her daughter here; we spent rom vuTxari, mere aRarafers mekiTxebodnen. dakles Rori, ram- nights in a bunker behind the farm. A bomb was dropped ten denime suli saqonelic waiyvanes. mihqondaT xili, vaSli, Rvinos meters away from the house. During the day they walked da arays Tavad iTxovdnen, mec vaZlevdi“. – igonebs 80 wlis around with machineguns and just asked me where young bebo – „meore msoflio omsac var moswrebuli, mWadSi gareul people were. They did not threaten, but turned everything balaxs vWamdiT, maSin, SimSili iyo, axlac vSimSilobT, ar min- upside down and took everything we had. How I saved my- doda axalgazrdebi moswrebodnen amas. 2008 wels, rusebisgan self? I told them I was from Saratov. They stopped asking

The Forum 2016 #1 33 amas ar movelodi, mainc erTi sarwmunoeba gvaqvs. saflavs questions after I told them my son was killed. They killed two pigs rom adamians SeuRobaven is xalxia, Svilo?“ – kiTxulobs and took several cows with them. They took fruits, apples; asked da mainc imedovnebs, rom is xalxi, vinc wvida da dRemde ar for wine and vodka and I gave them,” the 80-years-old grandma dabrunebula, Tu mSvidoba iqneba mianc daubrundeba Ta- recalls. – “I have seen the WWII; we used to eat grass mixed with vis saxl-kars. omamde, venera ediSeraSvils, 40 wlis Svili, corn-flour; there was hunger then; I didn’t want the youth to go daTo, moukles. mainc ar datova kera. „omi rom daiwyo da through all that. I did not expect that from Russians in 2008; we srola atyda, jari gaiqca. xalxic garboda, im jars ar See- are of the same religion. Those who don’t let you to the graves of Zlo saerTo ena gamoenaxa, rom raRacnairad morigebuli- your relatives, how can they be called humans?” – She still hopes yvnen? me Tu SevZeli da xuTi saxli gadavarCine, imaTac xom that those who have left the village and have not come back yet will SeeZloT“ – ambobs qalbatoni venera da fiqrobs, rom mS- finally return to their homes if there will be peace. Venera Edisher- vidoba mainc damyardeba am or xalxs Soris. ashvili’s 40-years-old son Dato was killed before the war. She still did not leave her home. “When the war and the shooting started the „cxovreba win midis, baRebs vaSeneb, aravin mexmareba, army fled; people ran away too. Couldn’t that army have found a SeveCvieT am SiSsac. srolebis xma ismis, varjiSoben. da- common language and to have come to some agreement? If I was kavebis faqti iyo, sami-oTxi Tvis win, eredvel kacs, Ta- able to save five houses, they could done the same too,” – Venera visi damwvari saxlis monaxuleba undoda da iqiT gadavida. says and believes that there will finally be peace between the two gamosasyidi moiTxoves 2000 rusuli rubli“ – gviyveba countries. ilia beriaSvili, sofel dicis mkvidri, da amatebs, rom „usafrTxoeba uzrunvelyofilia, danarCeni ki, poli- “Life goes on; I plant orchards; nobody helps me; I’m used to this tikosebi kameris win Tu piars gaikeTeben, egaaa. erTi wyali fear too. There’s shooting all the time; they’re training. There was vTxoveT, sad ar davwereT da mainc Cemi ZalebiT gamovi- the fact of detainment three-four months ago; man from Eredvi yvane, Tumca sasmelad ar varga. sasmel wyals 300 metrSi wanted to visit his burned house and went to the other side. They mdebare WaburRilidan vezidebiT“, – aseT mdgomareo- asked for the bale of 2,000 Russian rubles,” Ditsi village resident baSia 500 komliani soflis mosaxleobis naxevari. isini Ilia Beriashvili says and adds that “security is insured and the rest imedovneben, rom xelisufleba SeZlebs molaparakebas, is the PR of politicians in front of cameras and that’s it. We asked rom WaburRils daabrunebineben, im WaburRs, sadac axla them for water; wrote letters everywhere and I installed the pipes rusebis saguSagoa aRmarTuli. myself still; but it is not good for drinking. We bring potable water from the well 300 meters away.” Half of the 500-household vil- sofel zardiaanTkarSi ki, sadac 30 ojaxi cxovrobda, lage population is in such situation. They hope that the government darCenilia mxolod 14. goris raionSi yvelaze rTul md- will negotiate and return the well that is under Russian checkpoint gomareobaSi es xalxi imyofeba, radgan sarwyavi wyalic ar control now. aqvT, rom mosaxleobam Tavis gamosakvebad mainc daamuSaos miwa. giorgi gabliSvili sxva problemebTan erTad, imazec Only 14 families still live in Zardiaankari village from 30 house- gvesaubreba, rom misi Svilis omis dros damwvari saxli holds that used to reside there. These people are in the worst situa- dRemde gadauxuravia. „mTavroba ki Sempirda kompensacias, tion in Gori region as there is no irrigation water and it is not possi- magram, sofelSi saxlebi daclilia, radgan mosaxleobas ble to cultivate land and to have something to eat. Along with other sarwyavi wyalic ki ar aqvs. Tu ar morwye, mosavali rogor problems Giorgi Gablishvili tells us that his son’s house which was mova. arc Semosavali gvaqvs sofelSi. me maqvs pensia, dan- burned during the war has not been roofed yet. “Government prom- arCenebs socialuri daxmareba. amiT rogor unda vicxov- ised compensation, but the houses are empty in the village as we roT?“ – ambobs giorgi gabliSvili da Tavisi damwvari don’t even have irrigation water. How can there be harvest without saxlisken migviZRveba, sadac is da misi meuRle cecxls ga- irrigation? We have no other income. I’m the only one who gets darCenil 8 kvadratul metrian oTaxSi cxovroben. pension in the village. Others get the social welfare; how can we survive with that?” – Giorgi Gablishvili tells us and leads us to his „2008 wlidan 2012 wlamde sabavSo baRebSi vcxovrobdiT. burned house. He and his wife live in the 8-square meter room, the saxlebSi rom davbrundiT elementaruli moxmarebis sa- only room, which was saved from fire. gnebi ar gvqonda, gaZarcvuli iyo, Cemi saxli naxevrad damwvari. mosaxleobas erTi TeTric ar aqvs. Semosavlis “We lived in kindergartens from 2008 till 2012. We had nothing erTaderTi wyaro socialuri daxmarebaa. uwyloba gvtan- when we returned to our hoes; houses were robbed; my house is javs, cocxi rom davasveloT, imis saSualebac ar aris da half-burned. People don’t have any money at all. Social welfare is nakveTs rogor davamuSavebT“ – gveubneba cicino elikaS- the only source of income. Lack of water is a disaster for us; how vili, romelsac omSi ori Zma moukles. can we cultivate lands like that? – Tsitsino Elikashvili says; two of her brothers were killed in the war. omisgan gancdil stress yvela adamiani individualurad umklavdeba. visac uSualod Seexo omi, maT yvelaze metad Each person overcomes the stress from war individually. Those sWirdebaT daxmareba da ara mxolod socialuri. who have directly been affected by war need help the most and not only social assistance. sazRvrispira soflebSi SiSs SeCveuli gmirebi, imedia, ar miatoveben TavianT saxl-kars.  Hopefully, the heroes who have gotten used to fear and still living in ABL villages, will never leave their households. 

34 The Forum 2016 #1 fotoreportaJi PHOTO-REPORT

The Forum 2016 #1 35 36 The Forum 2016 #1 fotoreportaJi PHOTO-REPORT

giorgi CubiniZe Giorgi Chubinidze devnilobis 25 weli 25 YEARS OF DISPLACEMENT sastumro Tolia samgorSi. Hotel TOLIA located in Samgori. cxovrobs 10 ojaxi. Hosts 10 IDP families.

The Forum 2016 #1 37 turbaza diRomi TbilisSi. Tourist Center DIGOMI. cxovrobs 200 ojaxi. Hosts 200 families.

38 The Forum 2016 #1 regioni REGION dimitri yaulaSvili, saerTaSoriso urTierTobebis mkvlevari mTiani yarabaRis molaparakebebi Sedegis gareSe. ratom ver moagvara saerTaSoriso diplomatiam konfliqti?

Dimitri Kaulashvili, International relations researcher NAGORNO-KARABAKH NEGOTIATIONS WITHOUT RESULTS. WHY HAS INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY FAILED TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT? saerTaSoriso sazogadoebis mier miviwyebuli mTiani yarabaRis Nagorno-Karabakh conflict lately forgotten by the konfliqti erT-erTi mTavari aqtualuri Tema gaxda am wlis international community became one of the most gazafxulze. aprilSi dawyebuli samxedro moqmedebebi mTiani acute topics this spring. Military clashes launched yarabaRis frontis gaswvriv azerbaijanul da somxur samxedro between Azerbaijani and Armenian military units SenaerTebs Soris yvelaze masStabur Setakebebs warmoadgenda at the Nagorno-Karabakh frontline, in the begin- 1994 wlis Semdeg. mxareebi farTomasStabiani omis dawyebiT ning April appeared to be the largest scale battles imuqrebodnen da meore mxares akisrebdnen saomari moqmedebebis since 1994. The sides threatened with starting ganxorcielebis pasuxismgeblobas. „gayinuli“ konfliqtis ase large-scale war and blamed the other side in re- swrafad „gacxelebam“ kidev erTxel wamoWra kiTxvebi, Tu ram- suming the military actions. The rapid “heating” denad efeqturia status-kvos SenarCuneba regionSi da ratom of the “frozen” conflict once again initiated ques- ver xerxdeba diplomatiuri gzebiT konfliqtis mogvareba. tions about the efficiency of sustaining the status quo in the region and why it is not possible to re- somxeTsa da azerbaijans Soris farTomasStabiani saomari moq- solve the conflict in diplomatic way. medebebis dawyebis Tavidan acilebis mizniT, azerbaijanisa da somxeTis prezidentebi erTmaneTs 16 maiss venaSi Sexvdnen, mo- On May 16 Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia laparakebebi gaimarTa minskis jgufis TanaTavmjdomareebis - met in Vienna for avoiding the large-scale military safrangeTis, aSS-s, ruseTis - monawileobiTa da SuamavlobiT. actions; negotiations were conducted by media- Sexvedris mTavari Tema iyo samxedro dapirispirebis Tavidan tion from the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group – acilebisa da cecxlis Sewyvetis Sesaxeb SeTanxmebis ganmtkice- France, the USA and Russia. Main atopic of the ba. Sexvedra daZabul viTarebaSi warimarTa. sabolood azerbai- meeting was avoidance of military clashes and janisa da somxeTis liderebma gamoTqves mzadyofna, ganixilon strengthening of the ceasefire agreement. There samSvidobo winadadebebi ivnisSi. samSvidobo molaparakebebisa was tension throughout the meeting, but finally da ruseTis, safrangeTisa da aSS-s liderebis mier ukve tradi- Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders expressed read- ciad qceuli „moTminebisken“ mowodebebis fonze, orive qveya- iness to discuss peacekeeping propositions in June. naSi 200-mde adamians glovoben. nacionalisturi organizaciebi Against the background of peace negotiations and saxalxo diplomatiaSi monawile organizaciebsa da pirovnebebs the traditional calls for “patience” from the side of „arcxvenen“, xolo frontis xazis gaswvriv ki orive mxare gama- the leaders of Russia, France and the USA, both lebuli SeiaraRebis stadiazea gadasuli. 16 maisis molapara- of the countries mourn for up to 200 people killed kebebis “uZlurobis” erTgvari dadastureba iyo Sexvedramde on both sides during last military clashes, nation- sul ramdenime saaTis win konfliqtis zonaSi daRupuli samx- alistic organizations “shame” organizations and in- edroebi. bolo or aTwleulSi mTiani yarabaRis samSvidobo dividuals involved in the public diplomacy, while molaparakebebis ritorika da midgoma igive rCeba, Tumca es at the frontline there is the most active arms race gamowveuli ar aris imiT, rom igi warmatebulia. erTaderTi, between the sides. Soldiers killed in the conflict rac am molaparakebebis Sedegia, aris status-kvos SenarCuneba zone just several hours before the meeting came as da Semdgomi winsvlis uSedegoba. mocemuli statia ganixilavs certain confirmation of the inefficiency of the May saerTaSoriso organizaciebisa da didi qveynebis mier warmoe- 16 negotiations. The rhetoric of Nagorno-Kara- bul diplomatiasa da saerTaSoriso aqtorebis rols mTiani bakh peace negotiations remains the same during yarabaRis konfliqtSi. last two decades; although, it is not the result of the fact that the negotiations are effective; the only konfliqtSi saerTaSoriso aqtorebis CarTva gansakuTrebiT result of these negotiations is preservation of the TvalSisacemi gaxda 1994 wlidan. maTi SuamavlobiT 1994 wels status quo and ineffectiveness of further progress. somxeTisa da azerbaijanis Tavdacvis ministrebma xeli moaweres The presented article the diplomatic steps imple- SeTanxmebas cecxlis Sewyvetis Sesaxeb. saomari moqmedebebis mented by international organizations and big dasrulebisTanave sxvadasxva organizaciam konfliqtis mogva- countries and the role of international actors in the

The Forum 2016 #1 39 regioni REGION rebis gansxvavebuli modelebi da rekomendaciebi SeimuSa- process of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. va. Involvement of international actors in the Nagorno- 1994 wlidan dRemde yarabaRis molaparakebebSi wamyvan Karabakh conflict became expecially apparent after rols asrulebs minskis jgufi, romelic euTos ministrTa 1994. Based on their mediation, in 1994, Defense Min- sabWos gadawyvetilebiT 1992 wels Seiqmna. 2000 wlamde min- isters of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the ceasefire skis jgufis muSaoba samitebze mimdinareobda, romelTaga- agreement. With the suspension of military actions nac aRsaniSnavia budapeStisa da lisabonis samitebi. 1996 different organizations developed different models and wlis dekemberSi euTos lisabonis samitze minskis jgufis recommendations for the conflict resolution. mier momzadda proeqti, romelic iTvaliswinebda azer- Minsk Group has been playing the leading role in the baijanis teritoriul mTlianobas yarabaRTan erTad. am Nagorno-Karabakh talks since 1994 until today. The ukanasknels farTo avtonomia eniWeboda. somxuri Zalebi Minsk Group was created by the decision of the Coun- tovebdnen yarabaRs. maTi usafrTxoeba garantirebuli cil of Ministers of the OSCE in 1992. Until 2000, the iqneboda yarabaRSi saerTaSoriso samSvidobo Zalebis mier. Minsk Group worked in the format of summits, from rezoluciis miReba ver moxerxda, radganac somxeTma gamoi- which the Budapest and Lisbon Summits must be em- yena vetos ufleba. phasized. In December 1996, during the OSCE Lisbon minskis jgufis farglebSi, drois sxvadasxva intervalSi, Summit, the Minsk Group developed the project which mxareebs sami samSvidobo gegma SesTavazes - pirveli maT- provided for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in- gani „srul pakets“ gulisxmobda (Package Plan), meore - kon- cluding Karabakh with the latter having extensive au- fliqtis nabij-nabij mogvarebis strategias (Step by Step tonomy. Armenian forces had to leave Karabakh and Plan), xolo mesame - saerTo saxelmwifos ideas efuZneboda their security was to be guaranteed by international (Common State Plan). peacekeeping forces dislocated in Karabakh. The res- olution was not adopted, as Armenia used its right of 1997 wlis dasawyisSi safrangeTma, ruseTma da aSS-ma mxa- veto. reebs axali samSvidobo gegma warudgines. gegmis Tanaxmad, dauyovnebliv unda Sewyvetiliyo samxedro Setakebebi. At different times, in framework of the Minsk Group, dapirispirebul mxareebs samxedro Zalebi TavianT teri- the conflicting sides have been proposed three different toriaze unda daebrunebinaT. maTi Canacvleba unda momx- peace plans – first one was the Package Plan; second dariyo samSvidobo ZalebiT, rac regionSi usafrTxoebis was the Step by Step Plan and the third was the Com- uzrunvelyofis garanti iqneboda. am yovelives Tan mo- mon State Plan. hyveboda ltolvilebis dabruneba. mxareebs Soris moixsne- In the beginning of 1997, France, Russia and the USA boda yvelanairi blokada da embargo. rac Seexeba yarabaRis proposed the new peace plan to the sides. The plan pro- statuss, igi meore etapze, samSvidobo konferenciis mier vided for the immediate suspension of military clashes. gadawydeboda. Opposing forces should have been returned to their own Package Plan-is Cavardnis Semdeg, 1997 wlis seqtemberSi, eu- territories. They had to be replaced by the international Tos “troikam” (aSS, ruseTi, safrangeTi) wamoayena modi- peacekeeping forces, which would be the guarantee of ficirebuli samSvidobo gegma, romelic dapirispirebul security in the region. All the aforementioned should mxareebs sTavazobda problemis nabij-nabij mogvarebis have been followed by the return of refugees. All the strategias. blockages and embargoes should have been abolished by the sides. As for the status of Karabakh, it had to mesame samSvidobo gegma saerTo saxelmwifos ideas gulisx- be decided upon during the second stage – the peace mobda. igi mxareebs 1998 wels euTos Suamavalma sameul- conference. ma SesTavaza. gegma ekuTvnoda ruseTis sagareo saqmeTa ministrs evgeni primakovs. saerTo saxelmwifos ideaSi After the failure of the Package Plan, in September moiazreboda, rom azerbaijani da yarabaRi, faqtobrivad, 1997, the OSCE Three (the USA, Russia and France) konfederaciaSi unda gaerTianebuliyo, sadac maT Soris presented the modified peace plan, which offered the horizontaluri (Tanabaruflebiani) urTierTobebi iqne- conflicting sides the step by step resolution strategy. boda. azerbaijanma, Tavis mxriv, uaryo es gegma, erTiani The third, Common State Plan was based on the idea saxelmwifos orazrovani mniSvnelobis gamo. 2007 wlis no- of forming the common state. It was proposed to the emberSi gaimarTa Sexvedra minskis jgufis, somxeTisa da conflicting sides by the OSCE Three in 1998. Author of azerbaijanis warmomadgenlebs Soris. Sexvedraze miiRes the plan was Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Prima- e.w. madridis deklaracia, romlis ganxorcielebazec mxa- kov. The Common State Plan idea in fact provided for reebi 2008 wlis maiendorfis Sexvedraze SeTanxmdnen. Tum- the confederation of Azerbaijan and Karabakh in which ca, SeTanxmeba mxolod qaRaldze darCa da raime xelSesaxe- they would have horizontal (equal rights) relations.

40 The Forum 2016 #1 regioni REGION bi Sedegi ar hqonia. Azerbaijan rejected the given plan due to the ambigu- ous meaning of “common state”. minskis jgufis farglebs gareT inicirebul samSvidobo wi- nadadebebs Soris aRsaniSnavia yarabaRis molaparakebebSi Meeting of the representatives of the Minsk Group, aSS-is yofili specialuri warmomadgenlis jon mareskas Armenia and Azerbaijan was held in November 2007. (John Maresca) mier SeTavazebuli konfliqtis mogvarebis The sides signed the so called Madrid Declaration on oTxpunqtiani CarCo, romelic cnobilia, rogorc Joint Sov- the implementation of which the sides agreed during ereignty: the Meyendorff meeting of 2008. The given agreement remained on the paper and no practical steps have been 1) yarabaRi unda iwodebodes “yarabaRis respublikad”, taken. romel­sac Sida saqmeebze suvereniteti eqneba. igi dakav- Sirebuli iqneba azerbaijanTan; From the peace recommendations initiated outside of the Minsk Group can be emphasized the 4-point frame 2) yvela ltolvili dabrundeba sakuTar saxlebSi; proposal by the US Special Representative for Kara- 3) somxeTisa da azerbaijanis teritoriebi iqneba Tavi- bakh Talks John Maresca, which is known as the Joint sufali vaWrobis zonebi, orive saxelmwifo xels Seuwyobs Strategy: tranzitebis ganxorcielebas erTmaneTis teritoriebis 1. Nagorno-Karabakh would be reconstituted as the Re- gavliT; public of Nagorno-Karabakh (RNK), as self-governing 4) mcxovrebTa usafrTxoeba garantirebuli iqneba euTosa legal entity within and freely associated with the sover- da gaeros uSiSroebis sabWos mier. aSS-ma da sxva aqtorebma eign Republic of Azerbaijan; unda Cadon regionSi investiciebi gzebisa da infrastruq- 2. Refugees would be permitted to return to their turis mSeneblobaze. homes, with certain villages designated for internation- nikolai ovanisianma (somxuri mxare) wamoayena idea, rom al monitoring;

yarabaRis avtonomiuri olqi (NKAO) unda Secvliliyo 3. All of Armenia and Azerbaijan, including RNK, yarabaRis neitraluri teritoriiT (NKNT), romelic garan- would be a free trade area; tirebuli iqneboda gaeros uSiSroebis sabWos, somxeTisa da azerbaijanis mier. am teritorias eqneboda saxelmwifosT- 4. Security of the sides would be guaranteed by the vis damaxasiaTebeli yvela niSani, garda saxelwodebisa, rac OSCE Security Council and the USA and other actors de-faqto damoukideblobas niSnavda, ris gamoc azerbai- would have to invest in the construction or roads of and janma mas mxari ar dauWira. other infrastructure in the region. kidev erTi modelia TaTreTis modeli, romelic gulisx- Nikolay Hovhannisyan (Armenian side) came up with mobs erTi saxelmwifos yofnas ufro didi saxelmwifos the idea to change the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous SemadgenlobaSi. am models mxars uWers azerbaijani, ro- Oblast (NKAO) with the Nagorno-Karabakh Neutral melic yarabaRis farTo avtonomias Tavis SemadgenlobaSi Territory (NKNT), which would be guaranteed by the ganixilavs. waradgines kviprosis variantic, rac gulisx- UN Security Council, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The

The Forum 2016 #1 41 regioni REGION mobs de-faqto damoukideblobas, Tumca de-iured gamoyofili NKNT would have all the features of an inde- teritoria kvlav azerbaijanis SemadgenlobaSi rCeba. pendent state except of the name, which meant de facto independence, so Azerbaijan rejected mravalwliani molaparakebebis miuxedavad, mTiani yarabaRis kon- the given proposal. fliqtis mSvidobianad mogvareba kvlavac ver xerxdeba. aqcen- tebi keTdeba problemis Zalismier gadawyvetaze. Sida politikuri Another model is the Tatarstan republic model, mdgomareoba somxeTsa da azerbaijanSi sakmaod mZlavri naciona- which provides for the existence of a state within listuri mimdinareobis arsebobis suraTs iZleva, rac liderebs a state. Azerbaijan side favors the given model, amyofebs Sida politikuri wnexis qveS. radikalurad gansxvave- as it is for the extensive autonomy of Karabakh bulia mxareTa poziciebic. am faqtorebma ar misca saerTaSoriso as part of Azerbaijan. Cyprus model is also be- diplomatias SesaZlebloba, gadaeWra konfliqti molaparakebebis ing discussed; it provides for the de facto inde- saSualebiT. pendence, while the separated territory de jure remains as part of Azerbaijan. aseT faqtorebs Soris gansakuTrebiT aRsaniSnavia Sida politi- kuri speqtri, romelic safuZvelSive gamoricxavs nebismier mo- Despite the years of negotiations, the peaceful laparakebas yarabaRis statusTan dakavSirebiT. resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is still not possible. Emphasis is being made on force- radikalurad gansxvavebulia somxeTisa da azerbaijanis sazoga- ful resolution; the internal political situation in doebis interesebi. maSin, rodesac azerbaijani moiTxovs yarabaRis Azerbaijan and Armenia shows the existence of okupirebuli teritoriebis dabrunebas da samSvidobo Zalebis quite powerful nationalistic movements within ganlagebas, somxeTi ewinaaRmdegeba devnilebis dabrunebas, samS- the countries, which puts serious political pres- vidobo Zalebis ganlagebas da miiCnevs, rom saWiroa jer mTiani sure on the leaders. Positions of the sides are yarabaRis statusis garkveva da mxolod amis Semdeg molaparake- radically different too. The aforementioned fac- bebi. azerbaijanis mxridan moTxovnebis garda xSirad gaJRerdeba tors have not allows the international diplomacy xolme konfliqtis gadawyvetis Zalismieri meTodebis gamoyenebis to resolve the conflict by means of peace talks. muqarac. azerbaijanis prezidentis ilham alievis gancxadebac amis damadasturebelia - „Tu mTiani yarabaRis problema azerbaijanis Among such factors noteworthy is the political sasargeblod ar mogvardeba, baqo ZaliT daibrunebs am regions“. spectrum, which completely excludes any kind Tavis mxriv arc somxeTi CamorCeba aseT ritorikas. prezidentma of negotiations on the status of Karabakh. serJ sarqisianma pirdapir ganacxada, rom „Cven Tanmimdevrulebi Interests of Armenian and Azerbaijan societ- viqnebiT damoukideblobisTvis brZolaSi. yarabaRis damoukide- ies are radically different. While Azerbaijan bloba ukve faqtia“. requests return of the occupied Karabakh ter- maSin, rodesac orive qveyana gamoricxavs raime saxis kompromiss, ritories and dislocation of international peace- saerTaSoriso molaparakebebSi azerbaijanisa da somxeTis li- keeping forces, Armenia is against the return of derebi eridebian nebismier daTmobas, radganac es maTi oponen- refugees and dislocation of peacekeeping forces, tebis mier gamoyenebuli iqneba maTsave sawinaaRmdegod. somxeTSi claiming that it is first necessary to define the yvelaze gavleniani jgufia e.w. yarabaRis politikuri dajgufeba, status of Nagorno-Karabakh before conducting romlis wevric sxvadasxva dros iyo somxeTis samive prezidenti. any negotiations. Along with making different yarabaRis molaparakebebis warmatebiT ganxorcielebaze gavle- requests, Azerbaijan also often speaks about nas axdens somxeTSi erovnul doneze arsebuli institutebic. maT using forceful methods of conflict resolution. Soris yvelaze gavleniani institutia armia. mniSvnelovania, rom President Aliev’s following statement confirms armia warmoadgenda „yarabaRis partiis“ sayrdens, romelic ara the aforementioned – “If the Nagorno-Karabakh mxolod yarabaRelebisagan Sedgeboda. azerbaijanSi prezident problem will not be solved in favor of Azerbai- alievis Zalaufleba gacilebiT ufro myari da safuZvliania, Tum- jan, Baku will return the given region by force.” ca dawyebuli ekonomikuri krizisis fonze Znelad savaraudoa, rom For their part Armenia follows the same rheto- mmarTvelma elitam mosaxleobis farTo fenebisTvis arasaxarbie- ric. Serj Sarksyan has clearly stated that “we lo molaparakebebi awarmoos somxeTTan. will be consistent in fighting for independence; independence of Karabakh is already a fact.” garda Sida politikuri SezRudvebisa, molaparakebebis warumate- blobis mTavari mizezi imaSic mdgomareobda, rom azerbaijans In the situation when the position of both soci- aSinebda molaparakebaSi mTavari Suamavlis - ruseTis - ganzrax- eties excludes any type of compromise, leaders vebi. ruseTi cdilobda moepovebina gavlena molaparakebebze, ris of both countries also try to avoid any kind of gamoc upirispirdeboda minskis jgufis danarCen wevrebs. TiToeu- compromise in the process of international ne- li Suamavlis sakuTari interesebi konfliqtSi ganapirobebda maT gotiations, as it can be used against them by the

42 The Forum 2016 #1 regioni REGION

Soris winaaRmdegobas. ruseTis da minskis jgu- opponents. The most influential group in Armenia is the so called Kara- fis dasavleli diplomatebis dava auaresebda bakh Political Group, members of which at different times were all the samSvidobo process. debatebi da SeuTanxme- three presidents of the country. Institutions operating at national level in bloba konfliqtis mxareebs Soris aSkarad Armenia also influence the successful implementation of the Karabakh iwvevda undoblobas samSvidobo procesisadmi. talks. The most influential institutions in Armenia are the army. It is saerTaSoriso aqtorebis uaryofiTi roli ara noteworthy that army has always been the main supporter of the Kara- marto erTmaneTTan dapirispirebiT, aramed bakh Party, which did not comprise of only Karabakh residents. Power sakuTari interesebis upiratesobis miniWebiT- of Azerbaijani President Aliev is far more compelling and solid, al- ac gamoixateboda. ukanasknel wlebSi ruseTi, though, against the background of the economic crisis it is unlikely that safrangeTi, aSS da evrokavSiri mxars uWeren the governing elite could start unfavorable negotiations with Armenia. status-kvos SenarCunebas sxvadasxva mizezis Aside from international political restrictions, the main reason for the gamo. maSin, rodesac ruseTi somxeTsa da azer- inefficiency of negotiations was the fact that Azerbaijan feared the in- baijanSi konfliqts iyenebs sakuTari gavlenis tensions of the main mediator in the talks – Russia. Russia attempted to gaZlierebis instrumentad. safrangeTi, aSS da influence the negotiation process and as result opposed the other mem- evrokavSiri dainteresebulia gayinuli kon- bers of the Minsk Group. Own interests of each of the mediators in the fliqtis ganuaxleblobiT, raTa Tavidan iqnes conflict resulted in serious opposition between them. Disputes between acilebuli regionSi arastabilurobis kerebis Russia and western diplomats of the Minsk Group worsened the peace- gavrceleba. realurad, saerTaSoriso aq- building process. Such debates and disagreement apparently resulted in torebis interesebi, rom samSvidobo molapara- distrust to the peacebuilding process from the conflicting sides. kebebis meSveobiT konfliqtis mogvarebisgan Sors dgas, cxadia. amas adasturebs somxeTis The negative role of international actors was reflected not only in their yofili prezidentis levon ter-petrosianis opposition to each other, but also in giving priority to their own inter- gancxadebac, rom „Suamavali qveynebi da saer- ests. Due to number of reasons Russia, France, the USA and the EU TaSoriso organizaciebi ar iyvnen daintere- have been supporting sustaining of the status quo during last several sebulni konfliqtis gadawyvetiT. isini mx- years. While Russia uses the conflict in Armenia and Azerbaijan as an olod TavianTi angariSebisa da urTierTobebis instrument of empowering its influence, France, the USA and the EU are mixedviT moqmedebdnen, rac xels ar uwyobda interested in the non-resumption of the “frozen” conflict with the aim to konfliqtis dadebiTad gadaWras“. ukanasknel avoid the spread of locations of instability in the region. TveebSi minskis jgufis TanaTavmjdomare qvey- In reality, it is apparent that the interest of international actors are very nebis gancxadebebic igives adastureben. saf- far from the conflict resolution through peace talks This is confirmed rangeTis prezidentis fransua olandis, aSS-s by Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s statement that “mediator countries and inter- saxelmwifo mdivnis jon kerisa da ruseTis pre- national organizations had no interest in the resolution of the conflict. zidentis vladimer putinis gancxadebebi Sei- They act solely according to their own plans and relations between each cavs mxolod mowodebebs, rom aRdges 2016 wlis other, which does not promote the resolution of the conflict.” State- aprilamde arsebuli status-kvo. ments by the leaders of the Minsk Group co-chairmen countries made aRniSnul situaciaSi, mosalodnelia, rom during last several months confirm the same. Statements by the Presi- azerbaijanisa da somxeTis liderebi kvlav dent of France François Hollande, by the US Secretary of State John gaakeTeben populistur gancxadebebs, raTa ga- Kerry and by President of Russia Vladimir Putin only include calls for namtkicon qveynis Sida politikaSi sakuTari Za- recreation of the status quo which existed before April 2016. laufleba, sakuTari Tavi warmoaCinon naciona- In such situation it is expected that the leaders of Azerbaijan and Ar- listur liderebad. es gamoricxavs yvelanairi menia will again make populist statements for further strengthening saxis daTmobaze wasvlis perspeqtivas saerTa- their power in the internal politics of their countries. Trying to portray Soriso sazogadoebis zewolis gareSe. Tumca, themselves as nationalistic leaders completely excludes the perspective saerTaSoriso aqtorebis poziciac ar uwyobs of any type of compromise without pressure from the international com- xels konfliqtis saboloo mogvarebas. ruseTi, munity. However, position of international actors does not promote the aSS da evrokavSiri dainteresebulia saomari final resolution of the conflict. Russia, the USA and the EU are interest- moqmedebebis ganuaxleblobiT da am fonze kon- ed in non-resumption of military actions and due to that take all the ef- fliqtSi yvelanairad uWeren mxars status- forts for sustaining the status quo in the conflict. As result, international kvos SenarCunebas. Sedegad viRebT, rom saer- diplomacy is directed not at resolving the conflict, but at “non-melting” TaSoriso diplomatia konfliqtis gadaWrisken of this relatively “frozen” conflict.  mimarTuli ki ar aris, aramed iqiTken, rom Se- darebiT gayinuli konfliqti ar galRves. 

The Forum 2016 #1 43 regioni REGION centralizacia da kosovos konfliqti CENTRALIZATION AND THE KOSOVO CONFLICT

ratom daiwyo kosovos konfliqti? ra iyo amis mizezi? Why did the Kosovo conflict start? What was the reason of it? SeiZleboda Tu ara konfliqtis Tavidan acileba? Was it possible to avoid the given conflict? We will at- am kiTxvebze pasuxis gacemas mocemul statiaSi SevecdebiT. tempt to answer the aforementioned questions in the iugoslaviis centralizebuli saxelmwifos mxridan 1989 present article. wels kosovoSi SemoRebulma pirdapirma mmarTvelobam Direct governance imposed in Kosovo by the central- kosovos konfliqtis dawyeba gamoiwvia. pirdapirma mmarT- ized state of Yugoslavia in 1989 caused the start of the velobam kosovoSi ganapiroba eTnonacionalisturi orga- Kosovo conflict. Direct governance initiated popularity nizaciebis popularoba. xalxs SeeSinda nacionali serbebis, of ethnic-nationalistic organizations in Kosovo. People romelTac slobodan miloSeviCi meTaurobda. kosovoeli were afraid of the nationalist Serbians headed by Slobo- albanelebis (kosovarebis) CamoSorebam adgilobriv eli- dan Milosevic. Exclusion of Kosovo Albanians (Kos- tas politikisken mimavali gza mouWra. Sedagad, kosovarebs ovars) blocked the local elite from politics. As result, the aRar darCaT sxva arCevani garda centris mimarT daumor- only choice for the Kosovars was the disobedience and Cileblobisa da protestisa. protest against the Center. statiaSi mimovixilavT iugoslaviis 1974 wlis konstitu- In the article we will review the 1974 Constitution of cias, kerZod im nawils, romelic kosovos statuss exeba. Yugoslavia; namely, the part of the Constitution which aseve ganvixilavT 1989 wlis konstituciis Sesworebas, ro- concerns the status of Kosovo. We will also discuss the melic konfliqtis dawyebis mTavar mizezad iqca. 1989 amendment to Constitution, which became the rea- mocemuli statia Seexeba centralizaciisa da decentral- son for the start of the conflict – reason for the start of izaciis problemebs da maT zegavlenas konfliqtebis war- Kosovo conflict was centralization. moqmnaze. amitom, saWirod migvaCnia, Tavdapirvelad ganvm- The given article aims to discuss the problems of cen- artoT federaciis arsi. “federacias” bevri ganmmartebeli tralization and decentralization and their influence on miiCnevs, rogorc decentralizebul politikur sistemas the occurance of conflicts. Thus, we believe it neces- konstituciuri mTavrobiT, romlis Semadgeneli terito- sary to initially clarify the essence of federation. Many riuli erTeulebi CarTulni arian SeTanxmebis politikaSi. researchers define federation as the decentralized politi- centrsa da regions Soris ZalTa gadanawilebis xasiaTi cal system with Constitutional governance, the territo- da masStabi gansxvavdeba politikuri devoluciisgan imis rial entities of which are engaged in the policy of agree- safuZvelze, rom regionuli avtonomia konstituciuradaa ments. The character and scope of separation of powers garantirebuli. centrs ar aqvs Tavisi teritoriuli er- between center and regions differs from political devolu- Teulis gauqmebis, Sesworebis an axlidan gansazRvris iu- tion based on the fact that regional autonomy and origins ridiuli ufleba. amgvarad, federaciaSi regionaluri er- are at the same time guaranteed Constitutionally. Center Teulebi WeSmaritad adgilobrvi saxelmwifoebia TavianTi does not have the legal right to abolish, correct of repeat- adgilobrivi saxelmwifo uflebebiT. samoqalaqo warmo- edly define its territorial entity. Therefore, regional enti- madgenloba damyarebulia aseve mxolod regionalur prin- ties in a federation are local states with their own local cipze. state rights. Civil representation is also based solely on 1946 wlis iugoslaviis federaciis konstituciiT federa- regional principle. ciis subieqti 6 respublika iyo. am konstituciiT kosovos According to the 1946 Constitution of the Federation mxolod avtonomiuri olqis statusi mieniWa. 1963 wlis of Yugoslavia, 6 republics were the subjects of federa- konstituciiT kosovos statusi olqidan „avtonomiur mx- tion. By the given Constitution, Kosovo had the status aremde“ amaRlda. 1974 wlis axali konstituciis Tanaxmad, of an autonomous county only. 1963 Constitution raised kosovosa da voevodinas statusi gauTanabrda federa- the status of Kosovo from the country to “autonomous ciis Semadgeneli subieqtebis - respublikebis - statuss. region”. By the new, 1974 Constitution, the status of maT mieniWaT sakonstitucio vetos ufleba, SeeZloT da- Kosovo and Vojvodina became equal to the status of fed- moukideblad mieRoT kanonebi da konstitucia, romlebic eration subjects –republics. They gained the Constitu-

44 The Forum 2016 #1 regioni REGION ar iqnebodnen federaluri konstituciis normebTan Seu- tional veto right; were able to adopt their own laws and sabamo; maT hqodnaT ufleba, SeeqmnaT sakuTari erovnuli constitution, as long as they did not contradict with the banki da umaRlesi sasamarTlo. 1975 wlis 16 ianvars, ser- norms of Federal Constitution; they had the right to cre- beTma ukve moiTxova konstituciaSi cvlilebebis Setana ate their own National Bank and Supreme Court. da Tavisi uflebebis gazrda avtonomiur warmonaqmnebTan On January 16 1975 Serbians requested amendments to mimarTebiT. 1977 wels serbma samarTalmcodneebma ga- Constitution providing for increase of their rights with mosces „cisferi wigni“, sadac moiTxovdnen uflebaTa axal regard to autonomous entities. In 1977, Serbian lawyers gamijvnas, rac serbeTis uflebebis gazrdas gamoiwvevda. published the Blue Book, in which they requested recon- es gegma titom ver ganaxorciela. 1980-ian wlebSi serbebi sideration of rights, which would result in the increase of cdilobdnen gaezardaT TavianTi uflebebi avtonomiur rights of Serbia. The given plan was not realized thanks warmonaqmnebze. isini moiTxovdnen centralizacias da ser- to Tito. During 1980’s Serbians attempted to increase beTis gaerTianebas. kosovoeli albanelebisTvis ki piriq- their rights over autonomous entities; they requested iT, 1974 wlis konstituciiT miniWebuli uflebebi sakuTari centralization and unification of Serbia. Meanwhile, for dacvis saukeTeso garantias warmoadgenda. sabolood, es Kosovo Albanians, the rights granted by the 1974 Con- sakiTxi 1989 wels gadaiWra, rodesac 28 marts, serbeTis stitution were the best guarantees for protection. The “skupSCinam” axali sakonstitucio cvlilebebi daamtkica, given issue was finally decided upon in 1989, when on romelTa Tanaxmadac kosovos avtonomiuroba mkveTrad March 28 the Skupshchina (Assembly) of Serbia ap- Semcirda da mis xarjze centris pirdapiri Zalaufleba proved the new Constitutional amendments, drastically gaizarda. aRsaniSnavia, rom sakonstitucio cvlilebebi reducing the autonomous rights of Kosovo and increas- moiTxovda kosovos asambleis Tanxmobas, rac serbeTma we- ing the direct governance of the Center. It is noteworthy sebis sruli darRveviT miiRo. Sedegad, situacia TiTqmis that such Constitutional amendments requested consent ukontrolo gaxda. daiwyo Setakebebi da studentTa gamos- from Kosovo Assembly, which was completely ignored vlebi. adrindeli procesebisgan es protesti didad gansx- by Serbia. As result, the situation completely got out vavdeboda. amjerad laparaki iyo ara uflebebis gazrdaze, of control; clashes and student manifestations started. aramed serbeTis Semadgenlobidan srul gasvlaze. Given protests highly differed from previous protests. ismis kiTxva - ram gamoiwvia moTxovnaTa aseTi transforma- This time, it was not about increasing of rights, but about cia? full independence from Serbia. What was the reason for such transformation? 1989 wels ganxorcielebuli centralizaciis saSualebiT, kosovoSi warmoiSva ukiduresi formis nacionalizmi. mar- The 1989 centralization caused extreme nationalism in Talia, manamdec arsebodnen kosovoSi nacionalisturi or- Kosovo. Although, nationalistic organizations existed ganizaciebi, magram nacionalisturi moTxovnebi aucile- in Kosovo before that, but nationalistic demands do not blad ar niSnavs secesionistur moTxovnebs. amis magaliTia necessarily mean secessionist requests. A good example Tundac bretoni, sadac aris nacionalizmi, magram ar aris of this is Breton, which is distinguished by nationalism, (an naklebia) suverenitetis moTxovna. garda amisa, naciona- but there is no (or there is less) demands for sovereignty. lizmi moiTxovs organizaciebis arsebobas, romelTa miza- Moreover, nationalism requires existence of organiza- nia brZola erovnuli suverenitetisTvis da maT SeswevT tions aimed at fighting for national sovereignty and they unari, winaaRmdegoba gauwion centrs. mosaxleobis farTo have capable to oppose the Center. Still, without the mxardaWeris gareSe ki SeuZlebelia maT amis unari hqondeT. high support from population they will never have such rac unda Zlieri iyos suverenitetis moTxovna am orga- capability. No matter how strong request for sovereignty nizaciebis mxridan, nacionalisturi koleqtiuri qmedeba is from these organizations, the collective nationalistic mainc ar aRmocendeba ukve arsebuli socialuri jgufebis action will not gain power without already existing so- gareSe, romlebic Seqmnilia imisTvis, rom uzrunvelyon cial groups, which have been created for insuring their TavianTi wevrebi dazRveviT, ganaTlebiTa da sxva saxis members with insurance, wellbeing and other types of kerZo sikeTiT. axalSobili nacionalisturi organizaciebi private virtues. Newly created nationalistic organiza- ver daarwmuneben TavianT wevrebs suverenitetis realur tions will not be able to convince their members in real perspeqtivaSi. aq skepticizmi uxvadaa. kosovoSi central- perspective of sovereignty; level of skepticism is quite izaciis xelaxalma ganxorcielebam nacionalistur orga- high here. Repeated implementation of centralization in nizaciebs saSualeba misca, moewodebinaT TavianTi wevrebi- Kosovo gave nationalistic organizations opportunity to sTvis, rom nebismier fasad gaeriskaT da daecvaT TavianTi call on their members for defending independence, rights damoukidebloba, uflebebi da swrafva suverenitetisken. and sovereignty at any cost. Given nationalistic orga- am nacionalisturma jgufebma miizides adre Camoyalibeb- nizations attracted earlier created collective unions “the uli koleqtiuri gaerTianebebi, romelTa „mTavar sikeTed“ main virtue” of which became striving towards nation-

The Forum 2016 #1 45 regioni REGION ukve nacionalisturi miznebisaken swrafva iqca. centralurma alistic goals. Central government did not stop at xelisuflebam daiwyo albanelebis daTxovna sajaro samsaxure- that and started dismissing Albanians from public bidan. 1990 wlis 5 ivliss daiTxova kosovos asambleis wevrebi. services; on July 5 1990 it completely dismissed the members of Kosovo Assembly. axali konstituciis ZalaSi Sesvlis Semdeg, kosovoSi daiwyo samoqalaqo daumorCilebloba. 22 seqtembers centris mier Civil disobedience started in Kosovo after the new daTxovnilma kosovos asambleis albanelma wevrebma priStinaSi Constitution came into force. On September 22, „respublika kosovos“ damoukidebloba gamoacxades. 1991 wlis in Pristina, the members of Kosovo Assembly re- seqtemberSi Caatares damoukideblobis referendumi, xolo cently dismissed by the Center announced the inde- 1992 wels saparlamento da saprezidento arCevnebi. realurad pendence of the Republic of Kosovo. In 1991 they swored es arCeuli organoebi gamoxatavdnen am droisaTvis re- held the independence referendum and in 1992 the gionis umetesi nawilis azrs. isini aikrZalnen centris mier, parliamentary and presidential elections. Exactly rac eTnikuri umciresobebis elitasTan nebismier kompromiss these elected bodies expressed the opinion of the gamoricxavda. momdevno wlebSi amas mohyva samwuxaro Sedegi: region majority at that time. They were prohibited Zaladobis farTod gavrceleba da eTnikuri konfliqti. na- by the Center, which excluded any compromise to cionalizmis mkvlevari maikl hetCeri amis mizezad represiul the elite by ethnic minorities. This was followed reJims asaxelebs. misi azriT, koleqtiuri qmedebis instituci- by unfortunate results during next years: wide uri barierebi zemoqmedebas axdenen im strategiebze, romlebic spreading of violence and ethnic conflict. Nation- xelmisawvdomia nacionalisturi jgufebisTvis, sadac insti- alism researcher Michael Hatcher explains this by the existence of the repressive regime. In his opinion, institutional barriers of collective actions influence the strategies available to nationalistic groups. When such institutions allow such groups to have enough voices, the range of strategies available to national- istic groups reaches its maximum. Exactly due to the aforementioned reason the nation- al demands are announced through political parties and other legal political channels. On the contrary, in the institutional environ- ment that restricts voting rights by means of repressions or tyranny of the majority, rela- tively fewer strategies are available to na- tionalistic groups. In the situation were po- litical parties or interest-groups are blocked from political establishment, they remain with only one possibility – strategic use of violence. Strategic call for violence is based on the aim of nationalistic groups to attract attention of wide international community.

In 1989, when the central government intro- tutebi aseT jgufebs saSualebas aZleven, sakmarisi xma hqon- duced central governance in Kosovo, the Kosovo deT da sadac nacionalisturi jgufebisTvis xelmisawvdomi Albanians addressed peaceful methods of protest. strategiebis diapazoni maqsimums aRwevs. swored am mizeziT, The situation changed after the Dayton Agreement erovnuli moTxovnebi keTdeba partiebisa da sxva kanonieri was made in 1995. It became apparent that the politikuri arxebis saSualebiT. amis sapirispirod, iseT insti- Kosovans would not achieve any results by peace- tuciur garemoSi, romelic zRudavs xmis uflebas represiis an ful methods. Most humiliating was the circum- umravlesobis tiraniis meSveobiT, nacionalisturi jgufebi- stance that Krayna Serbs almost gained indepen- sTvis SedarebiT naklebi strategiaa xelmisawvdomi. im pirobeb- dence, while Kosovo issue was still being ignored. Si, sadac politikur partiebs Tu interes-jgufebs gza moWri- “It was the horrible, horrible lesson. We learned li aqvT politikuri istebliSmentisken, maT rCebaT erTaderTi that violence brings results. This is the only way in gamosavali - Zaladobis strategiuli gamoyeneba. Zaladobisken this part of the world to achieve what you want and strategiuli mowodeba aixsneba imiT, rom am gziT naciona- to attract the attention of international communi- listuri jgufebi yuradRebas iqceven farTo saerTaSoriso ty.” The second reason why centralization caused

46 The Forum 2016 #1 regioni REGION sazogadoebaSi. 1989 wels, rodesac centralurma mTavrobam the conflict comes from economic field; to be more kosovos mimarT pirdapiri mmarTveloba daawesa, kosovoelma precise, in the perceptions of social-economic issues albanelebma mSvidobian saprotesto gzebs mimarTes. magram of ethnic minority. If a peripheral, ethnic minority situacia Seicvala mas Semdeg, rac 1995 wels daido deito- is convinced that it will be empowered by separating nis SeTanxmeba. cxadi gaxda, rom mSvidobiani meTodebis gam- from a weakened host, then the demand for sover- oyenebiT kosovoelebi verafers miaRwevdnen. gansakuTrebiT eignty must also grow. Such situations often cause damamcirebeli iyo is, rom krainelma serbebma TiTqmis da- collapse of multinational states. The injustice in divi- moukidebloba moipoves, maSin rodesac kosovos sakiTxi ig- sion of such universal values provided by central gov- norirebuli rCeboda. „es iyo saSineli gakveTili, Cven viswav- ernment as defense, healthcare, economic growth and leT, rom Zaladoba Wris. es aris erTaderTi gza msoflios im public order, is in direct connection with the demand nawilSi, riTac SegiZlia miaRwio imas, rac gsurs da miipyro for sovereignty. In this case the main problem is the saerTaSoriso sazogadoebis yuradReba“. meore mizezi, Tu ethnic minority believes their ethnic difference as the ratom gamoiwvia centralizaciam konfliqti, ekonomikis reason for economic fallback. They blame the domi- sferoSi unda veZeboT, ufro swored, eTnikuri umciresobis nant nation in exploiting them and not allowing them ekonomikur-socialuri sakiTxebis aRqmebSi. Tu periferiu- to develop. Centralization in Kosovo coincided with li, eTnikuri umciresoba darwmunebulia, rom is gaZlierdeba economic recession. The already hard situation of Sesustebuli maspinZlisagan gamoyofiT, maSin suverenitetis agrarian Kosovo was even worsened after the Center moTxovna unda gaizardos. am situacias xSirad mohyveba mra- cut-off subsidies due to lack of resources. The GDP valerovani saxelmwifos danawevreba. centraluri mTavro- per citizen in the most developed republics of Yugo- bis mier mowodebuli sayovelTaod aRiarebuli iseTi faseu- slavia, Croatia and Slovenia exceeded the Kosovo fig- lobebis gadanawilebis usamarTloba, rogoricaa Tavdacva, ure approximately 8 times. Unemployment increased janmrTeloba, ekonomikuri aRmavloba da sazogadoebrivi wes- in Kosovo by 57% in 1989. This, naturally, caused rigi, pirdapir kavSirSia suverenitetis moTxovnasTan. mTeli apparent hostile attitude towards the Center. It was problema am SemTxvevaSi is gaxlavT, rom ekonomikuri CamorCe- unfortunate that the given Center was associated with nilobis mizezad eTnikuri umciresoba sakuTar eTnikur gansx- ethnic Serbians. vavebulobas miiCnevs. adanaSaulebs dominant ers, rom is eweva The third reason is related to cultural differences. The mis eqspluatacias da ar aZlevs ganviTarebis SesaZleblobas. cultural differences between the center and the region kosovoSi centralizacia daemTxva ekonomikur recesias. ma- are considered in the decentralized system – periphery namde agraruli kosovos mZime viTareba kidev ufro damZimda is ruled by local authority, so in case of dissatisfaction mas Semdeg, rac mas centrma Seuwyvita subsidiebi ekonomikuri protest is directed at them and not at the “center know- resursebis ukmarisobis gamo. iugoslaviaSi yvelaze metad ing everything and interfering with everything.” In ganviTarebuli xorvatiisa da sloveniis erT sul mosaxleze big centralized nations a legislator is obliged to adopt Sida erovnuli produqti daaxloebiT 8-jer aRemateboda uniform laws, which does not always coincide with kosovos maCvenebels. kosovoSi umuSevroba 57 %-mde aiwia. traditions in different regions. As long as a legislator mosaxleobaSi es iwvevda aSkarad mtrul damokidebulebas is not aware of special cases, he is able to work based centris mimarT. samwuxarod, centri eTnikur serbebTan aso- on general principles, while population is obliged to cirdeboda. obey the laws, as legislator cannot act according to mesame mizezi kulturul gansxvavebebs ukavSirdeba. all the needs and traditions of population, which fi- nally becomes the reason for disorders and disasters. centrsa da regions Soris arsebuli kulturuli gansxvave- In addition, there is no reason for peripheral interest- ba decentralizebul sistemaSi gaTvaliswinebulia - per- groups to trust central government. How much would iferias marTavs adgilobrivi mmarTveli. amitomac ukmayo- I be protected from violence? Will I have the guaran- filebis SemTxvevaSi, swored misken miemarTeba protesti da tee that despite my difference I will enjoy my con- ara „yovlismcodne da yvelaferSi Camrevi centris“ mimarT. stitutionally guaranteed rights? These questions were did centralizebul erebSi kanonmdebeli valdebulia, acute in 1998, when during October 13 meeting, the kanonebs erTgvarovani xasiaTi misces, rac yovelTvis ar See- US representative Richard Holbrooke and Milosevic sabameba zne-Cveulebebsa da raionebis sxvadasxvagvarobas. agreed on peaceful resolution of Kosovo problem; radgan kanonmdebeli ar icnobs gansakuTrebul SeTxvevebs, and Milosevic agreed to stop all the military actions. mas SeuZlia saqme akeTos mxolod zogadi principebis safuZ- Leaders of the Albanian partisan movement of Koso- velze, xolo mosaxleoba valdebulia, daemorCilos kanonebis vo announced distrust to Serbian side. “This is not moTxovnebs, radgan kanonmdebeli ver Seewyoba mosaxleobis a solution; it is just the temporary truth, which will saWiroebebs da zne-Cveulebebs, rac mRelvarebisa da ube- give Serbians additional time, while the West is not durebis gamomwvevi mizezi xdeba. damatebiT, ar arsebobs imis taking any real steps towards achieving peace”. “If

The Forum 2016 #1 47 mizezi Tu ratom unda endos periferiuli interes-jgufebi cen- the war suspends for one or two minutes, it will tralur mTavrobas. restart later again.” These were the statements made, clearly indicating the problem of mutual ramdenad viqnebi daculi Zalmomreobisgan? distrust. Hence, centralization initiated the start arsebobs ki imis garantia, rom Cemi gansxvavebulobis miuxedavad of Kosovo conflict; but there still are several meqneba konstituciurad garantirebuli uflebebi? problematic issues to be discussed. First of all, there is a question, if the centralization was es kiTxvebi aqtualuri iyo 1998 wlis 13 oqtombers, rodesac implemented in 1989, then why did the armed aSS-s warmomadgeneli riCard holbruki da slobodan miloSeviCi conflict start in 1998 and not earlier? The case SeTanxmdnen, rom kosovos problema mSvidobiani gzebiT mogvar- is that there are two responses by natonalistic deboda. miloSeviCi daTanxmda yovelgvari saomari moqmede- conflict to implemented centralization: rebel- bebis Sewyvetas. kosovos albaneli partizanuli moZraobis li- lion (armed conflict and terrorism) and protest derebma ganacxades, rom isini ar endobodnen serbul mxares. „es (protest by means of verbal expression and ar aris sakiTxis gadawyveta. es mxolod droebiT Sesvenebaa, ro- demonstrations). Protests headed by Ibrahim melic serbebs damatebiT dros miscems, maSin rodesac dasavleTi Rugova took place from 1989 till 1998. It was arafers akeTebs realurad mSvidobisTvis“. „Tuki omi SeCerdeba the stage that should have been gone through. erTi an ori wuTiT, is aucileblad daiwyeba mogvianebiT“ - aseTi Nationalistic organizations needed time for gancxadebebi aSkarad mianiSnebda urTierTndobis problemaze. forming completely. The main reason was that amgvarad, centralizaciam gamoiwvia kosovos konfliqtis dawye- the Kosovars expected resolving of their prob- ba, magram aq problematuria ramdenime sakiTxi. pirvel rigSi, is- lems by help from the West and did not have mis kiTxva, Tu ki centralizacia 1989 wels dawesda, ratom daiwyo enough resources for starting the rebellion. In SeiaraRebuli konfliqti 1998 wels da ara manamde? saqme isaa, rom 1998, both of those factors coincided: Kosovo arsebobs nacionalisturi konfliqtis orgvari pasuxi centris issue was not mentioned in Dayton at all and in mimarT SemoRebul centralizaciaze: amboxeba (SearaRebuli da- 1997 the Kosovars massively brought weapons pirispireba, terorizmi) da protesti (winaaRmdegoba sityvieri from Albania to Kosovo. In reality, the conflict gamoxatvis da demonstraciebis TvalsazrisiT). 1989 wlidan 1998 started not in 1998, but in 1989. Centralized wlamde adgili hqonda protests, rasac xelmZRvanelobda ibra- governance gives birth to the extreme form of him rugova. es aucileblad gasavleli etapi iyo. nacionalistur nationalism. Repressed local elites try to gain organizaciebs srulad Camosayalibeblad dro esaWiroebodaT. public support and to use nationalistic emotions mTavari ki mainc is iyo, rom kosovarebi elodnen TavianTi prob- for manipulating with people. Introduction of lemis dasavleTis daxmarebiT gadawvetas da ar hqondaT saWiro centralization is especially dangerous in ethni- resursebi amboxebis dasawyebad. 1998 wels orive faqtori erTma- cally different regions, as in such circumstances neTs daemTxva: deitonSi saerTod ar uxsenebiaT kosovos sakiTxi all the provincial problems are blamed on the da 1997 wels kosovarebma albenTidan kosovoSi masobrivad Seit- Center. Grave economic situation and corrup- anes iaraRi. realurad, konfliqti daiwyo ara 1998 wels, aramed tion is claimed by local population to be results 1989 wels. of their ethnic difference. This, in return results in increase of secessionism and protection of centralizebuli mmarTveloba warmoSobs nacionalizmis uki- own rights by means of claiming sovereignty. dures formas. represirebuli yvela adgilobrivi elita cdi- lobs moipovos xalxis mxardaWera da nacionalisturi grZnobebi Constitutional amendments approved in 1989 xalxis manipulirebisTvis gamoiyenos. centralizaciis SemoReba resulted in the factual occurrence of the Kosovo gansakuTrebiT saxifaToa eTnikurad gansxvavebul regionebSi. am conflict. Until then, Albanian nationalists de- dros provinciuli problemebi mTlianad centrs braldeba. mZime manded only the sustainment of extensive au- ekonomikuri mdgomareoba da korufcia adgilobrivi mosaxleo- tonomous rights. The given analysis has the bis mxridan miewereba maT gansxvavebul eTnikurobas. Sedegad, significant result. In case of correctness of the xdeba secesionizmis zrda da sakuTari uflebebis dacva suveren- thesis represented by me in the given article itetis mopovebis lozungiT. (that centralization has reasoned the occurrence of the conflict in Kosovo), we can claim that konstituciaSi 1989 wels miRebulma Sesworebebma gamoiwvia koso- Serbian side could have acted more rationally vos konfliqtis faqtobrivi warmoqmna. manamde albanelTa nacio- and could have found common language with nalizmi mxolod farTo avtonomiuri uflebebis SenarCunebas Kosovo Albanians. It is ironic that nationalistic moiTxovda. serbul mxares. SeeZlo emoqmeda ufro racionalu- calls by Slobodan Milosevic and by other Ser- rad da gamoenaxa saerTo ena kosovoel albanelebTan. ironiulia, bian leaders for turning Serbia into powerful, rom slobodan miloSeviCisa da sxva serbi liderebis nacionalis- centralized state, has resulted in the opposite: turma mowodebebma da survilma, gadaeqciaT serbeTi Zlier, cen- the conflict in Kosovo and weakening of Ser- tralizebul saxelmwifod, miiRo sapirispiro Sedegi: kosovos bia.  konfliqti da serbeTis dasusteba. 

48 The Forum 2016 #1 akademiuri wreebi ACADEMIC SOCIETIES

afxazebma unda isargeblon gansakuTrebuli privilegiebiT

ABKHAZIANS MUST ENJOY SPECIAL PRIVILEGIES

saqarTvelos teqnikur universitetSi 2015 wels Seiqmna Center for Conflict Studies, headed by Professor Je- konfliqtebis kvlevis centri, romelsac profesori mal Gakhokidze was created in the Georgian Technical jemal gaxokiZe xelmZRvanelobs. centri konfliqtebis University in 2015. The Center works on three direc- mogvarebis sami mimarTulebiT muSaobs. esenia - politi- tions of conflicts – political, legal and economic; each kuri, samarTlebrivi da ekonomikuri. igi dakompleqte- of the directions is studied by coinciding specialists. bulia Sesabamisi dargis specialistebiT. teqnikuri uni- The Technical University Research Center decided to versitetis kvleviTma centrma pirvel etapze gadawvita at the initial stage work on positive examples of con- emuSava konfliqtebis dadebiTad gadaWris magaliTebze flict resolution and developed the Hong Kong-China da SeimuSava honkongi-CineTis modeli, sadac saubaria su- model, which speaks about the peaceful recreation of verenitetis da teritoriuli mTlianobis mSvidobian aR- sovereignty and territorial integrity and the interna- dgenaze da saerTaSoriso gamocdilebaze. jemal gaxokiZe tional experience. Jemal Gakhokidze believes that the fiqrobs, rom es modeli saqarTvelos daexmareba terito- given model can help Georgia in returning its territo- riebis dabrunebasa da suverenitetis aRdgenaSi. centris ries and recreating its sovereignty. We spoke to the xelmZRvanels swored am sakiTxebze vesaubreT. Professor about the aforementioned issues. 1997 wels hong-kongi iuridiulad da politikurad CineTs In 1997, Hong Kong was legally and politically re- daubrunda. hong-kongis caze britaneTis droSa dauSves turned to China. The British flag was put down and da CineTis saxalxo respublikis droSa aRmarTes. am the flag of the Peoples Republic of China was raised yvelafers win uZRoda 15-wliani mosamzadebeli periodi. over Hong Kong. 15-year preparatory period preceded 155 wlis ganmavlobaSi inglisi mmarTvelobas axorcieleb- all the aforementioned. England governed Hong Kong da hong-kongze, romelic ganviTarebuli patara saxel- during 155 years; Hong Kong, which was a developed wifo gaxldaT, Tavisi sabanko sistemiT da ekonomikiT. small country with its banking system and economy. hong-kongis mmarTvelobaze saijaro xelSekruleba iyo There was the lease agreement between Great Britain gaformebuli britaneTsa da CineTs Soris. and China on the governing of Hong Kong. CineTma 15 wliT adre daiwyo momzadeba hong-kongis dab- China started the preparation for returning Hong Kong runebaze. hong-kongis mosaxleobas gaerTianeba ar undoda 15 years ahead. Hong Kong population did not want CineTTan, radgan iq socializmi iyo, xolo hong-kongSi - the unity with China, as there was socialism there and kapitalizmi. CineTma es problema dainaxa da gadaWris gze- Hong Kong was capitalistic. China realized the given bis Ziebac daiwyo. pirvelad britaneTis damokidebuleba problem and started searching for possible solutions. mosinjes. problema gaerTianebul samefosac awuxebda. At first they looked at the attitude of Great Britain and saw that the United Kingdom was also concerned with am periodSi britaneTs margaret tedCeri, xolo CineTs the problem. den siaopini mmarTavdnen. britaneTma ijaris 30 wliT gadaweva moiTxova, magram CineTisgan uari miiRo. During that period Great Britain was headed by Mar- garet Thatcher and China by Deng Xiaoping. Britain britaneTma CineTisgan miiRo garantiebi, rom ar Caereoda requested prolongation of the lease agreement for 30 hong-kongis Sida saqmeebSi 50 wlis manZilze. Cinelebs un- years, but China refused. dodaT, rom centraluri mmarTvelobisTvis mxolod ori mimarTuleba gadaecaT - sagareo politika da Tavdacva, Britain received guarantees from China that it would romelic hong-kongisTvisac da britaneTisTvisac mis- not interfere with internal affairs of Hong Kong during

The Forum 2016 #1 49 aRebi iyo. 50 years. China requested control over only two direc- tions - foreign policy and defense, which was accept- britaneTma da CineTma erTobliv deklaracias moaweres able to Hong Kong and Great Britain. xeli. CineTma 12 principisagan Semdgari valdebulebebi aiRo, Tu ras uzrunvelyofda britaneTisTvis. iq naTlad In 1884, Great Britain and China signed the joint dec- Canda, rom CineTi miierTebda hong-kongs. es deklaracia laration; China took obligations consisting of 12 prin- gaerom registraciaSi gaatara, rogorc Rirebuli doku- ciples or what it had to insure for Britain. The Declara- menti. Siqmna mekavSireTa jgufi, romelic muSaobda 2000 tion clearly showed that China would make Hong Kong wlamde, aRniSnul jgufSi Sediodnen, rogorc Cinelebi, its part. The UN registered the given Declaration as a aseve britanelebi da maTTvis misaReb gadawyvetilebebze valuable document. Group of allies was formed and muSaobdnen. worked until the year 2000. The given group included both Chinese and British specialists, who worked at ramdenad misaRebi iqneba CvenTvis es modeli? mutually acceptable solutions. rodesac konfliqtis mogvarebaze daiwyeba saubari, Cven How acceptable can that model be for us? dagvWirdeba samokavSireo seriozuli jgufi, romelSic monawileobas miiReben qarTvelebi, rusebi, afxazebi da We need the group of allies when talks about conflict saerTaSoriso organizaciebis warmomadgenlebi. CineTma resolution will start. It must be a serious group by hong-kongs sruli avtonomia misca ekonomikis sakiTxebSi. participation of Georgians, Russians, Abkhazians and sasamarTlo xelisufleba xeluxlebeli datova. representatives of international organizations. China gave full economic autonomy to Hong Kong and did Cven risi SeTavazeba SegviZlia afxazeTisTvis am gamoc- not touch the judiciary system. dilebiT? Based on such experience, what can we offer Abkha- afxazeTma unda isargeblos gansakuTrebuli privil- zians? egiebiT da gansakuTrebuli statusis matarebeli unda iyos. Abkhazia must have special privileges and must have the special status. ras gulisxmobT gansakuTrebul statusSi? What do you mean by the special status? unda iyos gansxvavebuli aWaris avtonomiuri respubliki- sagan. ar unda ganvixiloT erT sibrtyeSi. afxazeTi da afx- It must be different from Ossetia and Adjara Autono- azi eri arsebobs Tavisi teritoriiT. aWara da aWarelebi mous Republic. We should not consider those in one arseboben saqarTvelos teritoriaze ara rogorc eri, ar- dimension. Abkhazia and Abkhazian nation exist with amed rogorc saqarTvelos nawili. afxazeTi iyo saqarT- their territory. Adjara and Adjarians live at Georgian velos SemadgenlobaSi, Tumca rogorc eri arsebobs. Cven territory not as a nation, but as part of Georgia. Abkha- isic unda gvqondes gaTavisebuli, rom ar SeiZleba afxa- zia has been part of Georgia; although, it exists as a na- zeTi da imereTi an saqarTvelos sxva regioni erT doneze tion. We must not forget that it is not right to consider ganvixiloT. maqsimaluri damoukidebloba unda hqondT, Abkhazia and Imere or other regions of Georgia at the magram aris sakiTxebi sadac unda iyos SeTanxmeba imaze, same level. They must have maximum independence, rom afxazeTi aris saqarTvelos SemadgenlobaSi. hong- but there are issues in which there must be an agree- kongis gamocdilebis 15 wliani mosamzadebeli periodis ment that Abkhazia is part of Georgia. Hong Kong gaziareba aucilebelia. experience is interesting and the mentioned 15-year preparatory period is also necessary. am yvelaferSi ruseTis rols rogor xedavT? How do you see Russia’s role in all this? Zalian bevri mifiqria am yvelaferze. me warmoudgenlad mimaCnia konfliqtis daregulireba ruseTis monawile- I have thought a lot about all this. I cannot imagine obis gareSe, romelic maqsimalurad ecdeba sakuTari in- resolution of the conflict without participation of Rus- teresebi SeinarCunos regionSi. gaaCnia, raze SeTanxmdebi- sia, which will try all it can to sustain its interests in the an mxareebi. region. It depends on what agreements will be made between the sides. riTi SeiZleba davainteresoT ruseTi? What can we interest Russia with? TviTon politikuri situacia Zalian swrafad icvleba. stabiluroba qveynebs Soris Zalian rTuli warmosad- The political situation changes rapidly. Stability be- genia. magaliTad, ruseT-TurqeTis urTierTobebi Za- tween countries is hard to imagine. For example, Rus- lian swrafad Seicvala. TurqeTi erT-erTi seriozuli sian-Turkish relations changed very fast. Turkey was partniori iyo afxazeTisTvis. savaWro da ekonomikuri one of the most serious partners for Abkhazia. Trade urTierTobebi, Tevzis rewva afxazeTis teritoriaze mo- and economic relations, fishing at Abkhazian terri- nopolizebuli iyo TurqeTis mxridan. ruseT-TurqeTis tory were monopolized by Turkish side. Against the urTierTobebis daZabvis fonze daiZaba afxazeTTan urT- background of tension in Russian-Turkish relations,

50 The Forum 2016 #1 akademiuri wreebi ACADEMIC SOCIETIES

ierTobac. afxazebi mxolod ruseTis imedad darC- relations with Abkhazia have also tensed. Abkhazians nen. afxazeTSi yvelaze cudad afxazebis saqme midis, are now left only with Russia. Abkhazians are in the demografiulad da ekonomiurad Zalian cud dReSi worst condition in Abkhazia; they are in grave situa- arian. erT mSvenier dRes es viTareba ise Seicvleba, tion demographically and economically. One fine day rom SesaZloa mxareebma daiwyon dialogi. rkinigza the sides may start negotiating. Railway is in Russian ruseTisTvis erT-erTi mTavari dasayrdenia da Ses- interests and it can become the subject to their interest. aZloa, es gaxdes daineteresebis sagani. afxazeTisa Railway connection with Armenia through Abkhazia da saqarTvelos gavliT somxeTTan da iranTan sar- and Georgia with further connection with Iran is a pri- kinigzo mimosvla ruseTisTvis prioritetulia. am ority for Russia. Politicians do not raise these topics. Temebis wamoweva ar xdeba politikosebis mxridan. There are permanent national interests for our country, aris mudmivi erovnuli interesebi qveynisTvis - es which is the return of territories. The main thing is for aris teritoriebis dabruneba. mTavaria mizani iyos the objective to be right and not to be in loss in the end. swori da wagebuli ar aRmovCndeT. Russia can agree to all that only in return for the rail- mxolod rkinigzis sanacv- way issue? lod daTanxmdeba ruseTi am Russia will give priority to its inter- yvelafers? ests rather than to those of Abkhazia. ruseTi sakuTar interesebs ufro Russia aims to become the significant win daayenebs, vidre afxazeTisas. power in the world. There can also be ruseTs surs angariSgasawevi sax- the interest towards the great silk cor- elmwifo gaxdes msoflioSi. in- ridor, which must go through Georgia. teresi SesaZloa aseve iyos abre- That is in the interests of Abkhazia and Sumis didi derefani, romelmac Russia too. I believe that Russian gov- saqarTveloze unda gaiaros. es ernment made the big mistake when did interess warmoadgens, ro- they recognized independence of Ab- gorc afxazeTisTvis, aseve ruse- khazia and they know it now. There TisTvis. me mgonia, rom ruseTis are numerous international documents mier afxazeTis damoukidebel in which Russia recognizes the territo- saxelmwifod aRiareba didi Sec- rial integrity and sovereignty of Geor- doma iyo xelisuflebisTvis da gia. It is a hard statement from me, es maT Zalian kargad ician. arse- but I still want to say that Russia has bobs uamravi saerTaSoriso do- interest in having military bases in the kumenti, sadac ruseTi saqarT- region. They wanted us to officially velos teritoriul mTlianobas recognize the Gudauta military base, da suverenitets aRiarebs. Cemi but we refused. Today, Georgia must mxridan rTulia amis gacxadeba, have the ready package of offers and magram mainc minda vTqva, rom ruseTs samxedro ba- new proposals; theoretically we must be ready to show zebis ineteresebi aqvs regionSi. undodaT gudauTis the whole world what model we are proposing to Ab- baza dagveTmo oficialurad, Tumca ar davuTmeT. khazia for resuming relations. The Center for Conflict dRes saqarTvelos SeTavazebis da axali winadade- Studies is working on the second part of the project and bebis mza paketi unda hqondes, Teoriulad mzad we plan to complete it by the end of the year. We will unda viyoT, rom mTel msoflios davanaxoT, Tu ra develop the model of division of the authority between models vTavazobT afxazeTs urTierTobis aRdge- Tbilisi and Sokhumi. We plan to work out the draft naSi. konfliqtebis marTvis centri proeqtis meore law which must become part of Georgian Constitution. nawilzea gadasuli, romlis dasrulebas vgegmavT We also aim to develop Constitution of Abkhazia. Our wlis bolos. SemuSavebuli iqneba uflebamosileba- Constitution reads that after the recreation of territorial Ta gadanawileba Tbilissa da soxums Soris. Cven va- integrity, there must be a two-chamber system in Geor- pirebT proeqtis momzadebas, romlis mixedviT saqa- gian parliament – the Senate and the House of Repre- rTvelos konstituciaSi unda Sevides Sesworebebi. sentatives. It is not correct; why should we wait for the aseve, Cveni survilia, SemuSavdes afxazeTis konsti- recreation of the territorial integrity? For example, we tucia. saqarTvelos konstituciaSi weria, rom ter- can give guaranteed quota to Abkhazians in the Sen-

The Forum 2016 #1 51 akademiuri wreebi ACADEMIC SOCIETIES

itoriuli mTlianobis aRdgenis Semdeg saqarTvelos par- ate. They will know, that they will have 10 senators, lamentSi orpalatiani sistema unda Seiqmnas - senati da two-thirds of which must be of Abkhazian nationality. warmomadgenlobiTi palata. es aris araswori formulire- Decision made by the Senate will be counted in force ba. ratom unda velodoT teritoriuli mTlianobis aRd- if half of representatives of Abkhazia vote for it. This genas? magaliTad, afxazeTs senatSi garantirebul kvotas will make Abkhazians feel that their interests are pro- Tu mivcemT, maT ecodinebaT, rom eyolebaT 10 senatori, tected. We will not have any progress if we do not take aqedan 2/3 afxazi erovnebis unda iyos da es unda Caiweros some decisive steps in the relations with Abkhazia. It konstituciaSi. senatSi gadawyvetilebis miReba CaiTvle- is an important and psychological factor to show Ab- ba im SemTxvevaSi, Tu afxazebis warmomadgenlebis naxeva- khazians that they will have the good life. For this, we ri miscems xmas. es iqneba imsTvis, rom afxazeTma igrZnos, must live well first. Abkhazia is looking to the north rom misi interesi daculi iqneba. cota Tamami nabijebi Tu and in our direction too; they will go to were there will ar gadavdgiT afxazeTTan urTierTobaSi, win ver wavalT. be a better life; that’s how human psyche works. agreTve mniSvnelovani da fsiqologiuri faqtoria imis Why is Russia more attractive for Abkhazia than danaxva afxazebisTvis, rom ukeTesi cxovreba eqnebaT. Georgia? amisTvis ki jer Cven unda vicxovroT kargad. afxazeTi Cvenskenac da CrdiloeTiskenac iyureba. sadac ukeTes pi- There was serious tension between Abkhazians and us robebs dainaxavs, iqiT wava. aseTia adamianis fsiqika. during 20 years before the conflict. There was perma- nent dispute on who should have headed Abkhazia, a dRes afxazeTisTvis ratom aris ruseTi ufro mimzidve- Georgian or an Abkhazian. 95% of Abkhazian youth li, vidre saqarTvelo? received higher education in Russia. We should have Cvensa da afxazebs Soris konfliqtamde periodi (20 weli) brought their students and should have admitted them sul daZabuli viTareba iyo. mudam sadao iyo, vin unda to Georgian universities without competition. We have yofiliyo afxazeTSi pirveli piri - qarTveli Tu afxazi. made many mistakes. afxazi axalgazrdebis 95% ruseTSi midioda swavlis mis- For example? aRebad. Cven unda wamogveyvana studentebi da ugamocdod unda Cagvericxa saqarTvelos universitetebSi. bevr ra- We should have gone to Abkhazians and should have meSi Secdoma davuSviT. involved Abkhazians in the fight for gaining indepen- dence. Tbilisi never considered Sokhumi’s opinion, magaliTad? which was a big mistake. Second – military conflict afxazebTan unda CavsuliyaviT da afxazebi unda agveyo- was the disaster and biggest mistake for our country. liebina damoukideblobis mopovebisaTvis brZolaSi. We sent troops to Abkhazia for protecting the railway TbilisisTvis soxumis azri angariSgasawevi ar aRmoCnda, and did not realize that it would have turned into con- rac didi Secdoma iyo. meore, Cveni qveynisTvis samxedro flict. From the moment of regaining independence, konfliqti iyo daRupva da didi Secdoma. afxazeTSi Cven Georgian government strived towards Europe, while gavagzavneT samxedro nawilebi rkinigzis dasacavad da Abkhazians did not agree to the given decision. All ver gaviTvaliswineT, rom yovelive es gadaizrdeboda kon- this resulted in the fact that they decided to be friends fliqtSi. saqarTvelos xelisufleba damoukideblobi- with Russia. Russia promised them protection and sTanave cdilobda winsvlas evropisken. afxazebi am azrs economic progress. ar iziarebdnen. aman gamoiwvia is, rom daaTbes urTierTo- What are we Georgians to be blamed for and what are ba ruseTTan. Tavis mxriv ruseTi maT hpirdeboda Tavdac- Abkhazians guilty of? vas da ekonomikur winsvlas. We have erased the friendship that has continued for ra davaSaveT qarTvelebma da ra daaSaves afxazebma? centuries and shot at each other; this is what we are both Cven saukunovan megobrobas gadavusviT xazi da tyvia ves- guilty of. Georgia had to be more patient and to resist roleT erTmaneTs. es orive mxaris danaSaulia. saqarT- more. We must apologize to Abkhazians and they must velos marTebda metis gamZleoba da moTmineba. Cven afxaze- apologize to us too. They brought foreign mercenaries bTan unda movixadoT bodiSi da maTac unda moixadon bodiSi and destroyed Georgians. They have turned thousands CvenTan. maT ucxoelebi Camoiyvanes da qarTvelebs Jletd- of people into refugees. Before, there was time when nen, uamravi adamiani devnilad aqcies. adre iyo periodi, we blamed Abkhazians for everything, but it is not all rodesac afxazebs vabralebdiT yvelafers. dRevandeli ga- so; we have done wrong too.  dasaxedidan ase ar aris. Cvenc didi Secdomebi davuSviT. 

52 The Forum 2016 #1 afxazeTi saqarTvelos organuli nawilia

ABKHAZIA IS AN ORGANIC PART OF GEORGIA

rogor warmoiSva afxazi eri. rogori iyo politikuri viTa- reba, ras iTxovdnen da iTxoven dRes, rogor cxovrobdnen qarTvelebi da afxazebi erTad. am sakiTxebze vesaubreT istoriis doqtors, soxumis saxelmwifo universitetis hu- manitarul mecnierebaTa fakultetis asocirebul profe- sors, baton beJan xoravas. batono beJan, afxazebi, rogorc eri unda miviRoT Tu ro- What are the origins of Abkhazian nation; what was the gorc saqarTvelos regionSi mcxovrebi qarTvelebi? political situation like; what they demanded and what they demand today? These are the issues we spoke imis Tqma, rom afxazi eri ar arsebobs, aramecnierulia. afx- about with Mr. Bezhan Khorava, PhD in History, As- azi eri arsebobs, ra Tqma unda, erisTvis damaxasiaTebeli sociated Professor of the Faculty of Humanitarian Sci- yvela niSniT. magram mTeli Sua saukuneebis manZilze afxa- ences of Sukhumi State University. zebi qarTuli samyaros ganuyofel nawils warmoadgendnen. rogorc akademikosi niko berZeniSvili werda, “afxazeTi is- Should we accept Abkhazians as a nation or as Georgians eTive saqarTvelo iyo da afxazi iseTive qarTveli iyo, ro- living in one of the Georgian regions? gorc egrisi da megreli, rogorc hereTi da heri, rogorc It would unscientific to claim that Abkhazian nation qarTli da qarTleli”. viTareba Seicvala gvian Sua sauku- does not exist. Abkhazian nation of course exists with neebSi (XVI-XVII ss.). Crdilo-dasavleT kavkasiis mTielTa, all the features characterizing a nation; but during the afsuebis eqspansiis Sedegad afxazeTSi moxda radikaluri whole medieval period Abkhazians were an indivis- eTno-politikuri cvlilebebi. Camosaxlebul mTielTa ad- ible part of Georgia. Academician Niko Berdzenishvili gilobriv mosaxleobasTan Serwymis Sedegad Camoyalibda wrote that “Abkhazia was Georgia and Abkhazian was Tanamedrove afxazuri (afsua) eTnosi. a Georgian just like Egrisi and Megreli, like Hereti and istoriulad afxazeTi saqarTvelos SemadgenlobaSi iyo Heri, like Kartli and Kartleli.” The situation changed in Tu ara da rodis iCina Tavi afxazeTSi separatizmma wina the late middle ages (XVI-XVII). Expansion by North- saukunis 20-ian wlebamde? Western Caucasus highlanders the radical ethnic and political changes took place in Abkhazia. The mod- miuxedavad radikaluri eTnikuri cvlilebebisa, afxazeTi ern Abkhazian (Apsua) ethnos was formed as result of kvlav inarCunebda kavSirs qarTul samyarosTan. Sinaomebi, missing of resettled highlanders with local population. gankerZoebisken swrafva, sruliad Tavsdeba feodalur urTierTobaTa CarCoebSi. afxazi mTavrebi Tavs ar gamo- Was Abkhazian part of Georgia historically and when did yofdnen saqarTvelodan da qarTlis/imereTis mefeTa uzen- Abkhazian separatism appear before the 20s? aesobas aRiarebdnen. eklesiurad afxazeTis samTavro imer- Despite radical ethnic changes Abkhazia still preserved eT-odiS-guriasTan erTad qarTuli saeklesio eniT erT the connection with Georgian space. Internal wars, mTlianobas Seadgenda. Tumca, gvian Sua saukuneebSi qarTu- striving towards separation is in complete coincidence li ena afxazeTSi ramdenadme Tmobs poziciebs. sulxan-saba with the essence of feudal relations. Abkhazian prin- orbeliani, romelic parizidan samSobloSi brundeboda, cipals did not separate themselves from Georgia and kunZul maltaze TurqTa tyveobidan gamoxsnil qarTvelebs recognized the supremacy of Kartli/Imereti Kings. His- Sexvda. igi werda: “qarTvelnic vnaxe: zogi afxazi, zogi torically, Abkhazian principality, along with Imereti- imereli, guruli, megreli, rom TaTrisaTvis waerTmiaT. ena Odishi-Guria, was one whole by Georgian Church lan- isev kargi icodnen. afxazma ratom icoda, is gamikvirda, qa- guage. Still, during late middle ages Georgian language rTuli”. e. i. sulxan-saba afxazebsac qarTvelebad Tvlida, gave up its positions in Abkhazia to certain extent. On magram afxazTa “gaucxoeba” qarTuli samyarosagan ise Sors his way from Paris to Georgia Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani iyo wasuli, mas gaukvirda, ratom icoda afxazma qarTuli. met with Georgians freed from Turkish captivity on

The Forum 2016 #1 53 akademiuri wreebi ACADEMIC SOCIETIES

vaxuSti batoniSvili Tavisi drois afxazebis Sesaxeb werda: Malta Island. Orbeliani wrote: “I saw Georgians too: “ena sakuTari Tvisi aqusT, aramed uwyian warCinebulTa qa- some of them Abkhazians, some Imeretians, some rTuli”. Gurians, and some Megrelians; who have been freed from the Tatars. They still knew language well. I rodesac afxazeTi gamoacxades sabWoTa socialistur was surprised why Abkhazian knew Georgian too.” respublikad es maTi survili iyo Tu gareSe Zalam Seu- This means Sulkhan-Saba considered Abkhazians as wyo xeli? Georgians, but the estrangement of Abkhazians from afxazeTSi viTareba XIX saukuneSi, kavkasiasa da saqarT- Georgian space was so deep that he was surprised by veloSi ruseTis damkvidrebis droidan Seicvala. carizmi an Abkhazian spoke Georgian. afxazeTis rusifikacias Seecada. adgilobrivi mosaxleo- When Abkhazia was announced Soviet Socialist Republic; bis erTi nawilis osmaleTSi iZulebiT gasaxlebis (muhaji- was it by their consent or was it forced by outer power? roba) Semdeg, xelisuflebam aq rusebi, somxebi da sxva eris warmomadgenlebi Camoasaxla, romlebic misi dasayrdeni Situation in Abkhazia changed in the 19th century, unda yofiliyo. rusuli imperiuli politika mimarTuli after the establishment of Russia in the Caucasus iyo afxazebis qarTuli samyarosagan Camocilebisaken da, and Georgia. Tsarism attempted for russification of sabolood, “rusuli afxazeTis” Seqmnisaken. am mizans em- Abkhazia. After forceful resettlement of part of lo- saxureboda afxazeTSi rusuli orientaciis inteligenciis cal population to the Ottomans (Muhajir exile), they CamoyalibebisaTvis zrunva. afxazTa Soris xelovnurad resettled Russians, Armenians and representatives of nergavdnen antiqarTul ganwyobas. daundobeli brZola other nations to Abkhazia with the aim to have them gamoecxada qarTvelTa da afxazTa kulturul-istoriul as the foothold. Russian imperial policy was directed erTobasa da am erTobis safuZvels - qarTul enas. aRniSnul at separating Abkhazia from Georgia and Abkhazians mizans emsaxureboda RvTismsaxurebis saeklesio-slavurze from Georgian space and at finally creating the “Rus- gadayvana da rusuli anbanis safuZvelze afxazuri damw- sian Abkhazia”. Work towards forming pro-Russian erlobis SemoReba. 1862 wels rusma enaTmecnierma, gener- intelligentsia in Abkhazia was dedicated to the same al-maiorma petre uslarma rusuli grafikis safuZvelze aim. Anti-Georgian attitudes were artificially created pirveli afxazuri anbani Seadgina, Tumca TviTonac aRi- among Abkhazians. Ruthless was declared against the arebda, rom afxazur enas qarTuli anbani zedmiwevniT See- cultural and historic unity of Georgians and Abkha- sabameboda. afxazuri damwerlobis Seqmna emsaxureboda ara zians and the basis of this unity, Georgian language. kulturul, aramed politikur miznebs. aseTi politikis This is why liturgy was changed to Slavic language miuxedavad, imJamad, ruseTis xelisuflebam qarTvelebisa and introduction of Abkhazian alphabet based on Rus- da afxazebis dapirispireba ver moaxerxa. afxazi xalxis el- sian graphics. IN 1862, Russian linguist, general-ma- ita, romelsac isini endobodnen da mihyvebodnen, qarTul jor Peter Uslar developed the first Abkhazian alphabet samyarosTan mWidro erTianobas inarCunebda. niSandobliv- based on Russian graphics, although he also recog- ia, rom 1918 wlis 26 maiss saqarTvelos damoukideblobis nized that Georgian alphabet best suited Abkhazian gamocxadebas afxazeTic miesalma. 1919 wlis TebervalSi language. Creation of Abkhazian alphabet was rea- mTel afxazeTSi demokratiuli arCevnebi Catarda. arCeul soned not by cultural but by political aims. Despite iqna afxazeTis saxalxo sabWo - afxazeTis avtonomiis far- such policy, at that time Russian government failed glebSi sakanonmdeblo organo. umaRles aRmasrulebel to oppose Georgians and Abkhazians to each other. xelisuflebas komisariati (mTavroba) warmoadgenda. 1919 The elite of Abkhazian people, who they trusted and wlis 20 marts afxazeTis saxalxo sabWom miiRo aqti “av- followed, kept tight connection with Georgian space. tonomiis Sesaxeb”, romlis ZaliTac afxazeTi adgilobriv It is noteworthy that on May 26 1918, Abkhazia also saqmeebSi avtonomiuri mmarTvelobis uflebiT, saqarT- welcomed the declaration of Georgian independence. velos demokratiuli respublikis SemadgenlobaSi Sevida. In February 1919, elections of the Public Council of imavdroulad, saqarTvelos demokratiuli respublikis Abkhazia were held throughout Abkhazia. Public konstituciam, romelic saqarTvelos damfuZnebelma kre- Council of Abkhazia, the legislative body in frame- bam 1921 wlis 21 Tebervals daamtkica, “saqarTvelos re- work of Abkhazian autonomy was elected. Highest spublikis ganuyofel nawils - afxazeTs (soxumis olqi) ad- executive branch was represented by the Commis- gilobriv saqmeebSi avtonomiuri mmarTveloba” mianiWa. sariat (government). On March 20 1919, Abkhazian Public Council adopted the Act on Autonomy, based rodesac afxazeTs avtonomiuri respublikis statu- on which Abkhazia joined the Democratic Republic si mieniWa, im periodSi Tu iyo damoukideblobis ga- of Georgia with the right for autonomous governance mocxadebis mcdelobebi? of local affairs. At the same time, the Constitution

54 The Forum 2016 #1 akademiuri wreebi ACADEMIC SOCIETIES

1921 wlis Teberval-martSi sabWoTa ruseTis mier saqarT- of Georgia, approved by the Georgian Founding As- velos dapyrobisa da sabWoTa xelisuflebis gamocxadebis sembly on February 21 1921, “granted the right for Semdeg, sabWoTa ruseTi xelisufleba afxazeTis saqarT- autonomous governance of local affairs to the insepa- velosagan Camocilebas kvlav Seecada. 26 marts afxazeTis rable part of Georgian Republic – Abkhazia (Sokhumi revkomma (revoluciuri komiteti) sabWoTa ruseTis mTav- oblast). robis meTaurs v. lenins da erovnebaTa saxalxo komisars Where there attempts for announcing independence dur- (ministrs) i. stalins werili gaugzavna, romelSic dasmuli ing the period when Abkhazia gained the status of autono- iyo sakiTxebi afxazeTis sabWoTa socialistur respub- mous republic? likad gamocxadebisa da ruseTis federaciaSi misi Seyvanis aucileblobis Sesaxeb. 28 marts baTumSi ruseTis komunis- In February-March 1921, after the invasion of Geor- turi partiis centraluri komitetis kavkasiis biuros da gia by Soviet Russia and establishment of Soviet saqarTvelos kp (b) ck, aWarisa da afxazeTis bolSevikTa governance in the country, Russian government again TaTbiri gaimarTa, romelmac afxazeTis sabWoTa socialis- attempted to separate Abkhazia from Georgia. On tur respublikad gamocxadeba daadgina. March 26, Abkhazian Revolutionary Committee sent the letter to the Chief of Soviet Russian government amrigad, baTumis bolSevikTa TaTbirma saerTaSoriso V. Lenin and the Public Commissar of Nations (Min- samarTlebrivi normebis uxeSi darRveviT saqarTvelos ister) J. Stalin, demanding the necessity for declara- teritoriul mTlianobas safuZveli gamoacala. sabWoTa tion of Abkhazia as of Soviet socialist republic and its ruseTis warmomadgenlebs, ruseTis kp (b) kavbiuros ufleba joining with Russian Federation. On March 28, the ar hqonda saqarTvelos teritoriuli mTlianobis sakiTxi session of Caucasus Bureau of the Central Committee gadaewyvita. amasTanave, afxazeTi aseT statuss ar imsax- of the Russian Communist Party, the Central Com- urebda: ZiriTadi administraciuli erTeulis saxelis mittee of the Communist Party of Georgia and of Bol- ganmsazRvreli mosaxleoba - afxazebi - gacilebiT naklebi sheviks of Adjara and Abkhazia was held in Batumi; iyo, vidre sxva erovnebis mosaxleoba; amasTanave, maSindel they declared Abkhazia as Soviet Socialist Abkhazia. saxelmwifoebriv mSeneblobaSi damkvidrebuli praqtika ar iTvaliswinebda respublikis statusis miniWebas, Tu iq mo- Thus, Batumi Bolshevik Session harshly violated the saxleoba milionze meti ar iqneboda. da, mainc, afxazeTs international legal norms and destroyed Georgian ter- aseTi statusi mianiWes. ritorial integrity. Representatives of Soviet Russia did not have the right to decide upon the territorial 1921 wlis 21 maiss saqarTvelos revkomma miiRo deklara- integrity issues of Georgia. In addition, Abkhazia did cia “afxazeTis socialisturi sabWoTa respublikis da- not deserve such a status: the population determining moukideblobis Sesaxeb”, romliTac aRiara afxazeTis da- the name of the administrative entity – Abkhazians – moukidebeli socialisturi sabWoTa respublikis Seqmna were far less than representatives of other nationali- da am faqts miesalma. afxazi komunistebis erTi nawili kv- ties; in addition, the then statehood building practice lavindeburad icavda azrs afxazeTis damoukidebeli re- did not consider granting of the status of republic to a spublikis SenarCunebis an sabWoTa ruseTTan avtonomiur territory unless there was less than million population; sawyisebze federirebis Sesaxeb. rkp kavkasiis biurom 16 still, Abkhazia received such a status. noembers ganixila saqarTvelosa da afxazeTis ssr respub- likebs Soris urTierTobis sakiTxi da dadgenilebaSi Cai- On May 21 1921, Georgian central committee ad- wera: “damoukidebeli afxazeTis arseboba ekonomikuri da opted the declaration on the Independence of the politikuri TvalsazrisiT mizanSeuwonlad CaiTvalos; Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia, by which it mieces winadadeba afxaz bolSevikebs, warmoadginon sab- recognized the creation of the independent soviet so- oloo daskvna saqarTvelos SemadgenlobaSi afxazeTis cialist republic and welcomed the given fact. Part of Sesvlis Sesaxeb, xelSekrulebis safuZvelze, an rsfsr-Si Abkhazian communists continued supporting the idea avtonomiuri olqis saxiT”. afxazma bolSevikebma saqarT- on preserving the independence Abkhazian republic velos SemadgenlobaSi Sesvla arCies. 1921 wlis 16 dekem- or its joining as an autonomy with Russia. On No- bers TbilisSi xeli moewera samokavSireo xelSekrulebas vember 16, Caucasus Bureau of the Russian Com- saqarTvelos ssr da afxazeTis ssr Soris, romlis safuZ- munist Party discussed the issue of relations between velzec es ukanaskneli saqarTvelos ssr SemadgenlobaSi Georgia and Abkhazian SSR and wrote in the decree saxelSekrulebo respublikis statusiT Sevida. saxelSek- that “existence of independent Abkhazia is inadvis- rulebo sawyisebze saqarTvelosTan federirebis Semdeg, able by economic and political viewpoints; Abkha- afxazeTma Tumca SeinarCuna saxelwodeba - socialisturi zian Bolsheviks must be advised to present the final sabWoTa respublika, realurad is avtonomiur respublikas conclusion on the joining of Abkhazia with Georgia warmoadgenda saqarTvelos SemadgenlobaSi. on contractual basis or its joining with Russian Soviet

The Forum 2016 #1 55 akademiuri wreebi ACADEMIC SOCIETIES

niSandoblivia, rom saqarTveloSi sabWoTa xelisuflebis Socialist Federal Republic as an autonomous oblast. damyarebis Semdeg, ruseTi kvlav cdilobda afxazeTis saqa- Abkhazian Bolsheviks chose to join Georgia. On De- rTvelosagan Camocilebas. saqarTveloSi sabWoTa ruseTis cember 16, 1921, in Tbilisi, the sides signed the union samxedro ataSe pavle sitini 1921 wlis aprilSi moskovSi treaty between the Georgian SSR and Abkhazian SSR, gagzavnil moxsenebiT baraTSi aRniSnavda, rom qarTuli based on which the latter joined the Georgian SSR with Sovinizmis teritoriulad da materialurad dasustebi- the status of contractual republic. Although Abkhazia saTvis aucilebel gasatarebel zomas warmoadgenda afxa- sustained its name Soviet Socialist Republic after enter- zeTis saqarTvelosagan gamoyofa da ruseTTan SeerTeba. ing federation with Georgia, in reality it actually was 1931 wels afxazeTis statusi realur viTarebasTan Ses- the autonomous republic within Georgia.

abamisobaSi movida. afxazeTis saxelSekrulebo sabWoTa It is noteworthy that after the establishment of Soviet socialisturi respublika afxazeTis avtonomiur sabWoTa governance in Georgia, Russia continued attempts to socialistur respublikad gardaiqmna. aRsaniSnavia, rom separate Abkhazia from Georgia. Pavel Sitin, Military 20-30-ian wlebSi afxazebi aqtiurad monawileobdnen anti- Attaché of Soviet Russia to Georgia wrote in his re- sabWoTa gamosvlebSi (1921-1923, 1924, 1930-1931 ww.). amasTan, port sent to Moscow in April 1921 that for territorial unda iTqvas, rom qarTul sazogadoebasTan mWidrod daax- and material weakening of Georgian chauvinism it was loebuli afxazi Tavadaznauroba represiebs Seewira, amis necessary to separate Abkhazia from Georgia and to Semdeg sazogadoebaSi upirobo gavleniT ruseTis saswav- make it part of Russia. In 1931, the status of Abkha- leblebSi ganaTlebamiRebuli afxazuri inteligencia da zia came into conformity with the real situation. The afxazi bolSevikebi sargeblobdnen. 30-iani wlebis meore Contractual Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia was naxevridan afxazeTis ass respublikaSi xelmZRvanel parti- transformed into the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Re- ul da sameurneo Tanamdebobebze upiratesad qarTvelebis public of Abkhaia. It has to be noted that during 1920s- dawinaurebam, sakolmeurneo mSeneblobasTan dakavSirebiT, 1930s Abkhazians actively participate in anti-Soviet dasavleT saqarTvelos mciremiwiani raionebidan qarTvel-

56 The Forum 2016 #1 akademiuri wreebi ACADEMIC SOCIETIES

Ta gadmosaxlebam, afxazuri damwerlobis qarTul grafi- protests (1921-1923, 1924, 1930-1931). In addition, kaze gadayvanam, afxazur skolebSi qarTul enaze swavlebis it must be noted that Abkhazian nobles affiliated with SemoRebam, rac afxazuri skolebis daxurvad aRiqmeboda, Georgian society became victims of repressions. Af- da sxva faqtebmai afxazuri inteligenciis ukmayofileba ter this, the unconditional public influence was in the gamoiwvia da afxazTa diskriminaciad iqna aRqmuli. rac Se- hands of Abkhazian intelligentsia educated in Rus- exeba afxazur skolebs. sabWoTa xelisuflebis wlebSi arse- sian higher education institutions and Abkhazian Bol- bobda, da dResac arsebobs e. w. afxazuri skolebi. afxazur sheviks. Events underway from the second half of skolebSi 4 klasis CaTvliT aris swavleba afxazur enaze, 1930s, such as appointment of mainly Georgians to me-5 klasidan yvela sagani, garda afxazuri enisa da liter- leading positions in Abkhazian ASSR, resettlement of aturisa, iswavleba rusul enaze. imavdroulad, CrdiloeT Georgians from other regions to Abkhazia due to con- kavkasiis avtonomiuri respublikebisagan gansxvavebiT, sa- struction of new collective farms, change of Abkha- dac gamalebiT mimdinareobda rusifikacia, afxazeTSi ar- zian alphabet to Georgian graphics, introduction of sebobda e. w. afxazuri skolebi, sadac dawyebiTi ganaTleba teaching in Georgian language in Abkhazian schools, afxazur enaze iyo, soxumis pedinstitutSi da Semdeg soxu- which was seen as closing of Abkhazian schools and mis universitetSi arsebobda afxazuri seqtori, gamodi- other facts resulted in dissatisfaction among Abkha- oda Jurnal-gazeTebi afxazur enaze, ibeWdeboda wignebi zian intelligentsia and was perceived as discrimina- afxazur enaze, arsebobda afxazuri saxelmwifo Teatri, tion of Abkhazians. As for Abkhazian schools, during afxazeTis simRerisa da cekvis saxelmwifo ansambli, folk- Soviet times there have always been and still work the loruli koleqtivebi, SemoqmedebiTi kavSirebi, radio da so called Abkhazian schools. Teaching in Abkhazian televizia afxazur enaze. schools until the 5th grade is conducted in Abkhazian language; starting from the 5th grade, all the subjects, XX saukunis 50-iani wlebidan afxazeTSi farTo antiqarTu- except of Abkhazian language and literature are be- li kampania gaiSala, raSic didi mniSvneloba eniWeboda qa- ing taught in Russian. At the same time, in Sokhumi rTveli da afxazi xalxebis istoriis gayalbebas, qarTvele- Pedagogical Institute and later in Sokhumi University bi damnaSaved cxaddebodnen yvela im ubedurebaSi, rac there was the Abkhazian sector; magazines and news- afxazebs komunisturi totalitaruli reJimis pirobebSi papers were published in Abkhazian language, books Tavs daatydaT. afxazebs unergavdnen azrs, rom qarTvelebi were printed in Abkhazian language; there was an maTi mtrebi arian, rom qarTvelebi XIX saukuneSi dasaxld- Abkhazian State Theatre, State Ensemble of Abkha- nen afxazeTis teritoriaze da manamde am mxareSi qarTuli zian Dance and Songs, folklore ensembles, creative mosaxleoba ar yofila; qarTvelebis aq dasaxleba afxazTa unions, radio and television in Abkhazian language. muhajirobis Semdeg moxda, rodesac maT dacarielebuli adgilebi daikaves. Sesabamisad, umtkicebdnen, rom es miwa Extensive anti-Georgian campaign was launched in mTlianad afxazebisaa da qarTvelebi afxazebis kulturisa Abkhazia from 1950s, which was reflected in forging da TviTmyofadobis asimilacias apireben. 1957, 1967, 1978 the history of Georgian and Abkhazian peoples; Geor- wlebSi Tavs iCenda e.w. “afxazuri sakiTxi”, romelsac axlda gians were announced responsible for all the disasters afxazTa erTi nawilis gamosvlebi saqarTvelodan afxaze- that Abkhazians have faced during the Communist to- Tis gamoyofisa da ruseTis sfs respublikis krasnodaris talitarian regime. Abkhazians were being convinced mxaresTan SeerTebis moTxovniT. im dros, roca sabWoTa ka- that Georgians were their enemies and that Georgians vSirSi yovelgvari protestis gamovlena miuRebeli da Seu- settled at Abkhazian territory in the 19th century and Zlebeli iyo, afxazebs es ratomRac kargad gamosdiodaT. that before there was no Georgian population in that amaSi kargad Canda kremlis xeli. totalitaruli ganukiTx- area; Georgians settled here after the Muhajir exile aobiT datanjul, politikuri procesebis kulisebSi Cauxe- of Abkhazians, when they took over the abandoned dav, gauTviTcnobierebel afxazebs advilad Caunerges, rom territories. Accordingly, Abkhazians were being con- maTi ubedurebis mizezi qarTvelebi arian. maTive mizeziT vinced that this whole land belongs to Abkhazians and moxda afxazeTis ssr statusis assr statusiT Secvla. ima- that Georgians plan the assimilation of the culture and vdroulad, 1953 wlis meore naxevarSi afxazur skolebSi identity of Abkhazians. In 1957, 1967, 1978 appeared rusul enaze swavleba aRadgines; 1954 wlis mart-aprilSi the so called “Abkhazian issue”, which was accom- afxazuri damwerloba isev rusul grafikaze gadaiyvanes. panied by the demands from part of Abkhazians for kremli carizmis droindel politikas ubrundeboda. separation from Georgia and joining with the Krasno- dar Kray of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Russian 1964 wels ssr kavSiris generalurma mdivanma nikita xruS- Federation. While any type of protest of inadmissible Covma afxazeTis assr maSindel xelmZRvanels, saqarTvelos and in possible in the Soviet Union at that time, Ab- kp afxazeTis saolqo komitetis I mdivans mixeil bRaJbas khazians managed to do it quite successfully. Kremlin

The Forum 2016 #1 57 akademiuri wreebi ACADEMIC SOCIETIES

(1958-1965 ww.) uSualod SesTavaza daesva sakiTxi afxazeTis hand was well seen in the process. Politically unedu- ruseTis sfs respublikasTan SeerTebis Taobaze, magram man cated Abkhazians tortured by totalitarian lawlessness, es ar gaakeTa, radgan misi azriT es “afxazi xalxis daRup- were easily convinced that Georgians were the only vis tolfasi” iqneboda. sabolood, am gegmis ganxorcieleba reason of their problems. In the second half of 1953 1964 wlis oqtomberSi n. xruSCovis xelisuflebidan Camo- teaching in Russian language in Abkhazian schools cilebam CaSala. was resumed; in March-April 1954, Abkhazian alpha- bet was changed to Russian graphics. Kremlin was sabolood, sabWoTa xelisuflebam SeZlo afxazi axalgaz- returning to the policy of Tsarism times. rdebis erTi nawilis antiqarTuli suliskveTebiT aRzrda, qarTvelebis mimarT undoblobisa da siZulvilis danergva. In 1964, the USSR Secretary General Nikita Khrush- ase Semzadda ideologiurad 1989 wlis ivlisis konfliqti chev directly proposed the then Head of Abkhazian da 1992-1993 wlebis omi afxazeTSi. Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Mikheil Bga- zhba (1958-1965) to join Abkhazia with Soviet So- 80-iani wlebis meore naxevarSi saqarTveloSi erovnul-gan- cialist Republic of Russia, but the latter did not do maTavisuflebeli moZraoba gaiSala, romlis mTavari mizani it, as he believed that “it would mean the death of saqarTvelos saxelmwifoebrivi damoukideblobis aRdgena Abkhazian nation.” The given plan was finally failed iyo. saqarTvelos erovnul-ganmaTavisuflebel moZraobas by the dismissal of N. Khrushchev from power in Oc- kremlma afxazuri separatizmi daupirispira. imperiuli tober 1964. wreebisa da afxaz separatistTa mcdelobiT qarTvelTa da afxazTa urTierToba imdenad daiZaba, rom 1989 w. iv- Finally, Soviet government managed to raise part of lisSi SeiaraRebul dapirispirebaSi gadaizarda, romelsac Abkhazian youth with anti-Georgian spirit and to in- orive mxridan msxverpli mohyva. amis Semdegac kremlis mier troduce distrust and hatred towards Georgians. This is zurggamagrebuli afxazi separatistebi gegmazomierad ga- how ideologically the 1989 July conflict and the war nagrZobdnen antiqarTul saqmianobas, romlis mizani afxa- of 1992-1993 were prepared. zeTis saqarTvelosagan gamoyofa iyo, magram erTi saxelm- National-liberation movement activated in Georgia wifos - ssr kavSiris SemadgenlobaSi amis ganxorcieleba aimed at recreating the state independence of Georgia SeuZlebeli iyo. extended in the second half of 1980s. Kremlin op- komunikacia Tu gaqvT afxaz mecnierebTan? posed Abkhazian separatism to the national-liberation movement of Georgia. As result of efforts from im- afxaz mecnierebTan komunikacia aris, ra Tqma unda. TanamS- perial groups and Abkhazian separatists, the relations romloba aqtiuria medicinis sferoSi. aris TanamSromloba between Georgians and Abkhazians tensed so much enaTmecnierebs, istorikosebs Soris. arsebobs erToblivi that it grew into armed conflict in July 1989, resulting proeqtebi. afxazi mecnierebi ikvleven afxazeTis 1992-1993 in casualties from both sides. Since then, Abkhazian ww. omis istorias, omis wanamZRvrebs da sxva sakiTxebs, ma- separatists supported by Kremlin consistently contin- gram maTi midgoma aris calsaxa. maTTan karg tonad iTvleba ued anti-Georgian activity aimed at separating Abkha- yvelaferSi qarTvelebis dadanaSauleba. soxumeli istor- zia from Georgia, but it was impossible to be done ikosi, istoriis mecnierebaTa doqtori, profesori a. ku- while it still was part of the USSR. prava, romelmac dawera, rom es omi ZmaTamkvleli omi iyo, kinaRam jvars acves amis gamo. Do you have communication with Abkhazian scientists? ra mimarTulebiT muSaoben da ra ufro sainteresoa maT- Of course there is communication with Abkhazian Tvis qarTul-afxazur urTierTobebSi da ramdenad obi- scientists. There is active cooperation in medical eqturia kvlevis Sedegebi? sphere; there is cooperation between linguists and his- torians. There are joint projects too. Abkhazian sci- afxaz istorikosebs gansakuTrebiT ainteresebT saarqivo entists are researching the history of the war of 1992- masalebi. ukanasknel xanebSi isini aqtiurad ikvleven XIX 1993; the preconditions of this war and other issues; saukunis kavkasiis istoriis sakiTxebs, XX saukunis sab- but, of course their approach is biased. It is a tradition WoTa periodis, 20-30-iani wlebis politikuri represiebis there to blame Georgians for everything. Sukhumi sakiTxebs. bunebrivia, maTi kvlevebi ar aris Tavisufali scientist, PhD in History, Professor A. Kuprava, was politikuri koniunqturisagan. almost crucified there because he wrote that this war unda aRiaros Tu ara saqarTvelom afxazeTis damoukide- was a fratricidal war. bloba da Tu ar unda aRiaros, Tqven ras fiqrobT, rogor What direction do they work in and what is the most inter- unda moxdes saqarTvelos gaerTianeba? esting for them in Georgian-Abkhazian relations and how

58 The Forum 2016 #1 akademiuri wreebi ACADEMIC SOCIETIES afxazeTi saqarTvelos organuli nawilia. afxazeTis farTo- unbiased are the results of their researches? bi aris 8 700 kv.km., rac saqarTvelos farTobis 12%-ia, magram Abkazian historians are particularly interested in am mxaris mniSvneloba ar ganisazRvreba kvadratuli kilome- archive materials. Lately, they have been actively trebiT da procentebiT. afxazeTSi mimdinareobda qarTveli researching the history of Caucasus of the 19th cen- xalxisa da saqarTvelos saxelmwifos Camoyalibebis procesi, tury and the historic issues of the 20th century So- am mxareSi arsebobs qarTuli kulturuli memkvidreobis Ses- viet period and political repressions of the 20s-30s. aniSnavi Zeglebi, amitom bunebrivia, gvsurdes misi erTian saqa- Naturally, their researches are not free of political rTveloSi xilva. xSirad amboben, rom konfliqtis mogvarebis expediency. gasaRebi moskovSia. garkveulwilad es asec aris. ruseTis faq- toris ganeitraleba xels Seuwyobs konfliqtis mogvarebas. Should Georgia recognize the independence of Abkhazia magram, mTavaria saqarTveloSi cxovreba mimzidveli gaxdes and if not, in your opinion, how can Georgia be reunited? afxazebisTvis ekonomikuri, politikuri, kulturuli da sxva Abkhazia is an organic part of Georgia. Area of Ab- TvalsazrisiT. isini unda darwmundnen, rom saqarTveloSi ar khazia is 8,700 square kilometers, which is 12% of Seeqmneba safrTxe maT TviTmyofadobas, afxazuri enis, kul- the total area of Georgia, but the significance of the turis ganviTarebas. meore mxriv, gasaTvaliswinebelia adami- given region is not determined by square kilometers anuri faqtori. unda moxdes ndobis aRdgena qarTvelebsa da and percentage. The process of the formation of Georgian people and Georgian statehood was under- way in Abkhazia; there are brilliant monuments of Georgian cultural heritage in that region, so, natu- rally, we want to see it as part of unified Georgia. They often say that the key to the conflict resolution is in Moscow. It is true to a certain extent. Neutral- ization of Russian factor will promote the conflict resolution, but, it is most important to make living in Georgia attractive to Abkhazians – by economic, po- litical, cultural and other viewpoints. They must be convinced that being part of Georgia will not be of risk to their identity and development of Abkhazian language and culture. Confidence between Geor- gians and Abkhazians must be recreated. Merab Kostava has once said: “We will still find the path to the hearts of Abkhazian people.” We must find this path and get Abkhazians back one by one. Pub- afxazebs Soris. merab kostavas erTxel uTqvams: “Cven mainc vi- lic diplomacy is of decisive importance in the given poviT gzas afxazi xalxis gulebisaken”. es gza unda movnaxoT process. Parents of soldiers in Abkhazian war have da saTiTaod davibrunoT afxazebi. am procesSi didi roli met with each other and ex-combatants from both eniWeba saxalxo diplomatias. afxazeTis omSi daRupulTa sides have also shook hands. Cooperation in medi- mSoblebi Sexvdnen erTmaneTs, aseve orive mxaris meomrebmac cal sphere develops more and more actively and ex- SeZles erTmaneTisTvis xelis gawodeba. samedicino sferoSi tensively. Mixed families are again being created. TanamSromloba ufro da ufro met masStabebs iZens. kvlav iqm- The given fact confirms that we have a lot in com- neba Sereuli ojaxebi. es faqti imaze metyvelebs, rom Cven bev- mon. Founder of Abkhazian literature Dimitri Gulia ri saerTo gvaqvs. afxazuri literaturis fuZemdebeli dimi- wrote: “We have built our culture under the common tri gulia werda: ,,Cven erTi cis qveS, erT miwaze gviSenebia sky and on the common ground; we are together Cveni kultura, erTad dagvicavs Cveni erovnuli raoba da Cve- protected by our national identity and our homeland. ni miwa-wyali. cotaa vTqvaT, rom moZme erebi varT. Cven erTi It would be minor to say that we are brotherly na- fsiqikis, erTi adaTis, erTi wesis, erTi fsiqologiis xalxi tions. We are peoples of one psyche, same traditions varT. ara mgonia, qarTvelebs hyavdeT ufro axlobeli Zma, vi- and the same psychology. I doubt that Georgians dre afxazebia, afxazebsac ase miaCniaT qarTvelebi da Cven am have closer brothers than Abkhazians; this is what Zmobam Segvinaxa, vinc am Zmobas Slis, rusTavelis sityvebiT Georgians believe in and we have been preserved rom vTqvaT, “igi Tavisa mteria”. mec am azrs viziareb.  by this brotherhood and those erase this brotherhood “are the enemies of themselves”, as Rustaveli has said. I agree to the given opinion fully. 

The Forum 2016 #1 59 blogi BLOG guranda bursulaia damoukidebeli mkvlevari, treneri Tanamemamule da ara devnili Guranda Bursulaia, Freelancer researcher, Trainer FELLOW CITIZEN AND NOT AN IDP

“I’m from Abkhazia” – I heard this from someone. I immedi- ately forgot the good manners and intruded with others’ con- versation. I smiled broadly and announced – “Me too”. She smiled back at me. We both had black curly hair and used to share at least that. Now she took the initiative and asked – “Which city are you from?” “From Sukhumi”, I replied. She „Я из Абхазии“ gavigone viRacis naTqvami. im kusi ar did not like that answer, but kept on smiling and questioned iyos, fexi rom gamoyo, mec ise moviqeci. daviviwye back – “From Sukhum, right?” Should I have argued? I pre- zrdiloba da Cavxti sxvis dialogSi. yurebamde ga- ferred to keep on smiling… It was the first time I was seeing viRime da movaxsene: “ и я“. manac gamiRima. orives Savi “a real Abkhazian” and had the desire to speak with her. We xuWuWa Tmebi gvqonda da rogorc minimum amas vazi- spoke for several minutes; and I wouldn’t say that we were arebdiT. axla man gamoavlina iniciativa da mkiTxa: tense, but I had an impression that we had the polylogue in- „с какого ты города?“ „из Сухуми“, vuTxari me. es pasuxi stead of dialogue: she, me and all the stereotypes, societies, ki aRar moewona, magram Rimili SeinarCuna da pasuxi positions and politics standing behind us. I meanwhile ego- Semibruna: „из Сухума, да?“ unda mekamaTa? me Rimili istically wanted to be one-on-one with her; she probably did varCie. cxovrebaSi pirvelad vxedavdi „namdvil afx- too… azs“ da masTan ubralod laparaki msurda. ramdenime Everything started in 2014 when I appeared among the 10 wuTi visaubreT. ver vityvi, rom daZabulebi viyaviT, lucky students and became a member of the Youth Peace Ex- Tumca iseTi STabeWdileba mqonda, rom dialogis press. We headed for the Balkans; to meet Tskhinvali Os- nacvlad polilogi gvqonda: me, is da Cvens ukan md- setians there. I was very curious, but at the same time I was gari Cveni stereotipebi, sazogadoebebi, poziciebi embarrassed to show it. I did not want to give an impression da politika. me ki egoisturad mindoda masTan erTi that I was going to the zoo to see “some exotic animals”. I erTze darCena. albaT, masac. was thinking that I would see ordinary people. yvelaferi 2014 wels daiwyo, roca 10 iRblian The situation was not “ordinary” at all. At first, I wanted to monawiles Soris aRmovCndi da proeqtis “axalgaz- shake hands with a boy, but he did not see it and I stayed rduli samSvidobo eqspresi” wevri damerqva. bal- with my hand stretched out. The embarrassing moment was kaneTSi mivdiodiT, sadac cxinvaleli osebi unda also the confirmation of excessive emotions. Next 17 days we gagvecno. cnobismoyvareoba mklavda, magram Tan were getting to know each other better and when we realized mrcxvenoda amis gamJRavnebis. ar mindoda ise gamoms- that we were comfortable with each other, we had to go to our vloda, TiTqos zooparkSi mivdiodi, sadac „ucxo bus and them to their plane… jiSis cxovelebi“ unda menaxa. vfiqrobdi, rom Cveul- berivi adamianebi damxvdebodnen. Being back home is a good feeling. I usually do not regret when projects end. I am Gabriel Garcia Marques’s follower situacia mTlad „Cveulberivi“ namdvilad ar aR- – Don’t cry because it came to an end, smile because it hap- moCnda. jer iyo da Sexvedrisas biWs xeli gavuwode, pened. During those moments I am a big smile and gener- man ver dainaxa da davrCi xelgawvdili. es metiCrobac ously give out the “invitation cards” for hosting everyone zedmeti emociebis gamovlenis dasturi iyo. mere iyo in Georgia. I tell everyone that my family loves to receive da 17 dRe erTmaneTs vecnobodiT da roca aRmovaCi- guests and that our door is always open for them. But, what neT rom komfortulad viyaviT erTmaneTTan, Cven av- could have I said then? Realism overwhelmed optimism and tobusi gveloda da maT TviTmfrinavi. the farewell was quite strange. I smiled grudgingly and re- saxlSi dabruneba kargi grZnobaa. proeqtebis das- gretted most of all that I could not say an honest and confident rulebaze guli ar mwydeba xolme. gabriel garsia “goodbye”. It sounded more like “farewell”. My positive markesis sibrZnis mimdevari var - „ar vtiri, radgan character only managed to say – “maybe we will meet again dasrulda. viRime, radgan iyo“. am dros carieli sometime”. Rimili var da Zalian guluxvad varigeb „mosawvev

60 The Forum 2016 #1 blogi BLOG

baraTebs“ saqarTveloSi maspinZlobaze. yvelas We managed to neutralize the situation with the phrase we told the vuyvebi Cems ojaxSi stumrebi rom uyvarT da yov- organizers: “Please, make such a project again!” It did not matter elTvis Riaa maTTvis kari. magram maSin ra unda what we argued about during the whole journey; our opinion was meTqva? optimizmi realizmma dajabna da ki gamov- the same on one thing – “Such projects are vitally important for the ida ucnauri damSvidobeba. naZaladevad viRi- resumption of relations. We want to get to know each other!” modi da yvelaze metad guli imaze mwydeboda, rom I do not like the pathos and idealizations. I neither say that we are gulwrfel da Tavdajerebul „naxvamdis“ ver vam- bobdi. ufro „mSvidobiT“ gamomdioda. pozitiurma bunebam mxolod imis Tqma moaxerxa „iqneb sadme ga- daikveTos Cveni gzebi“. situaciis ganeitraleba mxolod organizatorebi- sadmi mimarTuli fraziT SevZeliT: „kidev gaa- keTeT ra aseTi proeqti!“ mniSvneloba ar hqonda imas, Tu raze vkamaTobdiT mTeli mogzauroba. erTSi yovelTvis emTxveoda Cveni azri „msgavsi proeqtebi sasicocxloa urTierTobebis aRsad- genad. Cven erTmaneTis gacnoba gvinda!“ paTosi da gaidializeba ar miyvars. arc imas vam- bob, rom ca da dedamiwasaviT ganvsxvavdebiT. arc Cvens Zmobas da erTobas vqadageb. ubralod, minda Cvenze iyos damokidebuli - vimegobrebT Tu ara. as different as the sky and the earth or preach our brotherhood and minda SemeZlos pirispir kamaTi imaze, rom german- unity. I just want it to depend on us – to be friends or not. I want to uli safexburTo klubebi jobia barselonas, minda be able to directly argue with them that German football clubs are xabizginebi vWamo osur qorwilSi, minda gavajavro better than Barcelona; I want to taste the “khabidzgins” at Ossetian osuri aqcenti rusulSi da maTganac mzad var mi- wedding; I want to make parodies of Ossetian accent in Russian and viRo qiliki. mokled, araferi gansakuTrebuli, I am ready to hear how they jester about me. Anyway, I don’t want araferi maRalfardovani, araferi aristokra- anything special, grandiloquent or aristocratic; I am just craving for tiuli, ubralod adamianuri, guliani, uSualo, ordinary human, honest, open relations.  gulwrfeli urTierTobebi mwyuria. 

mamuka cuxiSvili, filologiis doqtori Mamuka Tsukhishvili, PhD in Philology perevi PEREVI perevi saCxeris municipalitetSi, Walis TemSi Semavali Perevi is a village located in Chala community, which sofelia, romelic esazRvreba amJamad ruseTis federa- borders the Java Municipality, currently under occu- ciis mier okupirebul javis municipalitets. gaSenebu- pation of Russian Federation. The village is located lia zRvis donidan 760 metr simaRleze, mdinare yvirilas at 760 meters over the sea level, in the upper area of zemowelSi. saCxeridan mdebareobs 20 kilometrze. „maRalm- Kvirila River. The village is located in 20 kilometers Tiani regonebis ganviTarebis Sesaxeb“ saqarTvelos kanonis from Sachkhere. According to the Georgian Law on Tanaxmad, maRalmTian dasaxlebad iTvleba is dasaxleba, Highland Regions, status of highland settlement is giv- romelic zRvis donidan 1 500 metr simaRleze an mis ze- en to a village located at 1,500 meters over the sea level viT mdebareobs. saqarTvelos mTavroba uflebamosilia, or higher. Based on consideration of different criteria sxvadasxva kriteriumis (mTis ferdobis daxriloba, in- (mountain slope inclination, condition of infrastructure, frastruqturis mdgomareoba, klimaturi pirobebi da climatic and natural environment, lack of agricultural bunebrivi garemo, sasoflo-sameurneo daniSnulebis miwis lands, demographic situation, including acute migra- simcire da simwire, demografiuli mdgomareoba, maT So- tion processes) Georgian government has the authority ris, gamwvavebuli migraciuli procesebi) gaTvaliswinebiT, to grant the status of highland settlement to a settlement maRalmTiani dasaxlebis statusi mianiWos dasaxlebas, ro- which is located at minimum 800 meters over the sea

The Forum 2016 #1 61 blogi BLOG

level. In exceptional cases highland status can also be granted to a settlement located lower than 800 meters over the sea level, based on which Perevi did receive the status of highland village, which is of great importance for local population in all terms, the number of which was 632 persons in 2002 and in 2014 it was - 847. Public school of Perevi faithfully performs its du- ties. Until 1991, Java region villages – Tedeleti, Sina- guri, Tbeti, Kvemo Kardzmani, Zemo Kardzmani, Khakhieti and Jalabeti were tightly connected po- litically, economically and traditionally with Sach- khere, as there were many mixed families of Geor- gians and Ossetians in those villages. Almost nobody knew about this village before melic zRvis donidan aranakleb 800 metris simaRleze mde- the August 2008 war and Georgian and Ossetian bareobs. gamonaklis SemTxvevaSi, am punqtiT gansazRvruli population lived side-by-side in peace. No serious kriteriumebis gaTvaliswinebiT, maRalmTiani dasaxlebis incidents have taken place in Perevi before August statusi SeiZleba zRvis donidan 800 metris simaRleze qveviT 8 2008, despite all the complications present in the mdebare dasaxlebasac mieniWos, ramac ganapiroba perevisTvis country. maRalmTiani dasaxlebis statusis miniWeba, rac yvela Tval- sazrisiT udavod mniSvnelovania aq mcxovrebi mosaxleobi- Russian occupation forces were to move back from saTvis, romelTa ricxvi 2002 wlis aRweriT Seadgenda 632 ada- Perevi village as per the ceasefire agreement of mians. aq 2014 wlis monacemebiT cxovrobs 847 adamiani. August 12 2008, but the village lived under the oc- cupation regime till October 2010. EUMM repre- sofelSi funqcionirebs perevis sajaro skola, romelic da- sentatives were not able to enter the village either. kisrebul movaleobas pirnaTlad asrulebs. After the interference by the Catholicos-Patriarch 1991 wlamde javis raionSi Semavali soflebi - TedeleTi, sina- of All Georgia Ilia II, the occupation forces left the guri, tbeTi, qvemo qarZmani, zemo qarZmani, xaxieTi da jalabe- village, which was reported by media as “the mi- Ti mWidrod da ganuyofelad iyo dakavSirebuli saCxeresTan nor victory of Georgian diplomacy.” Unfortunate- rogorc politikurad, ise ekonomikurad da tradiciulad, ly, after the politically incorrect statements made radgan am soflebSi dRemde Serwymulia qarTvelebisa da os- by the then President Saakashvili, Russia again ebis Sereuli ojaxebi. returned the so called “peacekeeping contingent” to the initial positions after certain period of time. 2008 wlis agvistos omamde saCxerlebis garda am soflis saxe- li TiTqmis aravin icoda, qarTveli da osi mosaxleoba gverdi- I have personally visited Sinagura village at the an- gverd mSvidobianad cxovrobda. miuxedavad saxelmwifoSi ar- cient Georgian land twice, when I went to funerals sebuli sirTuleebisa, perevSi mniSvnelovan incidentebs 2008 of my friends. First I went there at the end of 2008 wlis 8 agvistomde adgili ar hqonia. and the second time in March 2016. Despite the fact that the fire of war was still raging in Octo- 2008 wlis 12 agvistos cecxlis Sewyvetis Sesaxeb SeTanxmebis ber 2008, up to twenty Georgians and I crossed the Tanaxmad, sofeli perevidan saokupacio jarebs ukan unda “border” in vehicles without any problem. As for daexiaT, Tumca 2010 wlis oqtombramde sofeli kvlav saoku- this year’s visit; thanks to the help from an influen- pacio reJimis uRelqveS cxovrobda. iq verc evrokavSiris tial Ossetian relative of the deceased, we were able sadamkvirveblo misiis warmomadgenlebi Sediodnen. magram, to go the funeral of that friend of us. First we went sruliad saqarTvelos kaTolikos-patriarqis ilia II Carevis through the Georgian border-outpost, with the ta- Semdeg, saokupacio jarebi gavidnen, rasac sainformacio sa- ble made out of used tires and in 100 meters there Sualebebma “qarTuli diplomatiis mcire gamarjveba” uwodes. was the Russian checkpoint; the relatively com- samwuxarod, prezident saakaSvilis arapolitkoreqtuli fortable train carriage and some “polite” soldiers. gancxadebis Semdeg, ruseTma ramdenime xanSi Tavisi e. w. „samS- vidobo kontigenti“ daabruna sawyis poziciebze. We walked from Perevi to Sinagura. On the way

62 The Forum 2016 #1 blogi BLOG

axloblebis dakrZalvis gamo piradad orjer gaxldiT ZirZvel qa- we saw several abandoned and two ruined rTul miwaze, sofel sinagurze. pirvelad 2008 wlis bolos, xolo houses. Russian government has constructed meored 2016 wlis martSi. miuxedavad imisa, rom 2008 wlis oqtomb- beautiful Finnish-type houses in those yards erSi kvlav mZvinvarebda omis qarcecxli, ramdenime msubuqi avto- for Ossetian families. manqaniT ocamde qarTveli TiTqmis uproblemod gadavediT „saz- If it was not for the occupational regime, Rus- Rvarze“. rac Seexeba wlevandel vizits. gansvenebulis gavleniani sian political oppression and military inter- osi erovnebis naTesavis wyalobiT, Cveni axloblis dakrZalvaze vention, Georgians and Ossetians would have wavediT. jer iyo saqarTvelos sasazRvro saguSago, sadac moqa- nothing to fight about. They have been work- laqeTa Semowmeba mimdinareobda Ria cis qveS, saburavebiT damza- ing together, creating mixed families and debul saxeldaxelo magidasTan, xolo 100 metrSi idga rusebis raising future generations together for many posti, SedarebiT keTilmowyobili vagoni da „Tavaziani“ jaris- decades. kacebi. Today, they greet all the missed friends with perevidan sinaguramde fexiT viareT. ramdenime mitovebuli da 2 love; Werdaqceuli saxli vnaxeT. ruseTis mTavrobas osi ojaxebisTvis lamazi finuri saxlebi Caudgams ezoebSi. They recall the past and the painful present; rom ara saokupacio reJimi, rom ara ruseTis politikuri zewola Nobody speaks about politics; da samxedro intervencia, qarTvelebsa da osebs gasayofi araferi Everyone is driven by one hope – we will be eqnebodaT. aTeuli wlebia erTad Sromoben, ofls Rvrian, Sereul all means be together again; ojaxebs qmnian, Taobebs zrdian. This is inevitable. dRes ki, monatrebul axloblebs siyvaruliT kiTxuloben; Situation in Perevi is relatively calm now, axseneben warsuls da tkivilian Tanamedroveobas. which is confirmed by the national cuisine politikaze aravin saubrobs. festival organized in the given “borderland” village in September 2014. National dishes erTi imedi amoZravebs yvelas - Cven aucileblad isev erTad from all the regions of Georgia were repre- viqnebiT. sented at the Festival. Different creative es gardauvalia. groups also took part in the Festival and dif- ferent cultural events were held. dRes perevSi SedarebiTi simSvidea, romlis naTel dadasturebas warmoadgens 2014 wlis seqtemberSi am „sazRvrispira“ sofelSi “Hope dies the last” – they say… Catarebuli nacionaluri samzareulos festivali. RonisZiebaze People of Perevi and Sinagura live with hope. yvela kuTxisTvis damaxasiaTebeli kerZebi warmoadgines. festi- valSi aseve monawileobdnen SemoqmedebiTi koleqtivebi, gaimarTa We deeply believe that public diplomacy and sxvadasxva sanaxaoba. the state policy by participation of interna- tional organizations will finally defeat the es- amboben „imedi bolos kvdeba“-o. trangement created between the two nations perevsa da sinagurze xalxi imediT cocxlobs. and Georgia will never again have the unnatu- ral outposts controlled by occupant forces. Cven gvwams, rom saxalxo diplomatia da saxelmwifo politika saerTaSoriso organizaciebis monawileobiT, erT dRes sab- P.S. This article was ready when Sinagura olood daamarcxebs or ers Soris arsebul gaucxoebas da saqarT- Ossetians currently living in Vladikavkaz veloSi aRarasodes iqneba arabunebrivi saguSagoebi, romelsac contacted me and asked me to accompany a okupanti gaakontrolebs. woman with spine pathology to a renowned neurologist and neurosurgeon. This happens P.S. masala mzad iyo, rodesac damikavSirdnen vladikavkazSi 5-6 times a year. This is at least the unique ex- mcxovrebi sinagureli osebi da mTxoves, 7-8 ivniss xerxemlis pression of public diplomacy, i.e. confidence paTologiis mqone qalbatoni cnobil nevrologTan da neiro- in Georgian doctors, confidence in Tbilisi, qirurgTan miviyvano. ase xdeba weliwadSi 5-6 jer. es aris mini- which is to prepare the solid grounds for the mum saxalxo diplomatiis erT-erTi unikaluri gamovlineba, anu reconciliation of Georgian and Ossetian peo- ndoba qarTveli eqimebisadmi, ndoba Tbilisisadmi, ramac unda ples in the unified, powerful and Georgia with moumzados myari niadagi qarTveli da osi xalxis kvlav SeerTebas better perspectives.  erTian, Zlier, ukeTesi perspeqtivis mqone saqarTveloSi. 

The Forum 2016 #1 63 blogi BLOG salome xvadagiani, kulturis kvlevebis doqtoranti ratom aris ruseTi cudi mezobeli anu CrdiloeT kavkasiis faqtori ruseTis samxreTkavkasiur politikaSi

Salome Khvadagiani, PhD student in cultural studies WHY RUSSIA IS A BAD NEIGHBOR OR THE NORTH CAUCASUS FACTOR IN RUSSIA’S POLICY IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS ruseTi cudi mezobelia. Cven, qarTvelebma, es viciT. somxebmac ician. magram ra vqnaTo, mxrebs iCeCen, azerbai- jani kidev ufro cudi mezobeliao. saqarTvelos ufro cudi mezobeli ar hyavs. albaT ufro sabednierod. ra Tqma unda, ar vTvli mosaxleobis im nawils, romelic Russia is a bad neighbor. We, Georgians know it. Ar- sorosisgan qarTvelobis warTmevas, dasavleTisgan seq- menians know it too; but they shrug their shoulders say- sualuri orientaciis Secvlas, TurqeTisgan ki rwmenis ing what they can do as Azerbaijan is even the worse dakargvas elis. yvela sxva danarCenisTvis axalgazrda neighbor for them. Georgia does not have a worse kacis mkvleloba saqarTvelos kontrolirebad terito- neighbor; which is probably fortunate too. Of course, I riaze rusi jariskacis mier ruseTis bralia da ara dasav- do not mean the part of population that expects taking leTis. away of Georgian identity by Soros, change of sexual orientation from the West and losing of faith from Tur- mas Semdeg, rac gavarkvieT, rom ruseTi cudi mezobelia, key. For everyone else, murder of a young man by the axla gvrCeba ufro mniSvnelovani kiTxva - ratom aris ru- Russian soldier, at the Georgia-controlled territory is seTi cudi mezobeli? the responsibility of Russia and not the West. pasuxi bevrnairia. gabrazebul gulze daweril mraval Since we have cleared that Russia is the bad neighbor, mosazrebas SexvdebiT. rom gavaerTianoT da Tan cen- now we have to answer another, more important ques- zurac davicvaT, davarqvaT ruseTis grinCuli xasiaTi. tion – Why is Russia the bad neighbor? anu ruseTs ubralod ar SeuZlia aitanos mezobeli qvey- nis warmateba da midrekilia periodulad Caidinos boro- The answers may vary. One can read many different ti saqmeebi. sakmarisia evropisken ufro qmediTi nabijebi opinions written with an angry heart. If we summarize gadavdgaT, ruseTi mavneblobs samezobloSi. am mosaz- those and act according to censorship, we can call it the rebis momxreebma SegiZliaT kiTxva aRar ganagrZoT. im Grinch-like character of Russia. This means that Rus- ramdenime kacisTvis, visac ruseTi mteri hgonia, magram sia just cannot put up with the success of a neighboring mTlad grinCobis axsnac ar akmayofilebs, ganvagrZob. country and is inclined to commit evil deeds periodical- ly. The moment we take more effective steps towards CrdiloeT kavkasiis faqtori gavlenas axdens ruseTis Europe, Russia’s harmfulness in the neighborhood mavneblobaze samxreT kavkasiaSi. rogor? activates too. Those who support the aforementioned pirveli - rusi sazogadoebis damokidebuleba zogadad opinion can stop reading here; but for those several in- kavkasiis mimarT. dividuals who believe that Russia is an enemy, but are not satisfied with the Grinch-like character explanation, miuxedavad bevri mtkicebisa, rom gadawyvetilebebis I will continue. miRebaSi xalxi ar aris CarTuli, umravlesobis damokide- bulebas angariSi yovelTvis eweva, maT Soris rusuli The North Caucasus factor influences Russia’s harm- demokratiis pirobebSic. ruseTSi ki mosaxleobis um- fulness in the South Caucasus. How? ravlesobis damokidebuleba kavkasiis mimarT mkveTrad First – Russian public attitude towards the Caucasus uaryofiTia. CrdiloeT kavkasia asocirdeba omTan, ter- in general. Despite many claims, people are not in- orizmTan, areulobasa da dezintegraciis safrTxesTan. volved in the decision making process, the attitude of samxreT kavkasias ki am safrTxis potenciur xelSemwyo- the majority of population is always considered, even bad ganixilaven. in the Russian democratic conditions. Meanwhile, the

64 The Forum 2016 #1 blogi BLOG

levada centris mier Catarebulma gamokiTxvam aCvena, attitude of Russian population towards the Caucasus is rom mosaxleobis mxolod 2% grZnobs Tavs usafrTxod clearly negative. The North Caucasus is associated for CrdiloeT kavkasiasTan mimarTebaSi. es imas niSnavs, rom them with war, terrorism, disorder and disintegration mSvidobiani mosaxleobis absolituri umravlesoba threats. The South Caucasus is considered to be the SiSiT adevnebs Tvals viTarebas. da ra SeuZlia gamoi- potential supporter of those threats. wvios am SiSma? berTrand raseli (Bertrand Russell) erTgan Research conducted by Levada-Center has shown that werda, koleqtiuri SiSi ayalibebs brbos instiqts, ro- only 2% of Russian population feels themselves secure melic midrekilia Zaladobrivad moeqces yvelas, vinc in relation to the North Caucasus. This means that ab- misi wevri ar aris, da ruseTSic ase ganviTarda movle- solute majority of the peaceful population observes the nebi, momravlda mofaSisto dajgufebebi, kavkasielebze situation with fear. What can this fear result in? Ber- Tavdasxmebi da a.S. yvela qmedeba, romelic CrdiloeT trand Russell has written that the collective fear devel- kavkasiaSi wesrigis damyarebas emsaxureba an ifuTeba am ops the crowd instinct, which is inclined to be violent ukanasknelze apelirebiT, maT Soris samxreT kavkasiis towards everyone who is not its members; events have mimarT eqspansionisturi politika, sruli mxardaWeriT been developing in Russia the same way; number of sargeblobs amomrCevelSi. isev da isev raselis koleqti- Fascist groups and attacks on Caucasians has increased. uri SiSidan gamomdinare.

Cemi mizani ar aris samxreT kavkasiidan momavali safrTx- All the actions aimed at keeping order in the North Cau- is realoba-utopiurobis kvleva. mTavari, razec minda casus or represented as such, including the expansionist yuradReba gavamaxvilo is aris, rom CrdiloeT kavkasiaSi policy in the South Caucasus, are fully supported by arastabilurobis safrTxe CrdiliviT adgeba samxreT the voters. Yet again, it is the result of Russell’s col- kavkasiasTan SedarebiT konstruqciuli qcevis sur- lective fear. vils. mosaxleobisa da politikuri speqtris did nawils gulwrfelad sjera samxreT kavkasiisa da gansakuTrebiT Our aim is not to study the reality-utopianism of the saqarTvelos destruqciuli rolis ruseTis federaciis threats coming from the South Caucasus. I would like samxreT nawilSi. es ukve aRar aris ubralod ukana ezoSi to focus attention on the fact that the threat of instability areuloba, xazi esmeba destabilizacias TviTon saxlis from the North Caucasus casts the shadow on the desire

The Forum 2016 #1 65 blogi BLOG

SigniT. of relatively constructive behavior by the South Caucasus. Russian population and major part amdenad, SigniT arsebuli separatistebis dasaSoSmineblad of the political spectrum honestly believe in the moskovi aqtiur politikas axorcielebs farglebs gareT. rac destructive role of the South Caucasus and es- ufro mwared aisaxeba samxreT kavkasiis urC qveyanaze moqneu- pecially of Georgia in the southern part of Rus- li TaTi, miT kargi magaliTi iqneba es federaciis SigniT da- sian Federation. It is not an ordinary disorder in moukideblobaze meocnebe separatistebisTvis. the backyard anymore; destabilization inside the meore - ruseTis TviTaRqma, rogorc a besieged fortress surround- home is being emphasized. ed by enemies. rusi sazogadoeba sakuTar Tavs da saxelmwifos Thus, for subduing the internal separatists, Mos- aRiqvams, rogorc alyaSemortymul cixesimagres da misi ga- cow implements active policy outside of its bor- darCenisTvis aucilebelia sazRvrebTan maqsimalurad did ders. The harder the paw will hit the rebellious teritoriaze buferuli sivrcis an ruseTis megobari anu countries of the South Caucasus, the clearer ex- ruseTze damokidebuli (megobroba ase esmiT) sateliti sax- ample it will for the separatists dreaming about elmwifoebis arseboba. anu ruseTis sazRvarTan ase axlos da- independence within the Federation. moukidebeli sagareo politikis gatareba dauSvebelia. Tav- dacviTi realizmi yuradRebas amaxvilebs usafrTxoebisa da Second – Russia’s self-perception as a besieged gadarCenis imperativebze. am paradigmis momxreebi ruseTis fortress surrounded by enemies. Russian soci- sagareo politikas kavkasiaSi ganixilaven usafrTxoebidan ga- ety perceives itself and the state as a besieged momdinare, magaliTad, rogorc mcdelobas Tavidan aicilos fortress when for survival it is necessary to have omi sazRvrebTan an ar misces mtrulad ganwyobil samxedro the buffer zones or satellite countries, which alianss, natos, saqarTvelos satelitad gamoyenebis ufleba. hare Russia’s friends or are dependent on Russia (that’s how they understand friendship) at maxi- Cndeba kiTxva - Tu samxreT kavkasiaSi natos Sesvla da ruse- mally large territories around the borders. This Tis sazRvrebTan am ukanasknelis daaxloeba aseTi didi prob- means, implementation of independent foreign lemaa, ratom ar ganicdian rusebi ase mtkivneulad natosTan policy so close to Russian borders is inadmissi- aqamde arsebul baltiispireTis qveynebze gamaval sazRvrebs? ble. Defense realism focuses on the imperatives ruseTis mmarTvel elitas amaze martivi pasuxi aqvs - ubralod of security and survival. Supporters of the given ruseTs ar surs iq miuaxlovdes nato, sadac saxelmwifo sus- paradigm consider Russia’s foreign policy in the Caucasus based on security considerations; for example, as an attempt to avoid war at its bor- ders or not to allow the hostile military alliance NATO to use Georgia as its satellite. Now comes the question – if NATO extension to the South Caucasus and its closing to Russian borders is such a big problem, then why are not Russians so sensitive to the borders with NATO existing with Baltic countries? Russian govern- ing elite has very simple answer to that – Rus- sia just does not want neighborhood with NATO where the country is weak, i.e. it is unacceptable for Russia to have potentially explosive North Caucasus facing NATO and being under the sphere of influence of the USA. Third – less powerful than the previous two tia, anu misTvis miuRebelia feTqebadsaSiSi CrdiloeT kavka- factors, but not so weak to not have influence – sia natos pirispir da amerikis gavlenis sferoSi aRmoCndes. North Ossetia and Cherkess identity. da mesame, wina orTan SedarebiT naklebad mZlavri, Tumca arc After the collapse of the Soviet Union, all the ise naklebad, gavlenas rom ver axdendes - CrdiloeT oseTi da ethnic groups that used to be part of the empire Cerqezuli identoba. gained ambitions to be independent. Cherkess sabWoTa kavSiris daSlis Semdeg imperiaSi Semaval yvela eT- nationalism grew stronger in the Northern Cau- nikur jgufs garkveuli ambiciebi gauCnda damoukideblo- casus. Russian ruling forces realized that the

66 The Forum 2016 #1 blogi BLOG

basTan dakavSirebiT. CrdiloeT kavkasiaSi Cerqezuli na- weakened Federation would not be able to resist the cionalizmic ikrebda Zalebs. ruseTis mmarTvel wreebSi aggression of the North Caucasus peoples. Thus, it kargad xvdebodnen, rom dasustebuli federacia ver Se- was necessary to direct that aggression towards some- Zlebda Crdilo kavkasielTa agresiis Sekavebas. amdenad, one else and as some else, Russia chose Georgia. The misi mimarTva aucilebeli iyo vinmes winaaRmdeg da am vinmed Cherkessians volunteered for the war in Abkhazia ruseTma gamoiyena saqarTvelo. Cerqezebi moxaliseebad and fought “for the freedom of Abkhazian brothers.” ewerebodnen afxazeTis omSi da ibrZodnen „afxazi Zmebis The given maneuver made it possible to temporarily TavisuflebisTvis“. am manevrma SeZlo ruseTis winaaRmdeg postpone the fights against Russia. The still unstable brZolebi droebiT gadavadebuliyo. dRemde arastabiluri North Caucasus sensitively observes Russian foreign CrdiloeT kavkasia Zalian mgrZnobiared uyurebs ruseTis policy in relation to Abkhazia; and Russia, oriented sagareo politikas afxazeTis mimarT. status kvos SenaCu- at preserving the status-quo, attempts to maximally nebaze orientirebuli ruseTi ki cdilobs CerqezTa gaRiz- avoid irritation of the Cherkessians. ianeba maqsimalurad airidos Tavidan. As for North Ossetia, their emotional attitude towards rac Seexeba CrdiloeT oseTs, pirvel rigSi, xazi unda Tskhinvali region must primarily be emphasized. Ac- gaesvas maT emociur damokidebulebas cxinvalis regionis cording to the head of North Ossetia (during 2005- mimarT. CrdiloeT oseTis mmarTvelis (2005– 2015 wlebSi) 2015) Mamsurov, in case of worsening of the scenar- Teimuraz mamsurovis gancxadebiT, scenaris gauaresebis io he would not be able to restrain the North Ossetian SemTxvevaSi, is ver SeZlebs, Seakavos CrdiloeT oseTis population and to prohibit them to protect South Os- mosaxleoba da aukrZalos maT samxreT oseTis mkvidrTa setian population. According to him, it should not be dacva. misi TqmiT, ar unda mieces daviwyebas is faqti, rom forgotten that the same ethnic group lives in North CrdiloeTi da samxreTi oseTi dasaxlebulia erTi eTni- and South Ossetias. kuri jgufiT. The following question arises: to what extent does Cndeba kiTxva: ramdenad aqcevs yuradRebas ruseTi am gan- Russia pay attention to such attitudes in North Os- wyobebs CrdiloeT oseTSi? setia? osebi erTaderTi prorusulad ganwyobili, qristiani xalx- Ossetians are the only pro-Russian, Christian nation ia agresiulad ganwyobil CrdiloeT kavkasiaSi, amdenad, in the aggressive North Caucasus; thus, for Russia it ruseTisTvis mniSvnelovania ar dakargos am ukanasknelTa is important not to lose the benevolence of the lat- keTilganwyoba. ruseTis sagareo politika samxreT kavkasi- ter. Russian foreign policy in South Caucasus is often is mimarT xSirad ganicdis am faqtoridan momdinare wnexs. under pressure due to the aforementioned factor. So, amdenad, didi survilis arsebobis SemTxvevaSic, ruseTs even if they wanted it, Russia would have problems gauWirdeboda raime daTmobaze wasvla e.w. samxreT oseTis with agreeing to any concessions directed against the interesebis sazianod, CrdiloeT oseTTan urTierTobis interests of the so called South Ossetia without wors- gafuWebis gareSe. ening relations with North Ossetia. ra Tqma unda, Cemi mizani ar aris mkiTxveli davarwmuno Certainly, I do not aim to convince the readers that TiTqos ruseTs imperiuli miznebi ar gaaCnia mezoblebis Russia does not have imperial goals in view of its mimarT da misi eqspansionisturi sagareo politika samxreT neighbors and that its expansionistic foreign policy kavkasiisadmi mxolod TavdacviTi reaqciaa. ubralod, Seve- towards the South Caucasus is only the defensive cade gverdiT gadamedo e.w. rusul xasiaTze apelireba da reaction. I have just attempted to put aside the ap- yuradReba gamemaxvilebina arsebuli antagonizmis gamom- peals to the so called Russian character and to focus wvev sxva obieqtur mizezebzec, maT Soris, CrdiloeT ka- on other objective reasons of existing antagonism, vkasiasTan dakavSirebuli terorizmisa da dezintegraciis including the terrorism and disintegration threats safrTxeze, CrdiloeT oseTidan wamosul wnexsa da Cerq- related to the North Caucasus, the pressure coming ezul identobasTan dakavSirebul problemebze. radgan from North Ossetia and problems related to Cherkes- faqtia, saqarTveloze yurebamde Seyvarebuli kacic rom sian identity. It is a fact that even if a man deeply gaxdes ruseTis prezidenti, qarTvelTaTvis sasurveli in love with Georgia becomes Russian President, he politikis gatareba masac gauWirdeba zemoT ganxiluli will also have problems with implementing the policy obieqturi mizezebis gamo.  favorable to Georgians, due to all the aforementioned objective reasons. 

The Forum 2016 #1 67 mwerloba PROSE

tamerlan Tadtaevi / Tamerlan Tadtaev

Svili / THE SON

... roca srola daiwyo, me da xriaki mdinare liaxvis marcxena sanapirosken gaviqeciT. xriaki Cveni avtomatiT moqroda, me ki asxmuli tyviebis yuTs movagruxunebdi. - ra sicxea! - Tqva xriakma, roca Zveli xidi gadavirbineT. - modi vibanavoT! - gagiJdi?! - vupasuxe qoSiniTa da gaxSirebuli sunTqviT, - naxe, ra WuWyiani wyalia! garSemo tyviebi daqroda, ukan ki Wurvebi feTqdeboda. erTi ...When the shooting started Khriak and I ran to the suli mqonda sabavSvo baRSi rodis movxvdebodiT, saidanac left bank of Liakhvi River. Khriaki was running with kargad Canda qarTvelebis ganlageba. our machinegun and I was rattling the box with bullets. - fexebze mkidia! - yviroda dauokebeli xriaki. - ukana gzaze - It’s so hot! – Khriak said after we ran over an old mainc CavyvinTav liaxvSi! bridge. – Come on, let’s have a swim! ucbad gaCerda da zurgiT dadga tyisken, saidanac isrodnen. - Are you out of your mind?! – I replied in shortness of mere daixara, ukanaliT viTom iaraRs asaxierebda da mowi- breath. – Look at that dirty water! naaRmdeges esroda. me yviTel rvasarTulians mivuaxlovdi Bullets were blowing around us and shells kept ex- da ukve iqidan vuyurebdi am jambazs. gulwrfelad vambob, ploding behind us. I couldn’t wait to get to the kinder- makankalebda, roca ase iqceoda. ai misi safirmo nomeric: garten, as there was a good view of Georgian positions xriaki xidis moajirze Zvreba, Tan Cveni avtomatiT! - da from there… masze gadis, rogorc akrobati. magram akrobats ar esvrian, roca Tokze gadis; is ar gadmovardeba ocmetriani simaRli- - I don’t give a damn! – Khriak shouted. – I will dive dan da ar Cavardeba mTis gaSmagebul mdinareSi; da mas taSs into Liakhvi on our way back anyway! ukraven mayureblebi. amasTanave is dazRveulia. magram Sen Suddenly he stopped and turned his back to the forest xom ar xar akrobati, Seni deda vatire! TiTqos Cems gaSiS- from which they were shooting at us. He bent over and vlebul nervebs abijeb da mec Seni erTaderTi mayurebeli pretended to be shooting at the enemy with his bottom. var (ratomRac ar Canan marcxena napiris biWebi), romelic I neared the yellow eight-floor apartment house and aucileblad wamogartyamda TavSi, rom ar eSinodes samagie- looked at that clown from there. Honestly, I always ros miRebis. shivered when he used to act like that. There comes - Sen riTi xar dazRveuli, xriak? his special show: Khriak climbs up the bridge railings while holding our machinegun! – he goes along the - sakuTari sigiJiT - ai riTi! ai, rogori megobari Semxvda: railings like an acrobat; but acrobats are not being shot nebismier wams SeiZleba mowydes qveviT Tavisi avtomatiT at when they walk on a rope; they will not fall off from xelSi. SeiZleba ver iTmens, ise unda, rom Tevzebis sakvebad 20-meter height and will not fall into the roaring moun- iqces, magram iaraRs ratomRa Ziravs? tain river; end at the end they get applauses. Adding to SvebiT amovisunTqe, roca xriaki moajiridan Camoxta da that, they are insured. But you are no acrobat you son mopirdapire orsarTulian aguris saxlSi Sevida, gzis iqi- of a gun! It’s like you are stepping on my bare nerves Ta mxares. omamade am Senobis pirvel sarTulze sakomisio while I’m your only spectator. Somehow, there are maRazia iyo. xandaxan Sevdiodi xolme da damtveril pal- no boys from the left bank; they would by all means toebs vuyurebdi. Tumca xandaxan tyavis qurTukebic mxvde- slap you in a face if they weren’t afraid of the payback. boda, magram ara Cemi zomis. ara, vityuebi, ubralod fuli What is your insurance Khriak? Your own madness – ar mqonda, Torem aucileblad viyiddi aseT axal nivTs - that’s what it is! This is the kind of friend I have made: ufro swored, Zvelmans, - da saRamos moedanze moviwonebdi at any second he can fall down with our machinegun Tavs. axla iq sabrZolo masalebis sawyobia. xriaki saxlidan in his hand. Yes, maybe he is impatient to become fish gamovida tyviebis asxmiT. food, but why is he sacrificing our weapon?! - asfalti dneba, - damwuxrebulma Sexeda Tavis botasebs da Finally I sighed in relief; Khriak jumped down from the railings and went into the two-floor brick house,

68 The Forum 2016 #1 mwerloba PROSE

Tqva. - ara, naxe, rogor iZireba fexebi? on the other side of the road. Before the war that was the consignment shop on the first floow of that build- samxedro komisariatis naxevari verxvebSi iZireboda, rom- ing. I used to go in there from time to time to look lis mwvervalebic qaris nebismier Sexebaze irxeodnen. park- through dusty coats. Sometimes I could even find Si SevediT, suli rom mogveTqva ukanaskneli marSis win. leather jackets, but not my size. No, I’m lying; I just - biWebi sad arian? - sad daimalnen? ikiTxa xriakma. never had enough money, or I would buy such new, no used, jacket for sure and would show off on the square tyviebis asxma miwaze dayara da masze dajda. avtomati in the evening. Now there’s the ammo storage in that moxril muxlebze daido. building. Khriak came out of the house with a pack - albaT dakrZalvaze, - gavifiqre. movisakliseT guSin, -im of bullets. brZolis Semdeg. - Asphalt is melting – Khriak sadly looked at his sneak- - „ruxsag uT lappuTa“ (naTelSi iyaviT, biWebo), - sevdianad ers and added – See how my feet are going into it? Tqva xriakma. - gaxsovs, boloebi gamovediT da jer ar vi- Half of the military commissariat was in poplar trees, codiT danakargis Sesaxeb?.. the tops of which fluctuated at every blow of wing. mis ybedobas ar vusmendi. brZolis win yovelTvis mofsmis We entered the park to catch a breath before the final survili miCndeboda, magram ar vCqarobdi da Cems gulisce- march. mas vusmendi. ucbad garSemo ferebi ufro mkveTri gaxda, - Where are the guys? – Khriak asked – Where have Crdilebi - ufro muqi. Semdeg ki es yvelaferi erT yavisfer they hidden? gorgolaWSi aiblanda, saidanac gamoCxerili iyo ramdenime fexi daxeul botasebSi. fexebi CiCotkas cekvavdnen, burTi He dropped the pack of bullets on the ground and set ki Cems garSemo daxtoda. irgvliv surneli idga balaxis, on it. He put the machinegun on his knees. wvimis Semdeg jer kidev ar gamSrali miwis, verxvebis, rom- - Probably on the funeral – I guessed – We’ve lost lebic burtylebs yridnen, da es yvelaferi nestoebSi miZ- many during yesterday TEK battle. vreboda; TiTqos Tavad buneba cdilobda, rom cxovrebis surneli SemegrZno, albaT savaraudo sikvdilis win. maZa- - Rukhsag ut lapputa (rest in peace boys) – Khriak said sadly. – Remember we were the last ones to come out and didn’t even know how many we have lost… I didn’t listen to his chatter. I always wanted to pee be- fore every battle, but I didn’t haste and listened to my own heartbeat. Suddenly all the colors around sharp- ened and shadows became darker; after everything turned into the brown whirlpool, with several feet in torn sneakers sticking out of it. The feet tap danced. There was the scent of grass, of the ground drying after rain, the poplar trees. It was like the nature itself tried to make me feel the scent of life; probably before my death. I was shivering like in fever. All my senses intensified sharply. We must leave! – I was thinking – Or I will go crazy! I looked at Khriak, who went on chattering… - Shut up! – I shouted – Let’s go! - Screw you! – Khriak smiled and got up. I almost went deaf from the sound of gunshots; I think Khriak was wounded and even got contusion, as I heard the sound of the shell and he didn’t. - Khriak lay down, it’s a shell! – I shouted at him and dropped down in a pond of water. I didn’t hear the sound of explosion, but felt how somebody laid over my back.

The Forum 2016 #1 69 mwerloba PROSE

gZagebda, rogorc cieb-cxelebis dros. Cemi mgrZnobeloba - It was me whistling – I heard Khriak say – You know saSinlad gamZafrda. why women run away from you? Because you keep slouching; but I’ll correct that now. „unda wavideT! - vfiqrobdi me. - ho, Torem gavgiJdebi!“ xriaks Sevxede, romelic jer kidev raRacas laparakobda... He went on jumping on my back for some time and asking how I was feeling. - mokete! - davuyvire. - wavediT! It was a payback. I did the same to him once; but at - wadi Seni! - gaeRima xriaks da wamodga. that moment he was doing pushups… lamis davyruvdi srolis xmisgan, xriaki mgoni daiWra da Tan We heard the whistling sound once more when we kantuziac miiRo, radgan me gavige naRmis stvena, man ki vera. closed the school, which was all in ruins. - xriak, daweqi, naRmia! - davuyvire da gavweqi gubeSi. - This isn’t funny anymore – I said – I never laugh at afeTqebis xma ver gavige, magram vigrZeni, Tu rogor damawva the same joke twice… viRac zurgze.

- me vustvendi, - xriakis xma mesmis, - ici, qalebi ratom garb- The explosion threw me away. ian Sengan? imitom, rom mokuzuli xar. magram axla gagas- woreb. Khriak put me over his shoulder and dragged me to the hospital like that. It was like he totally went crazy. cota xani daxtoda Cems zurgze da mekiTxeboda, rogor He was beating doctors and nurses when they tried to vgrZnobdi Tavs. explain something to him. He kept running up to the samagiero gadamixada. adre mec igive gavukeTe, Tumca maSin surgical table, convincing me that there was nothing to is azidvebsac akeTebda. worry about as one of the best surgeons would be there soon. “The best surgeon” came and Khriak pointed the stvenis xma kidev erTxel gavigeT krivis skolasTan miax- gun to his head, because of which he cut my stomach loebisas, romlisganac mxolod kedlebi iyo darCenili. with shivering hand. The doctor did not mess with my - es ukve sisulelea, - vTqvi me. - erT xumrobaze orjer ar intestines for lone. The moment Khriak left the room icinian. and the doctor ran away, leaving my stomach cut open. afeTqebisgan sadRac gadavvardi da zed miwac dameyara. After some time they took me home. Mother was re- buking me: - I knew you would finish like this, son. xriakma zurgze momikida da ase mimaTria saavadmyofomde. TiTqos gagiJda. cemda eqimebs da meddebs, roca isini cdi- People, look what they have done to him! You have

70 The Forum 2016 #1 mwerloba PROSE

lobdnen, rame aexsnaT misTvis. yovel wuTs morboda saopera- always been disobedient and did everything for cio magidasTan da marwmunebda, rom sanerviulo araferi iyo, breaking my heart. Every time you ran away from radgan male CemTan saukeTeso qirurgi movidoda. „saukeTeso home with a machinegun I would think it was the qirurgi“ movida da xriakma iaraRi Sublze miado, ris gamoc last time, but once you returned I was proud of hav- man akankalebuli xeliT gamiWra muceli. eqimi arc ise didxans ing such a son. When there was news in Tskhinvali iqeqeboda Cems nawlavebSi. sakmarisi iyo xriaki gasuliyo saop- about somebody killed and you weren’t at home, I eraciodan, rom eqimic gaiqca da gadaxsnili mucliT damtova. would run like a crazy to find out the name of the deceased. Finally I had enough, I got tired and my raRaca drois Semdeg, saxlSi momiyvanes, dedaCemi mkicxavda: - heart froze. I don’t even have tears left to cry for vicodi, rom ase daamTavrebdi, Svilo. xalxno, naxeT, ra uqnes! you, ma khiabul (my son). Wish you would at least yovelTvis daumorCilebeli iyavi da yvelafers akeTebdi, rom marry someone. Remember I even chose a good CemTvis guli getkina. yovel jerze, roca avtomatiT xelSi girl for you? You didn’t like her for some reason. garbodi saxlidan, ukve gasaflavebdi da gemSvidobebodi, ma- The girl that you loved left from here. You still gram sakmarisi iyo dabrunebuliyavi, rom vamayobdi aseTi vaJi wanted to win her heart by being heroic. You were rom myavs. roca cxinvalSi xma gavardeboda, rom viRac mokles a hero but her parents hated you. They would never da Sen saxlSi ar iyavi, SeSliliviT davrbodi saxelis gasagebad. let you marry her. They are rich and who are you? magram mere mombezrda, daviRale da gulic gamiqvavda. crem- They said so much bad about you, ma khiabul! lebic ki aRar damrCa rom dagitiro, ma xiabul (Cemo Svilo). They called you murderer and drug-addict, because coli mainc mogeyvana, gogonac SegirCie maSin, gaxsovs? magram you kept drinking medicines and many thought ratomRac ar mogewona. is ki, romelic giyvarda, aqedan wavida. your bravery was not real. They would never think Sen ki mainc gindoda misi gulis mogeba gmirobebiT. Sen iyavi that you had heart problems. You kept those medi- gmiri, magram mis mSoblebs sZuldi. mainc ar mogayvaninebdnen cines in your pocket because you would need them colad. isini xom mdidrebi arian da Sen vin xar? uqonelis vaJi. during battles. Can I show them? Can you see this? ras aRar laparakobdnen Senze, ma xiabul! Sen mkvlels da nar- komans geZaxdnen, imitom rom wamlebs ylapavdi da Seni simamace On the second day mother told me that I smelled bevrs aradamajereblad eCveneboda. very badly and it would be better if they would nail down the lid of the coffin that I lay in. Khriak didn’t aravis mouvidoda TavSi, rom avadmyofi guli gaqvs. am wamlebs even want to listen to it, but after spending whole jibeSi imitom atarebdi, rom Setevis dros dagWirdeboda. Sei- night with me and the boys in one room he agreed Zleba vaCveno? xedavT? to it. They buried me in the yard of the School #5. meore dRes dedam miTxra, rom saSinlad vyardi da ukeTesi iqne- The tired guys put up their machineguns and fired boda, Tu kubos, romelSic Camdebdnen, saxuravs CaaWedebdnen. whole rounds. xriaks amis gagonebac ar surda, magram Semdeg, roca mTeli Rame Epilogue CemTan da biWebTan erT oTaxSi gaatara, igive azramde mivida. mexuTe skolis ezoSi damasaflaves. daRlilma biWebma avto- The cemetery where my bones were buried grew matebi cisken aRmarTes da gamocales. bigger. Especially during the war, when our con- flict reached its apogee. Number of those saluting epilogi in the memory of the dead decreased from day to sasaflao, sadac Cemi Zvlebi iyo damarxuli, TandaTan izrde- day and the number of tombstones increased. Of boda. gansakuTrebiT omis dros, roca erTmaneTSi saqmis gar- course they brought coffins from Abkhazia and Cevam apogeas miaRwia. yovel jerze ufro iklebda salutis ms- North Ossetia too, but not that many. The God of rolelTa ricxvi, xolo saflavis qvebis - izrdeboda. ra Tqma War had mercy on us there. Fighters wanted to be unda, afxazeTidan da CrdiloeT oseTidanac Camoitanes ku- buried at the given cemetery of the school, as it boebi, Tumca cota. iq omis RmerTma dagvindo. meomrebi skolis was an honor and all the guys around were friends. am sasaflaoze moxvedras cdilobdnen, radgan aq dakrZalva The deceased crowded the school and there was no ufro did pativad iTvleboda da biWebic sul nacnobebi iyvnen. place left for new graves, so the Zguderi cemetery gardacvlilebma skola Seaviwroves da ukve aRarsad iyo dasa- “reopened” again. They used to come to visit our marxi adgili, amitom zRuderis sasaflao isev „amuSavda“. Ta- graves at first, but later they also laid beside us and vidan Cven saflavebze modiodnen. magram momsvlelebic Cvens the grass grew on our graves…  gverdiT Cawvnen da sasaflaoebzec balaxi amovida. 

The Forum 2016 #1 71 poezia POETRY

c i c i n o

b a b u c i Z e Tsitsino Babutsidze

yvelaferi SeiZleba iyos meoradi, samSoblos garda! feradi sizmrebiT zogs guli vaCuqe, vcxovrob... Everything can be second-hand, zogs - Tirkmeli, varsebob _ Except of your homeland! zogs - suli... Sav-TeTri Tavad ki, dRiT! gaZarcvuli, samSoblo nasaxlarad qceul sxeulSi, I live in colorful mdgmuriviT vcxovrob... wuxelis leqsze vimSobiare!.. dreams… ver varqvi daviT... But exits in black- I have given out my heart to some, da verc Tamari, and-white day! My kidney to some, radganac leqsi iyo ubadlo My soul to some… da is ar hgavda And now I live in my own body, qveynad aravis... Like a lodger or some… Cemi samSoblo! _ davarqvi am leqss, warmosaTqmelad xandaxan, Tbili, advili... rogor Cemi samSoblo, menatreba axla wigniT unda vataro, uadamiano ar mimatova leqsma radgan amqveynad, ar datoves miwa!... misTvis adgili! yvela mivatove, yvelam mimatova, Sometimes, I Ralati gveqca wesad, Homeland miss the earth magram madli ufals, Without magram, madli, ufals, I gave birth to a poem last night!… HUMANS!... rom ar mimatova leqsma! Couldn’t name it David or Tamar, As the poem was one of its kind, Poem hasn’t left me Not looking like anyone else… My Homeland! Everyone left me, everyone left me, That’s how I have named it, Betrayal has become our habit, So easy and warm to say it out loud… But thanks to the Lord, Now I carry my homeland in book, But thanks to the Lord, As they haven’t left place for it otherwise! The poem hasn’t left me!

72 The Forum 2016 #1