Putin offers alternative ‘historic facts’ on how Georgia ‘occupied’ Tskhinvali, Abkhazia regions
The Georgian government says that Russia’s account of history is biased.Photo: Kremlin.ru.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his own explanation of how Georgia “engulfed” the currently Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.
Speaking with the Russian media Putin said that South Ossetia joined the Russian Empire in the 18th century, while Abkhazia became a part of it in 1810.
When the Russian Empire was crumbling after World War I, Georgia attempted to engulf Abkhazia. An independent Georgian state was formed that occupied Abkhazia in 1918, assisted by the German troops. And the occupants behaved brutally," TASS cited Putin as saying.
Putin said that "actually, this is what is called genocide today.”
The international community is urging Russia to vithdraw its troops from histpric lands of Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
He said that the Georgian government is well aware of this and “we must not forget about it if the current Georgian authorities want to improve the relations with Abkhaz and South Ossetian people.”
Putin also recalled “tension” between Abkhazia and Georgia in the beginning of the last century.
At Joseph Stalin’s request, the Soviet People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs headed by Lavrenti Beria took a few steps regarding the Abkhaz people, very brutal, I don’t even want to draw examples now, for Georgia to absorb this territory and its people," Putin said.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze and Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated that “it is not the first time when Russia tries to fake history.”
We have heard an absolutely wrong interpretation of historic events. We are proud of our history. Europe is also proud of Georgian history and the day will come when together with our Abkhaz and Ossetian brothers we will build a strong and united country,” Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze said.
Zalkaliani said that the statement is an example of presenting historical facts in a “biased and an incorrect way.”
Georgian PM says that the "historic facts" provided by Putin are fake. Photo: Prime Minister's press office.
There are numerous materials proving Abkhazia and Tskhinvali have been historical parts of Georgia.
The arrival and settling of North Caucasian tribes on Georgian territory started in the 15th -17th centuries. One of such tribes made a settlement in the Abkhazia region as they faced problems in the North Caucasus.
South Ossetia is a historic Georgian area of Samachablo, where Ossetians settled in the 17th century, as many historians say.
Since the Russia-Georgia 2008 war only Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria have recognised the regions as independent states.
The rest of the international community says that Abkhazia and Tskhinvali are integral parts of Georgia and that currently they are occupied by Russia.
‘I wouldn’t do that out of respect for the Georgian people’
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The Russian State Duma adopted a statement at a plenary session today, urging the government of Russia to impose tough economic sanctions on Georgia and halt the import of wine and mineral waters from Georgia to the Russian Federation and put in place a ban on remittances from Russia.
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The human rights defender Sopho Verdzeuli said the Tbilisi protest of June 20 in front of the parliament of Georgia “became violent” after around 10 p.m. “Quite a lot of demonstrators were physically attacking police officers from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., grabbing their equipment, pulling police officers out of the cordon”, Verdzeuli wrote on her Facebook page.
Russian citizens have held a rally in front of the Georgian parliament building today, saying that Georgians’ anti-occupation protests are justified and that they do not share the attitude of the Kremlin on many issues regarding Georgia.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkalinai says that Georgia is proud of its centuries-long tolerance to various religious minorities living in the country, stating that Russia harshly violates religious rights and freedom of the Georgian citizens living in the currently occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.
The Georgian Embassy to Germany has sent an official letter to the German Public Broadcaster and the author of a seven-minute TV story which stated incorrect and distorted historic claims about Georgia’s Russian occupied region of Abkhazia, saying that the territory “was handed to Georgia by the head of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to allocate funds for the “modernisation” of the armed forces of Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia region, Russian media RIA Novosti reports. RIA Novosti reads that earlier Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and “his Abkhaz counterpart” Merab Kishmaria agreed on the development of military-technical cooperation and the modernisation of the ‘Abkhaz army.’
The Georgian Patriarchate said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent explanation of how Georgia “engulfed” the currently Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions “has caused a negative reaction among our people”. "Such distortion of historic facts continues to deepen the existing conflicts”, the Patriarchate said.
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili announced today that she is paying close attention to the developments in the Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia. State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili spoke of the situation in Sokhumi as well.
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