Georgian PM, officials lay wreath at April 9 Memorial, paying tribute to fallen heroes
Together with the Head of the Government, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party and the Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, as well as the Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, Government and Parliament members also honoured the heroes who had died during the peaceful protests in Tbilisi. Photo via Government Administration
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, along with the country’s officials, on Saturday laid a wreath at the April 9 Memorial in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, paying tribute to the memory of the victims of the 1989 tragedy.
Together with the Head of the Government, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party and the Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, as well as the Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, Government and Parliament members also honoured the heroes who had died during the peaceful protests in Tbilisi.
On this day 34 years ago, the Soviet troops attacked peaceful protesters of an anti-Soviet, pro-independence demonstration, killing 21 people and injuring hundreds.
April 9, the Day of National Unity, also marks the restoration of Georgia’s independence, as the Georgian legislative body passed the declaration of independence on the date in 1991, based on the results of a referendum on March 31 that year, where an overwhelming majority of Georgians voted for the country to secede from the Soviet Union.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Sunday honoured the memory of the victims of the April 9, 1989 tragedy, the “heroes, who paved the way for freedom at the cost of their own lives”.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Saturday said the country’s future rested upon returning to the European family since the day of gaining independence on April 9, 1989.
Georgian institutions and citizens on Friday marked the 32nd anniversary of the referendum that led to the country regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday paid tribute to the memory of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the late first President of the country, on his 84th birthday.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday said April 9 was a symbol of both “great pain and victory”, and would remain a day of “sacrifice and national pride” for Georgians.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Saturday attended the civil funeral of Jamlet Khukhashvili, a longtime sports commentator and journalist of the Georgian media scene, and expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.