Georgian press digest: excerpts
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Subject: Georgian press digest: excerpts
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Georgian press digest: excerpts
ANNOTATED DAILY HEADLINES OF THE GEORGIAN PRESS
Compiled by the Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and
Development (CIPDD)
Text: Tamara Shamil
English version: Guram Dumbadze
Editor: Emil Adelkhanov-Steinberg
February 9, 1999
1. AN ACTION BROUGHT AGAINST ARDZINBA IN THE HAGUE COURT
The Resistance Committee of Abkhazia has lodged a complaint against
Vladislav Ardzinba, the Abkhaz leader, to the Hague Court, accusing
him of ethnic purges and genocide of the Georgians in Abkhazia. The
committee is going to submit photo, video and audio materials, as well
as written records of IDPs' evidence. The Committee was created in
1994 and associates mainly IDPs.
Gea news agency. "Dilis Gazeti" No. 26, February 9, p. 1
2. "REPATRIATION OF MUSLIM MESKHETIANS TO GEORGIA IS QUITE
UNACCEPTABLE AT PRESENT, " NINO BURDJANADZE SAYS
Georgia's membership in the Council of Europe obliges the country to
create a legislative base for repatriation of Muslim Meskhetians in
two years, start the repatriation in another year and complete it
within 12 years from now. Nino Burdjanadze, the chair of the
parliamentary committee for law and justice, says as there are 300
thousand refugees in Georgia, such a task is beyond the country's
powers.
Miriam Natroshvili. "Dilis Gazeti" No. 26, February 9, p. 4
-------------------------
February 10, 1999
........................
4. "IF THE FRONTIER REGIME AT THE PSOU IS CHANGED WITHOUT GEORGIA'S
APPROVAL, IT WOULD BE REGARDED AS AN AGGRESSION," THE STATE MINISTER
SAYS
Eduard Shevardnadze will not participate in the February 26 summit of
the CIS leaders in Moscow. The Georgian delegation will be led by
Vazha Lortkipanidze, the State Minister, who says Georgia will not
sign the agreement on the CIS collective security until its demands
are satisfied: to restore the territorial integrity and solve the
problem of the Russian military bases in the country. In his words,
there is no economic blockade against Abkhazia, as Sukhumi may freely
import goods through Gali and Poti. As to the Russian-Abkhaz border at
the Psou river, if Russia changes the frontier regime there without
Georgia's approval, it will be regarded as an aggression, he says.
Khatuna Bitsadze. "Resonance" No. 36, February 10, p. 2
5. ETHNICITY AND CITIZENSHIP
The Georgian ethno-nationalists' campaign to restore the item
"ethnicity" in the citizen's ID and the birth
certificate is just a nonsense, the author writes. Modern states are
created by citizens not ethnic groups. If Georgia denies this axiom,
it will build a tribal society, not statehood.
Zhanri Kashia, director of the Georgian-European Institute.
"Kavkasioni" No. 5, February 10-16, pp. 1-11
-------------------------
February 11, 1999
1. RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS GO TO ABKHAZIA
President Shevardnadze met Leonid Grachevsky, Deputy Foreign Minister
of Russia, and Russian envoy Lev Mironov to talk over the
Russian-Georgian relations and the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. The
diplomats have left for Sukhumi today.
Prime-News agency. "Dilis Gazeti" No. 28, February 11, p. 2
........................
4. THE ABKHAZ TRYING TO INVESTIGATE THEIR ERROR
The man and the woman killed during the war in Abkhazia, whose bodies
the Abkhaz authorities have recently passed to Georgia, could not be
unidentified. According to the preliminary agreement, it was Zhiuli
Shartava's
two bodyguards, whose bodies were to be passed. (Zhiuli Shartava was
the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of
Abkhazia, killed by the Abkhaz during the war.) The Abkhaz First
Deputy Minister of Security and his men are trying to clear up the
matter.
Gea news agency. "Resonance" No. 37, February 11, p. 2
-------------------------
February 12, 1999
1. THE DIALOGUE WILL CONTINUE
The 7th session of the co-ordination council for the settlement in
Abkhazia took place behind closed doors in
Tbilisi on February 11 under the aegis of the UN and with
participation of the OSCE, Russia and some western
countries. According to Vazha Lortkipanidze, the head of the Georgian
delegation, the Georgian stand remains the same: the repatriation of
IDPs is impossible (a) unless Tbilisi takes an active part in it
(Sukhumi is going to start the process all by itself), (b) unless
their safety is guaranteed. Mr Liviu Bota, the permanent
representative of the UN Secretary General in Georgia, shares this
position.
Sakinform news agency. "Svobodnaya Gruzia" No. 28, February 12, p. 1
2. THE NUMBER OF GEORGIAN PRISONERS IN ABKHAZ JAILS IS BEING SPECIFIED
According to George Djaqeli, the chairman of the parliamentary
subcommittee for national security, Abkhaz
authorities deny that there are any Georgian POWs in Abkhazia. Tbilisi
has difficulty finding out how many
Georgians are in Abkhaz jails and whether they are servicemen or
civilians. The subcommittee is, however,
trying to obtain more specific information.
Prime-News agency. "7 Dge" No. 17, February 12-14, p. 1
........................
4. PRISONERS EXCHANGED IN CHUBURKHINDJI
Abkhaz and Georgian prisoners were exchanged in the village of
Chuburkhindji on February 11: Sukhumi released two ethnic Georgians, a
father and his son, Pipia by name, captured several months ago, while
Tbilisi freed two Cossacks, Laptev and Lazarev by name, who had served
in the Abkhaz police and had been taken hostage by the Pipias'
relatives.
"Dilis Gazeti" No. 29, February 12, p. 5
5. AMNESIA
In this satirical article the newspaper responds to those Georgian
politicians, writers and public figures who demand to restore the item
"ethnicity" in the citizen's ID and claim their opponents (those who
support the parliament's decision to remove the item, first of all
NGOs) to be Masons aiming at depriving the Georgians of ethnic
self-consciousness.
Givi Targamadze. "Resonance" No. 38, February 12, pp. 1, 6
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