Defense Minister Visits S.Ossetian Conflict Zone

Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, accompanied by Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Levan Nikolaishvili, visited on September 20, Georgian villages in the Didi Liakhvi gorge, north of the breakaway South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali.

While in the gorge the Georgian delegation blocked the major road into the conflict zone and barred a group of Russian citizens from moving from Tskhinvali further north, in the direction of the Roki pass, which links South Ossetia with Russia”s North Ossetian Republic. This convoy of Russian citizens was heading from Tskhinvali to North Ossetia after participating in celebrations dedicated to the unrecognized republic”s “independence day” in Tskhinvali on September 20.

The Georgian television stations broadcasted footage showing Chief of Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces Levan Nikolaishvili talking with this group of Russian citizens and asking them to present their Georgian entry visas. “You do not have Georgian visas? Have you applied for  entry visas at the Georgian Foreign Ministry when you arrived here? Why haven’t you applied?” Nikolaishvili asked the Russian citizens.

Commander of Joint Peacekeeping Forces Maj. Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov, who appeared on the scene a few minutes after the convoy was stopped, was trying to convince the Georgian officials that blocking the road in the conflict zone was a violation of agreements reached by the conflicting sides.

“The arrival of the Georgian Defense Minister has increased tensions in the conflict zone,” he told reporters.

The convoy of the Russian citizens was allows to continue moving towards North Ossetia only after two hours of negotiations.

“Now we have let them go. It was an expression of our good will. They were just several aides to Russian parliamentarians… We will try to find more interesting persons, like [Alexey] Mitrofanov [Russian MP from the Liberal Democratic Party], also [Sergey] Bagapsh [the President of breakaway Abkhazia, who was also visiting Tskhinvali],” Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili told the reporters.

“This was the last time we will express good will. We will eradicate this kind of illegal movement on our territory. These people infiltrate here like thieves,” Okruashvili added.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)