An official within the Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration has called for extensive use of the term ‘South Ossetia’.
“I call on you to use ‘South Ossetia’ and not ‘Tskhinvali Region’ in order to make this term more acceptable to the Georgian public,” Uruzmag Karkusov, who serves as the prime minister in the provisional administration, said in an interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster on July 29.
Most Georgian officials are reluctant to use ‘South Ossetia’ and instead use ‘Tskhinvali Region.’ The Georgian Foreign Ministry in its official documents uses the term ‘Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia.’
A state commission, working to develop South Ossetia’s autonomous status within the Georgian state, is expected to use the term ‘South Ossetia.’
There is hesitancy to use, and so legitimize, the term ‘South Ossetia’ because of fears that it would create the perception of a divided Ossetian nation. North Ossetia lies to the north in Russia, and already there have been calls for unification of the two regions within Russia.
Proponents, however, dismiss the argument as hypothetical and argue that the name would not become a stumbling block in discussions over South Ossetia’s status.
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