Opposition Responds to Okruashvili’s Criticism
On August 1 the leader of the New Rights MP Davit Gamkrelidze and Labor party head Shalva Natelashvili accused Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili of being behind the recent developments in Kodori Gorge, with the aim to boost his own political ambitions.
The reaction of the two opposition leaders followed the criticism of Okruashvili, who said on July 31 that Natelashvili and Gamkrelidze “made treacherous statements” while condemning the government’s decision to send troops to Kodori Gorge to crack down on rebel warlord Emzar Kvitsiani and his militia group.
“If he [Okruashvili] calls me a traitor, this will not harm me at all. I know very well what I am doing. I also know very well that all those developments which took place in Kodori were provoked by Okruashvili, and probably by others [in the government], as well. The time will come and I will demand an answer from them,” MP Davit Gamkrelidze said.
He said that a surprise visit by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza, who arrived in Tbilisi on July 30, aimed at “softening the authorities’ aggressive rhetoric.”
Leader of the Labor Party Shalva Natelashvili said at a news conference that the real “betrayal” was sending troops to Kodori Gorge and “killing an innocent woman.” One civilian died as a result of clashes between government forces and militia fighters in Kodori.
“Betrayal is entering the Tskhinvali region [breakaway South Ossetia in summer 2004], where dozens of Georgian soldiers die, and then you hand over the captured heights to the Russian [peacekeepers],” Natelashvili said.
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