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IPRM Meeting Suspended as Tskhinvali Participants Leave in Protest

The 89th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) was suspended today in Ergneti village close to the occupation line adjacent to Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, as Tskhinvali participants’ left the meeting “in protest” to the Interpol’s arrest warrant issued against two South Ossetian security officers over the murder of Archil Tatunashvili.

Igor Kochiev, a representative of the Moscow-backed Tskhinvali leader, Anatoly Bibilov, said charges against Gurtsiev and Taboev are”fabricated.” He also said issuing of Interpol’s ‘red notice’ demonstrates the Georgian authorities’ “destructive position.”

Kochiev also specified that they requested to strike out the cases of Georgian citizens Archil Tatunashvili and Davit Basharuli from the agenda, but the Georgian side rejected the request.

The State Security Service, which represents Tbilisi at the IPRM talks, confirmed the account saying the request, as well as the “language of blackmail,” is “absolutely unacceptable for the central government” as it contradicts to “the fundamental principles of IPRM.”

The EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM), which co-facilitates IPRMs, confirmed that “following the opening remarks, different views were expressed concerning the provisional agenda and participants were unable to continue discussions.” The EUMM also said it will continue their efforts to have the meetings “resume as soon as possible on a date to be agreed by all participants.”

The IPRMs format was established under the Geneva International Discussions to address the security concerns and developments on the ground on a regular basis, and involves officials from Tbilisi on the one hand and representatives of Tskhinvali and Sokhumi authorities on the other in two, separate meetings, as well as representatives of the Russian border troops.

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

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