President accuses Moscow of trying to create “new Cyprus” in conflict zone
November 14
By Eter Tsotniashvili
President Mikheil Saakashvili, in an address aired on the state-owned broadcaster, told a group of Tbilisi school teachers that Russia is trying to create a “new Cyprus” from Abkhazia.
The president began his appearance by speaking about the week of serious unrest in the country, emphasizing that Georgia has moved beyond its weakness of the early 1990s. Today’s government is stable, he said, and the country will be as well.
In a reference to the Russian-backed coup plotters Saakashvili’s administration alleges were behind the violence in Tbilisi’s streets on November 7, the president said that Georgia has always had traitors and always will. What’s important now, he continues, is how the country reacts.
“We have all seen that parliament [stayed together in the wake of the anti-government protest] and did not fall apart as in 1991. Now, we have a sense of responsibility not towards internal political groups but towards the future, towards saving Georgia,” he said.
The president went on to claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally threatened to make a “new Cyprus” out of the breakaway region of Abkhazia.
“Last year, while in Minsk at a CIS summit, Putin told me very concretely that he wants there to be a new Cyprus in Abkhazia,” Saakashvili said. “I want to tell the Russians and others that you could not divide Georgia, and you will not.”
He repeated claims, earlier made by State Minister for Conflict Resolution Davit Bakradze, that Russia had recently sent more troops—chiefly ethnic Chechen soldiers—and heavy weaponry into the Abkhaz conflict zone.
Saakashvili once again vowed that Abkhazia, and its de facto secessionist capital of Sokhumi, would come back under Georgian control.
“Sokhumi is my home…and I will not rest until I return to this home with over 400 000 of its residents,” he said.
Saakashvili said he set snap presidential elections for January 5 because the country’s interests must come before all personal ambitions, including his own.
The president, now beginning an election campaign against at least five opponents, also announced a salary hike for public school teachers.
“I’ve ordered that teachers’ minimum salary will be GEL 200 as of December,” he told his audience, adding that this was only the beginning of more raises to come.
The president began his appearance by speaking about the week of serious unrest in the country, emphasizing that Georgia has moved beyond its weakness of the early 1990s. Today’s government is stable, he said, and the country will be as well.
In a reference to the Russian-backed coup plotters Saakashvili’s administration alleges were behind the violence in Tbilisi’s streets on November 7, the president said that Georgia has always had traitors and always will. What’s important now, he continues, is how the country reacts.
“We have all seen that parliament [stayed together in the wake of the anti-government protest] and did not fall apart as in 1991. Now, we have a sense of responsibility not towards internal political groups but towards the future, towards saving Georgia,” he said.
The president went on to claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally threatened to make a “new Cyprus” out of the breakaway region of Abkhazia.
“Last year, while in Minsk at a CIS summit, Putin told me very concretely that he wants there to be a new Cyprus in Abkhazia,” Saakashvili said. “I want to tell the Russians and others that you could not divide Georgia, and you will not.”
He repeated claims, earlier made by State Minister for Conflict Resolution Davit Bakradze, that Russia had recently sent more troops—chiefly ethnic Chechen soldiers—and heavy weaponry into the Abkhaz conflict zone.
Saakashvili once again vowed that Abkhazia, and its de facto secessionist capital of Sokhumi, would come back under Georgian control.
“Sokhumi is my home…and I will not rest until I return to this home with over 400 000 of its residents,” he said.
Saakashvili said he set snap presidential elections for January 5 because the country’s interests must come before all personal ambitions, including his own.
The president, now beginning an election campaign against at least five opponents, also announced a salary hike for public school teachers.
“I’ve ordered that teachers’ minimum salary will be GEL 200 as of December,” he told his audience, adding that this was only the beginning of more raises to come.