The (47th round of international discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia was held on April 2-3 in Geneva. The delegations of the Republic of South Ossetia, the Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation, the USA, as well as representatives of the EU, UN and OSCE took part in them.
"At the Geneva discussions, we have again raised the issue of the return to South Ossetia of our spiritual relic - the triptych of the X-XI centuries, the icon, which was stolen from our local history museum in January 1991 and is in Georgia. Due to the fact that the Georgian party is leaving from discussing this issue, South Ossetia appealed to the participants of the discussion - representatives of the international organizations - with a call to assist in the issue of the return of our historical relic, "said Dzhioev.
He has noted that the South Ossetian party during the discussions provided representatives of international organizations with relevant documentary evidence proving that the triptych is the property of South Ossetia. The Plenipotentiary has also noted that earlier the co-chairs of the Geneva discussions, who visited the State Museum of South Ossetia in Tskhinval, were given a documentary evidence – the inventory journals, where the icon is number 1165 since 1925.
The Plenipotentiary reminded that this icon is the cultural and spiritual heritage of South Ossetia and was located in one of the churches until 1924, and then, when the churches were closed during the Soviet era, were transported by the Bolsheviks to the museum.
The National Museum of South Ossetia was destroyed and partially looted during the Georgian-Ossetian conflict of 1989-1992. Then a unique collection of ancient coins and the Tskhinval triptych with a sacred images of Christ and the saints of ivory in a silver frame with a scattering of precious stones, disappeared. The icon was later discovered at Christie's auction in Geneva in 2001 and was transferred to Georgia by the Swiss authorities. The initial cost of the triptych auction determined in 2 million dollars.
According to the Department of Protection of Monuments of the Ministry of Culture of South Ossetia, the Tskhinval triptych is an invaluable exhibit, since, unlike the Byzantine triptychs stored in the best museums in the world, all its three parts are intact. In 2015, a new museum building was opened in the center of Tskhinval, equipped with the necessary exposition equipment and a security system.
