The Georgian authorities once again protest against the work being carried out by the South Ossetian border service on designation of the state border between the Republic of South Ossetia and Georgia. In particular, this time their “anger” with appeals to the international community was caused by the work of South Ossetian border guards in the area of the village of Gugutiantkar. Murat Dzhioev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy of South Ossetia for post-conflict settlement, commented on the situation to IA “Res.”.
An attempt to influence
On these two days, several statements by representatives of Georgia regarding the state border of South Ossetia and Georgia appeared in the media. In particular, the State Security Service of Georgia issued a statement stating that “the occupation forces continue provocative actions along the occupation line. They erected illegal structures on the territory controlled by the central government of Georgia, in the village of Gugutiantkar of the Gori municipality.” Murat Dzhioev believes that such a statement is, to put it mildly, is untrue and an attempt to influence the emotions of people familiar with this statement. “In fact, the situation is that the South Ossetian border services (I emphasize, the South Ossetian) continued to designate the border line in the area ofthe Gugutiantkar village, which was carried out in August 2019. And although our border guards didn’t touch the Georgian territory even a meter, the Georgian side again, like last year, is trying to inflate a “universal scandal”. At the same time, the Georgian authorities mislead representatives of the international community, including the co-chairs of the Geneva discussions on security in t Transcaucasia,” the Ambassador said.
According to him, representatives of the Georgian police and representatives of the EU Observer Mission in Georgia, who were almost constantly present or coming to the place of work, could be convinced that the Georgian territory was not affected even by a meter. Representatives of the media and various organizations of Georgia did not stand aside.
“The notorious Katsarava was also noted. The statements that the actions of the border guards "restrict the freedom of movement of local residents and deprive them of access to the main source of subsistence - orchards and water resources" do not correspond to reality. Our border guards, on the contrary, trying to take into account the interests of local residents, left on the Georgian side both the approaches to the source of water supply and the houses that turned out to be on the border line. Since all the works are carried out exclusively on the South Ossetian territory, not a single vegetable garden of a Georgian citizen will be affected,” Dzhioev said.
The Plenipotentiary has added that the fact that there is a state border does not suit the Georgian side, but this is a long-standing reality, there are two states that are separated by a state border. “Because Georgia and its patrons do not recognize it, the border line will not cease to exist.
Moreover, the logic suggests that it should be clearly designated, and this corresponds, first of all, to the calmness and interests of the local population on both sides,” the diplomat emphasized.
They continue Gamsakhurdia's policy
According to Dzhioev, all this hysteria in Georgia has one more goal - to once again throw accusations against Russia, clearly implying it under the "occupying forces". “But this is completely groundless, for, as has been repeatedly stated, all the works on the border are carried out by the corresponding South Ossetian services. If it is naive to assume that there are corresponding South Ossetian services under the "occupying forces", it turns out that the current Georgian authorities continue the policy of the nationalist Gamsakhurdia and his company, who also considered the Ossetians as "occupiers", "guests" in their own land, " said the Envoy.
Murat Dzhioev thinks that the present propaganda campaign is needed for the Georgian side also because it needs to divert attention from the situation on the border that the Georgian authorities created in the region of the South Ossetian village of Tsnelis by illegally posting a police checkpoint in the territory of South Ossetian. “Instead of accepting the proposal of the South Ossetian side to resolve the border issues through the dialogue, the Georgian side is creating tension in one place, then in another one,” the Ambassador said.
