Third force in Parliament triggers controversy

The third party in Georgia’s 150-seat legislative body, the Alliance of Patriots – which has only six seats in Parliament – has already triggered controversy.

Georgia’s Embassy to Azerbaijan told Azerbaijani local media that one of the leaders of the party, David Tarkhan-Mouravi - who is prominent for his ultra-nationalist and sometimes anti-Western statements - said the “mildness of the current Government of Georgia could trigger a split of the county”.

The Azerbaijani Trend.az media outlet quoted Georgia’s Embassy as saying that Tarkhan-Mouravi said Azerbaijan could claim that Georgia’s ethnic-Azerbaijani populated Marneuli region to be under Azerbaijani rule.

“Georgia and Azerbaijan are friendly nations, and this has been proved through centuries of cooperation and partnership,” Georgia’s Embassy to Azerbaijani told local Trend.az online media.

“Our people have friendly relations; they follow the principles of religious and ethnic tolerance. Consequently such statements have no public support in Georgia; they are nothing but populist statements,” the Embassy added, Trend.az reported.

Meanwhile, Tarkhan-Mouravi says he did not make the statement and demanded that Georgia’s Embassy to Azerbaijan should provide video or audio evidence proving their allegations .

Tarkhan-Mouravi also criticized the Embassy for never lobbying Georgian interests when it was required.

The Alliance of Patriots could hardly overcome the minimum 5% threshold to appear in Parliament.

If they provide proof that Tarkhan-Mouravi really made such a statement, it would be a signal that the party is not aware of what such statements may cause, especially when the party is in Parliament.

Statements that refer to religious or ethnic minorities living in the territory of any country must be always very cautiously treated.

Georgia has always been proud for its tolerance and friendship to religious and ethnic minority groups, and this should not be put at risk by the remarks of an insignificant minority politicians.