Russian occupying forces carry out illegal works on Georgian-controlled territory
By Levan Abramishvili
Thursday, September 12
“It is a fact that representatives of the occupying forces continue their illegal and provocative activities. One of the so-called checkpoints is nearly finished, the other one is being installed. The location, where the checkpoint is presently being installed is on the land controlled by Georgia's central government, close to Tsaghvli and Kobi villages. It is about 500 meters from the Kobi settlement. These illegal actions cause harm to the residents on both sides of the occupation line and create tensions,” told Lomidze InterPressNews.
Locals see the de facto regime's actions and the establishment of checkpoints as another provocation.
“They are putting two checkpoints. Of course, this is a worrying fact, but the population is not in a state of panic. We live here normally, we think they’re doing it for provocation. This may restrict movement and the use of forests, which certainly will not be easy,” said Nana Muladze, a resident of the village of Chorchana.
The State Security Service of Georgia (SSS) has confirmed the information and called the actions ‘dangerous and destructive’.
“This is an extremely dangerous and destructive act that seriously damages the security environment and creates additional problems for the locals on both sides of the occupation line. The hotline is already in effect. The EUMM and Co-Chairs of the Geneva International Discussions are involved in the process. All international partners are also informed,” said the SSS.
A member of the parliamentary opposition party United National Movement Salome Samadashvili harshly criticized the government, saying that they aren’t doing enough to inform the international community, therefore they have no sense just how dire the situation is.
“We see that Russia and the occupying regime have already taken serious provocative steps on several occasions. Unfortunately, at the same time, we can see that the response from the Western capitals is inadequate. The Georgian government should be consulting with relevant political leadership, our strategic partners in Washington,” noted Samadashvili
According to her, at the same time, any steps that demonstrate to the international community that the situation is extremely tense must be taken by the Georgian authorities.
"When the Georgian officials continue to talk about dialog with Russia and do not send signals that the situation is getting worse, our global partners do not feel that the security issues facing Georgia are genuinely exacerbated by Russia's provocations and the occupation regime,” added Samadashvili.
Conflictologist Paata Zakareishvili also noted with IPN that the silence from the Georgian authorities is disturbing and benefits the creation of various myths surrounding the issue.
The conflictologist believes that the actions of the occupation forces are a direct response to the Georgian side’s construction of a checkpoint near Chorchana recently. According to him, the government is obliged to present a clear position on the issue.
“This shows their [Government’s] incompetence, that they don’t have the situation under control and don’t know how to manage conflict,” he noted.
Zakareishvili also says that it was expected that the construction of a Georgian checkpoint would have definitely resulted in some kind of retaliation from the other side.
Several of the recent Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings in Ergneti failed, and the Georgian side set up the checkpoint in Chorchana without discussing it during the meetings, which are intended to prevent such sudden, destructive events.
“Ergneti [IPRM] exists so that these kinds of steps are discussed there, it is a dividing line after all and Ergneti has been created to prevent incidents. To ensure that the situation does not become uncontrollable, some issues need to be discussed at least, if not agreed upon. Dozens of checkpoints are standing there and all of them have been discussed. If Perevi checkpoint could be discussed, then why not the installation of a checkpoint in Chorchana? I could not explain this step from the Georgian side, which would certainly have been followed by an inevitable devious response,” Zakareishvili said.
In late August, the de-facto government of Tskhinvali imposed an ultimatum on the Georgian side and demanded the removal of the Georgian police checkpoint near the village of Chorchana, the demand was not fulfilled, as Georgian authorities claimed that the checkpoint was on the Georgian-controlled territory.