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"We don't need what does not belong to us..."

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  • "We don't need what does not belong to us..."

    Moscow News (Russia)
    August 4, 2004

    "WE DON'T NEED WHAT DOES NOT BELONG TO US, BUT WE WON'T GIVE UP WHAT
    IS OURS BY RIGHT" - EDUARD KOKOITY

    By Madina Shavlokhova The Moscow News

    In an interview with The Moscow News, Eduard Kokoity, president of
    the unrecognized republic, comments on what is going on in South
    Ossetia and on the republic's extremely tense relationship with
    Georgia

    Last week, the leader of South Ossetia brought to Moscow draft laws
    on the status of South Ossetia and its prospective accession to the
    Russian Federation. Georgia voices a protest What needs to be done
    for Tskhinvali and Tbilisi to end their confrontation?

    To bring the situation back to normal, we urge the Georgian
    leadership to closely study the history of the conflict and the
    documents that were signed in Dagomys in 1992 as well as in the
    subsequent years in Moscow, and try to understand what actually
    brought about the conflict between the two brotherly peoples. The
    trouble, however, is that the Georgian leadership is not interested
    in going into the heart of the problem. Moreover, in the course of
    negotiations, we often hear Georgian leaders say that they did not
    sign particular agreements and are not going to honor them. What does
    this show? This shows that there is no one to negotiate with there.

    Recently you said that you were ready to provide humanitarian aid to
    one affected area in western Georgia. At the same time the Ossetian
    population turned down a similar offer from the Georgian authorities.

    We are providing humanitarian aid to those parts of Georgia that have
    recently been affected by heavy rains. The fact is that we are not in
    conflict with ordinary Georgians but with those who are trying to
    take away what is ours by law. We don't need what does not belong to
    us, but we will not cede what is ours by right. It is they who are
    amassing troops around us and not the other way round. All of this is
    being done to divert public attention away from the economic tragedy
    that Georgia has ended up with.

    How do you assess the performance of the Joint Control Commission on
    Settlement of the Georgian-Ossetian Conflict?

    I highly value the work of the JCC, as well as the Russian
    peacekeepers. Russia demonstrates its readiness to deploy maximum
    effort to stabilize the situation, which is more than can be said
    about the Georgian side. Even at the latest meeting, they talked to
    us in the language of threats and ultimatums. Their objective is to
    provoke a large-scale war and to discredit the peacekeepers. Today it
    is above all the Tbilisi officials, who violate the JCC agreements.
    Just as 13 years ago, they are behaving as aggressors and
    separatists.

    Could you please expand on this?

    Georgia was the first to break away from the Soviet Union like a
    separatist, violating the USSR Constitution that stated in black and
    white that the opinion of those regions that conducted a referendum
    on the issue must be taken into account in forming a separate state.
    That is to say, already at that time we automatically became
    independent. So who is the separatist then? Furthermore, it should
    not be forgotten that as soon as they proclaimed their independence
    they abandoned all Soviet laws and decrees while, as is known it was
    in accordance with those laws and decrees that South Ossetia acceded
    to Georgia. In principle, we did the same as Georgia did in the
    Soviet era: We seceded from it - true, in full compliance with the
    law.

    Which side does the West take in the conflict?

    When politicians from democratic countries come to visit here, I get
    the impression that they put on blinders. They do not see the rampant
    violations of human and minority rights that are occurring in
    Georgia. Also, they fail to see one very important thing. In the past
    14 years Georgia has replaced the third president. None of them
    served out their term in office. All of them had to leave as a result
    of revolutions or coups. By contrast, over the past 15 years we have
    held presidential and parliamentary elections in full compliance with
    the rules of international law. Yet for some reason we are being
    pushed into a sphere of lawlessness and anarchy. They keep talking
    about somebody's territorial integrity. But the fact is that South
    Ossetia joined Georgia in 1921 - during the Soviet era. We gained
    independence following the breakup of the Soviet Union and a
    nationwide referendum. The Georgian Constitution does not make any
    reference to us, so why are we being invited there? In this logic, we
    could just as easily be invited to join Armenia or Azerbaijan: After
    all, they were also part of the Soviet Union. What we see here is
    that our opponents are either completely ignorant of international
    and Soviet law or reluctant to study it. MN
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