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South Ossetia: `Presidents' Step Up Struggle
[03:13 pm] 19 May, 2007
Georgian government increases support for `alternative' president of
South Ossetia. `Can't I just go to the grocery store, it's just a few
steps away from here?' asked Svetlana, 36, a resident of the Georgian
village Tamarasheni in the South Ossetia conflict zone, imploring to
be allowed to cross to the other side of checkpoint manned by
peacekeepers on the road between Tamarasheni and another Georgian
village Kekhvi.
The mother said she had to buy some milk there for her
18-month-year-old child, whom she was holding in her arms, but was not
allowed through.
For five days, South Ossetian security personnel have been standing
guard here alongside Russian peacekeepers to ensure that the road
remains closed.
On May 11, the de facto president of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity
ordered that mobile police checkpoints be set up on roads leading to
Georgian villages in the disputed zone. He said no one should be
allowed to pass except for the holders of Russian and South Ossetian
passports.
The following day there was a fierce exchange of gunfire in the
region, followed by mutual accusations between the two sides about who
had started it. There were no confirmed reports of serious injuries.
For four days all traffic was blocked around the Georgian
villages. Then most vehicles were allowed to move again - but not on
the road between Tamarasheni and Kekhvi, where the situation remains
tense.
`I'm a Chechen and I live in a Georgian village here together with my
husband and children,' said Svetlana. She was not allowed to go to
the shop, although one Russian peacekeeper, ignoring the evident
disapproval of South Ossetian policemen, volunteered to bring milk for
her.
`Closing the roads is just a piece of intrigue by both our
government,' said Svetlana. `I have great respect for [the
unrecognised republic in] Tskhinval, but the incident makes me feel
sorry and ashamed for all of them - both your government and ours.'
The flaring of tension in a small armed and ethnically mixed region
has alarmed international observers.
South Ossetia has been a disputed breakaway territory since 1991 when
the region seceded de facto from Georgia after a bloody conflict that
cost around 2,000 lives and resulted in tens of thousands becoming
refugees.
It was regarded as the quietest of the separatist disputes in the
South Caucasus until an upsurge of fighting in 2004. Since then, there
has been constant tension between the capital Tskhinval (or Tskhinvali
as the Georgians call it) and a group of ethnic Georgian villages.
This latest spike in tension followed the decision of Georgian
president Mikheil Saakashvili to create a `temporary administrative
unit' in the region headed by `alternative president' Dmitry Sanakoyev
in the heart of South Ossetia.
Sanakoyev, a former South Ossetian defence minister, was named
`president' in an election conducted on November 12 last year by the
`alternative central electoral commission' on the Georgian-controlled
part of South Ossetia. The election ran in parallel with a larger
presidential poll in the breakaway republic that was won by incumbent
Eduard Kokoity.
Since then, the small region has had two opposing `presidents', living
uneasily within a few kilometres of one another, neither of whom are
recognised as legitimate by the international community.
The critical situation was discussed on May 16 at a meeting between
Georgian conflict resolution minister Merab Antadze and Russian envoy
Yury Popov, who co-chairs the Joint Control Commission for resolution
of the conflict.
Both Tbilisi and Moscow blames the other for making the dispute
worse. `The Georgian side is waiting for Russia to give a clear answer
on whether it intends to continue bringing in weapons - directly or in
roundabout ways - to the Tskhinvali region and thereby exacerbating
the situation in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone,' Antadze told
journalists.
In his turn, Popov rejected a key demand of the Tbilisi government,
saying that he saw no reason for Sanakoyev to take part in the Joint
Control Commission's work.
Sanakoyev is now being feted in Tbilisi. On May 11, he delivered a
speech in his capacity as head of the temporary administration to the
Georgian parliament. Addressing the deputies in Ossetian, he said the
population of South Ossetia had lived in misery for the last seventeen
years, while peacekeeping efforts had failed to `bear fruit'.
Sanakoyev said that the future of South Ossetia lay within
Georgia. `In future, the final result of Georgian-Ossetian dialogue
should be the granting of broad autonomy to the region and the
provision for the Ossetian people of guarantees of political
representation and preservation of its cultural identity within a
single state,' said Sanakoyev.
On the same day, the South Ossetian interior ministry issued a
statement blaming the escalation of tension in the conflict zone on
what it termed the Georgian authorities' destructive policy. It said
the roads in the zones had been closed in order to guarantee the
security of the South Ossetian population.
`Ever since April, all travellers have had their passports copied at
Georgian police checkpoints, so a database can be compiled. Many of
them have been subjected to interrogations, illegal detention, threats
and insults,' said the ministry.
Another official statement by the de facto South Ossetian authorities
said that by his actions in Tbilisi Sanakoyev had become `just another
Georgian official' and the plan to establish an alternative presidency
had failed.
Kokoity moved to defuse the situation after four days, lifting most of
the blockade on the roads. There were various interpretations as to
why he decided to do so. The Moscow newspaper Kommersant said the
initiative to do so had come from the Russian government, which did
not want another source of tension with Washington during the visit by
US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
Ossetian villages had also suffered from the blockade and food could
not be delivered to 16 villages in the Proni Valley for several days.
Georgian experts agree that the latest moves by the government in
Tbilisi have shaken up the situation, but disagree about what this
means.
Political analyst David Darchiashvili, who heads the Open
Society-Georgia foundation, told IWPR that `Sanakoyev's new
appointment caused the dynamics in the conflict zone to
change'. `[Sanakoyev's group] was created with Georgian support, but
it is going to become an independent player,' he said.
Darchiashvili said the decision to close the roads was a sign of fear
on the side of the Kokoity administration. He was afraid that Kokoity
might respond with an act of `provocation' and said it was important
to keep up dialogue with him `not about political issues, but about
security, demilitarization and free movement'.
Former conflict resolution minister Giorgy Khaindrava said it was
important to keep up negotiations with Kokoity `as he is a reality on
the ground'.
`However, one should keep in mind Russia is behind Kokoity, and he has
nothing to lose,' he said. `He has exhausted his potential and does
not need peace. Escalation of the conflict is the only way out for
him, and this is a real danger. The state and government exist in
order to foresee all risks.'
By Irina Kelekhsayeva in Tskhinval and Dmitry Avaliani in Tbilisi (CRS
No. 392 17-May-07) Irina Kelekhsayeva is a freelance journalist in
South Ossetia. Dmitry Avaliani is a correspondent for 24 Hours
newspaper in Tbilisi. This article is a product of IWPR's Cross
Caucasus Journalism Network, supported by the European Union. The
article is republished from IWPR's Caucasus Reporting Service.
South Ossetia: `Presidents' Step Up Struggle
[03:13 pm] 19 May, 2007
Georgian government increases support for `alternative' president of
South Ossetia. `Can't I just go to the grocery store, it's just a few
steps away from here?' asked Svetlana, 36, a resident of the Georgian
village Tamarasheni in the South Ossetia conflict zone, imploring to
be allowed to cross to the other side of checkpoint manned by
peacekeepers on the road between Tamarasheni and another Georgian
village Kekhvi.
The mother said she had to buy some milk there for her
18-month-year-old child, whom she was holding in her arms, but was not
allowed through.
For five days, South Ossetian security personnel have been standing
guard here alongside Russian peacekeepers to ensure that the road
remains closed.
On May 11, the de facto president of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity
ordered that mobile police checkpoints be set up on roads leading to
Georgian villages in the disputed zone. He said no one should be
allowed to pass except for the holders of Russian and South Ossetian
passports.
The following day there was a fierce exchange of gunfire in the
region, followed by mutual accusations between the two sides about who
had started it. There were no confirmed reports of serious injuries.
For four days all traffic was blocked around the Georgian
villages. Then most vehicles were allowed to move again - but not on
the road between Tamarasheni and Kekhvi, where the situation remains
tense.
`I'm a Chechen and I live in a Georgian village here together with my
husband and children,' said Svetlana. She was not allowed to go to
the shop, although one Russian peacekeeper, ignoring the evident
disapproval of South Ossetian policemen, volunteered to bring milk for
her.
`Closing the roads is just a piece of intrigue by both our
government,' said Svetlana. `I have great respect for [the
unrecognised republic in] Tskhinval, but the incident makes me feel
sorry and ashamed for all of them - both your government and ours.'
The flaring of tension in a small armed and ethnically mixed region
has alarmed international observers.
South Ossetia has been a disputed breakaway territory since 1991 when
the region seceded de facto from Georgia after a bloody conflict that
cost around 2,000 lives and resulted in tens of thousands becoming
refugees.
It was regarded as the quietest of the separatist disputes in the
South Caucasus until an upsurge of fighting in 2004. Since then, there
has been constant tension between the capital Tskhinval (or Tskhinvali
as the Georgians call it) and a group of ethnic Georgian villages.
This latest spike in tension followed the decision of Georgian
president Mikheil Saakashvili to create a `temporary administrative
unit' in the region headed by `alternative president' Dmitry Sanakoyev
in the heart of South Ossetia.
Sanakoyev, a former South Ossetian defence minister, was named
`president' in an election conducted on November 12 last year by the
`alternative central electoral commission' on the Georgian-controlled
part of South Ossetia. The election ran in parallel with a larger
presidential poll in the breakaway republic that was won by incumbent
Eduard Kokoity.
Since then, the small region has had two opposing `presidents', living
uneasily within a few kilometres of one another, neither of whom are
recognised as legitimate by the international community.
The critical situation was discussed on May 16 at a meeting between
Georgian conflict resolution minister Merab Antadze and Russian envoy
Yury Popov, who co-chairs the Joint Control Commission for resolution
of the conflict.
Both Tbilisi and Moscow blames the other for making the dispute
worse. `The Georgian side is waiting for Russia to give a clear answer
on whether it intends to continue bringing in weapons - directly or in
roundabout ways - to the Tskhinvali region and thereby exacerbating
the situation in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone,' Antadze told
journalists.
In his turn, Popov rejected a key demand of the Tbilisi government,
saying that he saw no reason for Sanakoyev to take part in the Joint
Control Commission's work.
Sanakoyev is now being feted in Tbilisi. On May 11, he delivered a
speech in his capacity as head of the temporary administration to the
Georgian parliament. Addressing the deputies in Ossetian, he said the
population of South Ossetia had lived in misery for the last seventeen
years, while peacekeeping efforts had failed to `bear fruit'.
Sanakoyev said that the future of South Ossetia lay within
Georgia. `In future, the final result of Georgian-Ossetian dialogue
should be the granting of broad autonomy to the region and the
provision for the Ossetian people of guarantees of political
representation and preservation of its cultural identity within a
single state,' said Sanakoyev.
On the same day, the South Ossetian interior ministry issued a
statement blaming the escalation of tension in the conflict zone on
what it termed the Georgian authorities' destructive policy. It said
the roads in the zones had been closed in order to guarantee the
security of the South Ossetian population.
`Ever since April, all travellers have had their passports copied at
Georgian police checkpoints, so a database can be compiled. Many of
them have been subjected to interrogations, illegal detention, threats
and insults,' said the ministry.
Another official statement by the de facto South Ossetian authorities
said that by his actions in Tbilisi Sanakoyev had become `just another
Georgian official' and the plan to establish an alternative presidency
had failed.
Kokoity moved to defuse the situation after four days, lifting most of
the blockade on the roads. There were various interpretations as to
why he decided to do so. The Moscow newspaper Kommersant said the
initiative to do so had come from the Russian government, which did
not want another source of tension with Washington during the visit by
US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
Ossetian villages had also suffered from the blockade and food could
not be delivered to 16 villages in the Proni Valley for several days.
Georgian experts agree that the latest moves by the government in
Tbilisi have shaken up the situation, but disagree about what this
means.
Political analyst David Darchiashvili, who heads the Open
Society-Georgia foundation, told IWPR that `Sanakoyev's new
appointment caused the dynamics in the conflict zone to
change'. `[Sanakoyev's group] was created with Georgian support, but
it is going to become an independent player,' he said.
Darchiashvili said the decision to close the roads was a sign of fear
on the side of the Kokoity administration. He was afraid that Kokoity
might respond with an act of `provocation' and said it was important
to keep up dialogue with him `not about political issues, but about
security, demilitarization and free movement'.
Former conflict resolution minister Giorgy Khaindrava said it was
important to keep up negotiations with Kokoity `as he is a reality on
the ground'.
`However, one should keep in mind Russia is behind Kokoity, and he has
nothing to lose,' he said. `He has exhausted his potential and does
not need peace. Escalation of the conflict is the only way out for
him, and this is a real danger. The state and government exist in
order to foresee all risks.'
By Irina Kelekhsayeva in Tskhinval and Dmitry Avaliani in Tbilisi (CRS
No. 392 17-May-07) Irina Kelekhsayeva is a freelance journalist in
South Ossetia. Dmitry Avaliani is a correspondent for 24 Hours
newspaper in Tbilisi. This article is a product of IWPR's Cross
Caucasus Journalism Network, supported by the European Union. The
article is republished from IWPR's Caucasus Reporting Service.