Press Digest 15.08.2014

Abkhazians succeed in opening a polling station in Turkey

5 days before Kazantip Festival and calm demonstration against it

All agreements with companies offering different kinds of service to the citizens of Georgia will be reconsidered – Davit Zurabishvili***

Abkhazians succeed in opening a polling station in Turkey

"On 24 August, in the run-up to the de-facto presidential elections, apart from the regions of Georgia, a polling station is expected to be opened in Turkey. Reports are rife in Tbilisi that those at the helm of Turkey, refuse to support these elections, however, they are toeing the line and, thus, they cannot ban the representatives of Abkhazia from opening polling stations in unofficial private institutions,” reports the Rezonanis gazette.

“We would like to remind our readers of the fact that on 21 July, Abkhazia’s De-facto Parliament proposed amendments to the law on elections, and from now on, the de-facto leaders will be able to hold elections in the countries that have not recognized the independence of Abkhazia. One such country has appeared to be Turkey. However, as Georgia’s Ambassador to Turkey, Irakli Koplatadze, claims, official Turkey does not hold this position; on the contrary, its leaders alienate themselves from these elections and support Georgia’s territorial integrity,” says the article.

“The reports on the intention from Armenia’s government to open a polling station in Turkey through the medium of the Abkhazian Diaspora reached our ears soon enough, and this has spurred us to take relevant measures in Ankara as well as in Tbilisi. I met with the leadership of Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and they assured me that they do stay away from these elections – once again they confirmed that they refuse to recognize Georgia’s breakaway region as an independent country; the only thing that they can do is recognize Georgia’s territorial integrity,” declares Georgia’s Ambassador to Turkey, Irakli Koplatadze.

“The aforementioned meeting emboldens me to think that official Ankara will soon issue an official statement in relation to de-facto elections as well as their move to open a polling station for Abkhazians in Turkey,” adds Georgia’s Ambassador to Turkey.

“Turkey is firm in its decision to support the territorial integrity of Georgia; and from this it obviously follows that they will abstain from issuing official permission for holding these illegal elections,” maintains Turkey’s Ambassador to Georgia, Levent Gurmukchus.

“Several thousand ethnic Abkhazians are under the spotlight today – they are the offspring of those Abkhazians who were banished from their homeland in 1872; these people have tight relations with Abkhazia’s de-facto Government and precisely they lobby for the opening of a polling station in Georgia’s neighbor country. I doubt that they will dare to open one more polling station in another country. If they still take this step, they might manage it in Russia only,” states Head of Abkhazia’s Supreme Council, Gia Gvazava.

5 days before Kazantip Festival and calm demonstration against it

Despite high expectations, the residents of Anaklia have refused to counter the ecclesiastic servants as well as the representatives of the Orthodox Parents’ Union who staged a rally in the region against the Kazantip Festival, which is only days away. The locals have brought different reasons to explain their decision not to hold a responding rally against the religious leaders and their adherents. Some allege that the necessity to take this step has not surfaced, while others claim that by arguing with them, they would just be beating a dead horse, and on top of that, they would have to put their affairs aside. Thus, the rally ran smoothly in an entirely peaceful atmosphere,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.

“As the locals maintain, approximately 50 people participated in the rally, and religious leaders outnumbered ordinary activists. After the peaceful liturgy in St. Nikolas Church, the activists converged on Gunmukhuri Bridge and set to expressing their protest there. Despite their vigorous attempts, law enforcers did not allow them to enter “the Kazantip Republic.” At the demonstration, the ecclesiastic servants offered urgent advice to their people and have reminded them of the necessity to live a moral life – they had mottos as follows: “Don’t Turn Georgia into Sodom and Gomorrah,” “We Exhort the Government against Preaching Depravity,” “Kazantip is the Hub of Debauchery and Shameless Immorality.” Some leaders of the left-wing party were also present at the rally against the Kazantip Festival,” says the article.

“They started a demonstration in the vicinity of my house. I followed the entire process carefully. They did not do anything unacceptable or irritating. As far as I remember, there was a tenuous verbal altercation between an activist and a journalist but I personally have not witnessed this. We thought that many more people would have attended the rally, we were mistaken though. If the activists had overrun the Kazantip Republic or had stirred the situation there, the locals would have definitely blocked them from doing it. Here everyone is moved by a strong desire to hold this festival and nothing on earth will make them change their mindset. As for this demonstration, it has not really brought about any kind of change in the region – the festival will be held anyway,” states one of the residents of Anaklia, Zhana Akhalaia.

“They simply prayed all day long and murmured something regarding some peoples’ desire to propagate an immoral way of life. What could we have said against this? We truly planned to hold a rally against these people if they had stooped to fulfill any kind of corrupt scheme or had involved themselves in a confrontation against the leadership of the “Kazantip Republic.” The residents of Anaklia are unwavering in their decision to arrange this festival here – otherwise our business will undoubtedly go to the dogs,” claims one of the locals, Nikoloz Gulua.

“It would also be interesting to note that prior to the rally, the President of the “Kazantip Republic” called on the activists to involve themselves in a dialogue with him and expressed readiness to receive 20 ecclesiastic servants and their advocates. However, the activists have been reported to have rejected the aforementioned proposal on the spur of the moment. They have defined the President of the so-called republic as an immoral, debauched and shameless man. “We have not even tried to involve ourselves in a dialogue with this man… We only starkly warn our Government against holding this immoral festival in our country and we do appeal to them to use a measure of discretion before making decisions like this,” concludes the author of the article.

All agreements with companies offering different kinds of service to the citizens of Georgia will be reconsidered – Davit Zurabishvili

"We have problems not only with City Park but also with a number of companies that have entered into contracts with the City Hall. They have completed the contracts which were auspicious for companies but inflicted harm on our people and country. The former Government used to finalize deals like this due to the fact that they got serious pidends that they channeled to their party or used to attain their ends. Now we definitely have to put our heads together on this issue and somehow rectify the situation. We must reconsider this matter to the core and put an end to this corrupt practice once and for all,” declares member of the majority, republican Davit Zurabishvili, in his interview with the Rezonansi gazette.

“Everything was in the hands of the City Hall – they had all trump cards at their finger tips and they could have realized any idea that occurred in their heads. If the City Park would have turned down their conditions, another body would have accepted them; they would have definitely found someone. They ran the type of business which always seeks income; the business world does not think about people, but the Government can and must do this,” announces Davit Zurabishvili.

To the question whether or not they plan to reconsider other agreements that were sewn up with other companies such as Tbilisi Minibuses the steps from which also triggered dissatisfaction from our people, he replies:

“Certainly, we intend to do this. We will reconsider all agreements with “Telas,”, “Tbilisi Minibuses,” and all kinds of companies that offer different types of services to our people.”

“As for the ongoing construction projects, I support Aleko Elisashvili, as a request is simple -- some recently started construction projects can easily be suspended until we look over the permits allowing them to construct these buildings,” declares the respondent.