Press Digest 12.01.2015
Will Saakashvili be elected head of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Bureau?
Georgian Jihadists in Syria
Will Saakashvili be elected head of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Bureau?
On Monday, Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko officially announced a vacancy in Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau after some of the most desirable candidates for the post of its head had refused to accept it.
Hence, a competition has already been launched and now Ukrainians are waiting for their “savior” able to provide a remedy to one of the most terrible ills of Ukraine that is corruption.
Allegedly, this will boost the chances of Georgian candidates, among which are Georgia’s ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili and Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili.
Deadline for applications is reported to be February 4.
It is also noteworthy that Georgia’s official delegation plans to visit Kiev by the end of January.
In the words of the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenlko, he can only see a foreigner as head of the bureau.
As you know, Georgia’s ex-president faces felony charges, while Adeishvili is wanted by Interpol,” – reports the Rezonansi newspaper.
As Giorgi Vashadze, a leader of the National Movement informs, a special anti-corruption team providing the Ukrainian President with consultations has already been formed.
According to Vashadze, Adeishvili is a member of this team; however, he cannot name a would-be head of the Anti-corruption Bureau, since no information regarding this issue has been released yet.
The representatives of the National Movement think that the Ukrainians might give an advantage to Saakashvili over other candidates for the post; however, as the party’s member Giorgi Baramidze claims, Saakashvili had already been offered Vice PM’s post and refused to take it.
“President Saakashvili made it clear that he has specific plans for Georgia, which is why he refused to occupy the suggested post,”- stated Baramidze, adding that Saakashvili will turn down this offer as well.
“No one knows what the Ukrainian authorities will decide in the end. Although, their move to bring Adeishvili, who is wanted, into power will be nothing more and nothing less than a political maneuver against the Georgian higher-ups. This will obviously agitate the Georgian people.
The Dream Government refused to make any comment on the issue. However, according to Head of the Government Irakli Gharibashvili, it’s immensely saddening that the criminals wanted by Interpol nest comfortably in the Ukrainian Government. As the Prime Minister claims, this will definitely deteriorate Georgia-Ukraine relations,” – concludes the author of the article.
Georgian Jihadists in Syria
“Islamic State’s army is actively propagating Islamic ideology and fighting in Syria is incrementally becoming an anti-national force with its thousands of European, Caucasian and African warriors.
Our compatriots have always been involved in this conflict and we have always known this; however, 26-year-old Tamaz Chagalidze’s address to “kaffirs”, as he called Georgia’s non-Muslim population, has still sparked a countrywide backlash,” reports the Rezonansi newspaper.
“Attention! I address Georgia’s kaffirs who in any way harmed Islam or Muslims on behalf of NATO in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa or in any region of Georgia, including Lapankuri, Pankisi, Guria, Atchara, Javakheti or elsewhere. We are on top of things and we remember each and every participant’s name perfectly well. We know all of you, we know everyone who humiliates our brothers, and I swear we will spill your filthy blood one day,”- the address says.
"As you know, around a hundred Georgian citizens, most of them Kists, are fighting in Syria today. However, it should also be noted that if we believe Chagalidze, around 200 Georgian-speaking Islamists are also involved in these military operations,”- says the article.
“According to expert on the Caucasus region Aleko Kvakhadze, Tamaz Chagalidze can easily face felony charges for this statement, in which he openly intimidates Georgians. “He publicly talks about bloodshed, threatens Georgian politicians, law enforcement and military. Our Special Service is simply obliged to deal with such people,”- claims the expert.
It should also be noted that Georgians are mired in the military operations in the Middle East by the Islamists and not via North Caucasian channels. This makes expert Kvakhadze presume that Georgians Islamists may be even more radical than others.
“Radicalism, violence and terrorism are totally alien to the majority of Muslims dwelling in Georgia today. These people identify themselves as Georgians and think they are citizens of our country
We must start a dialogue with local Muslim religious leaders and redouble efforts to prevent radical fundamentalist ideas from poisoning our land,”- concludes the expert.
