"Armenians сommitted genocide of the Georgian people in Abkhazia" Caliber.Az interview with Levan Osidze

Caliber.Az presents an interview with Georgian political scientist, professor Levan Osidze.

- I would like to know your opinion on the role of Armenians in the war in Abkhazia...

- Not only Russians, Abkhazians, and representatives of the North Caucasus, but also the Armenian "Bagramyan" battalion took part in that war. After the Georgians were evicted from Abkhazia, the Armenians became a majority there. If it were not for the Georgian population, the head of today's Abkhazia would have been an Armenian.

They killed, tortured, cut off the heads of Georgians, and played soccer with their heads. These are not just words. All these events are documented. There are 200 volumes of materials from the Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia. Armenians committed the genocide of the Georgian people in Abkhazia.

At the moment, there are a lot of people of Armenian origin in the government of Georgia. I bring up this issue at all international forums. For example, recently Armenians raised the issue of granting them cultural autonomy in Abkhazia, and they are willing to do anything to get access to the Black Sea.

- What are the Georgian authorities doing to restore the territorial integrity of the country? And is it possible in the current circumstances?

- Georgia was defeated in the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, and I think this is impossible. Abkhazians living there have a very negative attitude towards Georgia, they do not want to resume relations with us. About 300 thousand Georgians were forced to leave their permanent residence in Abkhazia. We all want this issue to be resolved peacefully so that we finally see our native places.

- How do you feel about Azerbaijan's resolution of the Karabakh conflict?

- I welcome this resolution, Azerbaijan was able to return its territories. However, I think it is unacceptable that there are Russian troops in Karabakh, or more broadly, in our region.

- Is peace possible between the Armenian and the Azerbaijani people?

- There is no problem that cannot be solved. Armenians and Azerbaijanis can live amicably without war. Russia is to blame for this conflict.

- What do you think of Georgia's foreign policy?

- At the current stage, it is undesirable to change Georgia's foreign policy orientation from the West to Russia. It is preferable to take a balanced position in order to be able to conduct political bargaining with the Russian Federation on various topics while trying to improve relations with it.

- How do you see the future of the Caucasus region?

- The tensions in our region will remain one way or another, and I am sure that Russia's position will weaken, while Turkey's will strengthen. A compromise is possible, it just needs to be found.

- What can you say about the current cooling of the Georgian-Ukrainian relations?

- I assess this issue very negatively. Georgia has been providing great humanitarian assistance to Ukraine during all this time. The fact that Saakashvili's supporters held leading positions in Ukraine influenced the deterioration of relations.

Georgia understands better than anyone how difficult it is when your territories are theatres of hostilities. This delays the development of the country for decades. Georgia cannot and does not want to fight at this stage, because everyone knows in advance that there will be no winners in this war.

Even if Georgia now opens a second front, it will not do any good, because Russia has enough potential to destroy the whole world. In this case, the losses of the Ukrainian people will be reduced, but the Georgians will pay the price.