Anatolii Bibilov, the President of the Republic of South Ossetia, hosted a meeting with Gairbek Salbiev, the Chairman of Darial Public Movement, which unites natives and citizens of the Kazbegi region of Georgia. Representatives of the organization have numerous times claimed about violation of their rights by Georgian authorities.
Indeed, the problem of historical Eastern Ossetia (Tyrsygom, Kudycom and the Kob hollow), which territory is under Georgian control, is not new and becomes more complicated each year. Villages that once were populated lay in ruins, and the Ossetian population has been squeezed out of those places. This is a clear illustration of Georgian dream about South Ossetia, which they tried to turn into a “clear field”. Having appeared beyond the borders of the autonomy and later the state of South Ossetia, the Eastern Ossetia became an easy mark for Georgian expansion.
In practice, the new Georgian leaders, who publicly stand for commitment to rules of international legislation and democratic values, restrict the Ossetians, natives of the Kazbegi district, of visiting their homes and ancestral graves. All these things occur without explanation of any reasons and are rude violations of human rights and moral standards of humanism.
Despite the fact that the South Ossetian diplomats have multiple times raised problems of natives of the Kazbegi region at different international meetings, including at the Geneva discussions, representatives of international organizations remain indifferent to these issues. However there is a firm stand of the highest authorities of the Republic, the President and the Ossetian people, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will further assert rights of the Ossetians for the ancestral lands and raise these issues at all levels and formats.
Tskhinval, December 5, 2017