Month: September 2024

An Azerbaijani artistic gymnast has won a gold medal at the Balkan Cup in Budva, Montenegro, Report informs, citing the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation.

The death toll from the explosion at a gas station in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, Russia, has risen to 12, with four wounded still in the hospital, Assistant to the Russian Minister of Health Alexei Kuznetsov told journalists, Report informs.

Georgian Minister of Education and Science Giorgi Amilakhvari resigned a month before the October vote, announcing his plans to return to the private sector after four years in the ruling party team.

“I asked the Prime Minister and the leaders of our team to allow me to return to the private sector after four years of relentless work and continue to support our team from there – so we made this decision together for me to leave the post of Minister,” Amilakhvari said on September 28.

He thanked PM Irakli Kobakhidze and GD patron Bidzina Ivanishvili for their support and said he would back the party from outside politics. “I remain an ordinary soldier of our political team. I am sure that on October 26, the Georgian Dream will get a landslide victory, and the peaceful and steady development of the country will continue,” he added.

“Giorgi’s departure is a significant loss for the Georgian government and the ruling party as a whole,” said Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. No replacement for the Education Minister has been announced yet.

Amilakhvari joined the ruling Georgian Dream party in 2020. He was a GD MP in the tenth convocation of the Parliament from the party list and served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Science. In March 2023, Amilakhvari was appointed the Minister of Education. Amilakhvari’s tenure was marked by an overtly nationalistic and conservative ideological pivot in education plans.

A few days ago, another GD minister, Tea Tsulukiani of the Ministry of Culture, resigned, ostensibly because she is standing as a candidate for elections.

Also Read:

• 14/12/2023 – Georgian Dream’s Conservative Drift Now Targets Schools
• 12/12/2023 – New Education Strategy Prioritizes National Identity, Values, Patriotism and Family

The endless interest of the West, and especially the United States, in the South Caucasus is no longer a secret to anyone. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the USA, which tried to penetrate the region, created new means of leverage for it.

Giorgi Amilakhvari, Georgia’s Minister of Education, Science, and Youth, has resigned from his position, Report informs.

Kobakhidze’s address to the Abkhaz

On September 26, Georgian prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze, speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, promised the Abkhaz and Ossetians that they would “always be welcomed with open arms on this side of the occupation line.” Inal Khashig, editor of the Abkhaz publication Chegemskaya Pravda, believes there is nothing sensational in this statement, and that Kobakhidze, on behalf of the ruling Georgian Dream party, is merely repeating old rhetoric to maintain power.

Georgian prime minister to the residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia: “We will welcome you with open arms”

Kobakhidze stated that “20% of Georgia’s territory is occupied” but did not mention Russia

Inal Khashig:

“In my opinion, there’s nothing new in the words about Georgia welcoming the Abkhaz and Ossetians with open arms. Beyond that, Kobakhidze didn’t say anything of substance.

It’s the usual empty rhetoric, the same syrupy promises that various Georgian leaders have poured onto the Abkhaz and Ossetians from high podiums over the years—presidents Eduard Shevardnadze and Mikheil Saakashvili, and now prime minister Kobakhidze.

Although expectations seemed to be different. At least, rumors were circulating widely in Georgian media that Irakli Kobakhidze would use the UN podium to announce Georgia’s readiness to sign an agreement with Abkhazia and South Ossetia on the non-use of force and resolving existing conflicts peacefully.

Just two weeks earlier, the founder and spiritual leader of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, even expressed his intention to apologize to the Ossetians for the August 2008 war, promising something akin to a ‘Nuremberg trial’ for Mikheil Saakashvili and his National Movement party for starting that war.”

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• “An affront to history, the country, and the people”: Georgian politicians criticize Ivanishvili’s speech
• “Apologies won’t suffice”: South Ossetia reacts to Ivanishvili’s statement that Georgia will apologize for the August 2008 war
• “Ivanishvili’s next step should be an apology to the Abkhazians”. Opinion

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Some experts speculated that Ivanishvili might make a similar statement regarding the Abkhaz and the 1992-93 war.

Naturally, while this rhetoric was revolutionary, it stayed within traditional boundaries. It was all said with the caveat that repentance was necessary for the restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity.

However, this new approach to reclaiming territories didn’t sit well with Georgian society. The Georgians didn’t want to repent for two wars, even under such conditions.

As a result, maintaining this approach ahead of the parliamentary elections on October 26 became risky for Georgian Dream – they could lose power.

So, after adjusting their platform, Georgian Dream returned to their original position, echoing the loathed National Movement: “Abkhazians and Ossetians, come back to Georgia, and then we will embrace you.“

Kobakhidze’s address to the Abkhaz

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The weather is expected to be partially cloudy but primarily without precipitation in Baku and the Absheron Peninsula on September 29, Report informs, citing the National Hydrometeorological Service of Azerbaijan.

The challenges facing the Caspian Sea will be a key topic of discussion at the upcoming COP29 event, set to take place in Baku, Azernews reports.

The first meeting of the autumn session of Azerbaijan’s seventh convocation Milli Majlis (parliament) will take place on September 30, 2024 Azernews reports.