Between Two Worlds: How Ossetia and Georgia Can Find a Path to Reconciliation
Between Two Worlds: How Ossetia and Georgia Can Find a Path to Reconciliation
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How Will We Live Together?
I am a colonel, an Ossetian born in 1930. I want to address the sensible part of the Georgian people. I specifically mentioned my year of birth because during my childhood, youth, and even maturity, it never occurred to me that we, the Ossetians, were enemies of Georgia. Nor did I ever think that Georgia was an enemy of Ossetia. I am a historian. I graduated from the history faculty of Tbilisi University with honors, and in all my studies of Georgian history, I never came across any mention of Ossetians and Georgians being hostile towards each other. On the contrary, I read that Ossetians repeatedly joined forces with Georgians to defend Georgia from numerous enemies.
Shared History and Culture
The famous Georgian Queen Tamar was married to the Ossetian David Soslan, under whose rule Georgia reached the peak of its power in the Caucasus. Every summer, I would travel to my native Ossetian village in South Ossetia, which was surrounded by Georgian villages. I vividly remember how Georgian peasants would come to help us harvest grain in the mountains because it had to be done before the frost, which arrived much earlier in the mountains than in the lowlands where the Georgians lived.
I grew up on Georgian literature and culture. My first language was Georgian, and to this day, I consider it my native language. I fondly remember my Georgian teachers who not only gave me knowledge but also instilled in me high moral values. If I have any good qualities, they were instilled in me by the Georgian people, for which I am deeply grateful.
A Confusing Enmity
I cannot understand why my former classmates—Ushangi Lomidze, Otari Gotsiridze, Otari Maisuradze, and Gurami Bilanishvili—are now considered my enemies. Is it simply because they are Georgian and I am Ossetian? Does this mean that my many Georgian relatives are also my enemies because of their nationality? Something doesn't add up here. The entire history of the Georgian and Ossetian peoples proves that the enemies of Georgia were also the enemies of the Ossetians, and the friends of the Georgians were the friends of the Ossetians.
Close Ties and Interwoven Lives
There are more mixed marriages between Georgians and Ossetians than between Georgians and any other people in the Caucasus. There are more villages where Georgians and Ossetians live together than there are Georgian villages mixed with other nationalities. There is no other people with such close, familial, neighborly, and friendly relations with the Georgian people as the Ossetians. At least, this was the case until, in a time of social and political chaos, leaders driven by the ancient Roman principle of "divide and conquer" successfully implemented and continue to implement this strategy.
The Future: A Question of Coexistence
Today, history has posed a serious question to both the Georgian and Ossetian peoples: How will we live together in the future? We will have to live side by side, separated by barbed wire. I am more than certain that this barbed wire is not acceptable to either the Georgian or Ossetian peoples. I believe that thousands of Georgian refugees dream of returning to their native lands in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. I emphasize South Ossetia, not "Shida Kartli" or "Samachablo." They will return, but how? Will South Ossetia or Abkhazia willingly return to the embrace of the Georgian government? The answer, after all the bloodshed, especially after August 8, 2008, is a definite NO.
The Only Path Forward
The only option left is to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, establish good economic and cultural relations, and create a visa-free regime between our peoples. We must stop digging into who owes whom and how much, and then the idea expressed in the play at the Marjanishvili Theater, "I Will Return," might come true. The alternative is to continue looking at each other through barbed wire, feeling mutual hostility, forgetting the good and noble deeds our ancestors did for each other, and living in a constant state of danger.
A Call to the Georgian People
The choice is yours, my dear Georgians. The choice is yours because it was not Ossetia that attacked Georgia, but the rulers of Georgia who incited their people against the Ossetians. We must once and for all forget the myth that Ossetians are guests in Georgia and should return to their historical homeland in the North Caucasus. The question of where someone's historical homeland lies is a contentious one. No one can prove that the Georgians themselves did not come from somewhere else, and that their historical homeland is not somewhere in the Near East. A people who have lived on this land for several centuries, cultivating it, shedding sweat and blood on it, defending it together with the Georgians from external enemies, are no longer guests but rightful owners.
A Historical Perspective
This is an unpleasant truth for some ultra-patriots of Georgia, but it must be accepted. Otherwise, according to the "guest" theory, today’s Americans should have been expelled from America long ago. European colonization of that continent began in the 17th century, while the Ossetians have been in the South Caucasus for several centuries longer, even with the help of the Georgian king David the Builder.
I love Georgia no less than any Georgian because I grew up there, and I became a man there. In terms of culture and upbringing, I am more Georgian than Ossetian. My wife is Georgian. I love and respect my people. I sincerely want only good for both Georgia and Ossetia. The decisive word in this matter belongs to the Georgian people, not the Georgian government. Unfortunately, for the Georgian government and ultra-patriots, South Ossetia as a country or republic does not exist. For them, South Ossetia is "Samachablo," the domain of the bloodthirsty enemy of the Ossetians, Prince Machabeli, who aimed to destroy the Ossetians as a people, as an ethnic group.
A Call for Wisdom
But still, I believe in the wisdom of the Georgian people. In a Georgian folk song, there are words: "What is destroyed by enmity is restored by love." Isn't it time to restore what has been destroyed? The Georgian people themselves must solve this very difficult problem for Georgia. A great politician once said, "Better a bad peace than a good war." We simply need to foresee the future. And the question arises: How will we live? What will we leave for our descendants? Barbed wire? Guns aimed at each other? A constant threat of war? Hatred and enmity between our peoples? And all this, for the sake of satisfying political ambitions and pleasing a so-called overseas "friend"?
A Warning About Foreign Influences
In 1962-63, I had to serve in Cuba. I saw with my own eyes the results of this "friendship." God forbid anyone to have such a friend. Georgians need to think carefully. Why has America suddenly developed such a strong affection for this small people hidden in the Caucasus mountains? If they are so kind-hearted, why do they treat their own indigenous people so cruelly? Do some research into what the "democratic and humane" Americans did to the native inhabitants of that continent! Tens of millions were destroyed, and the survivors were driven into reservations. What makes Georgians so precious to America? The answer is simple: Russophobia. Once the need for Russophobia disappears, they will forget you forever. Although it seems you have already fulfilled your purpose. Think about it. Americans do not love anyone for free.
Reflecting on Georgian-Russian Relations
As for Georgia’s relations with Russia, I will not try to prove what Russia has meant for Georgia. Instead, I will refer to the testament of the king of Western Georgia, Solomon, to his son Alexander in the second half of the 18th century: "Here is my testament to you: Whatever happens, however wounded or offended you may be, do not turn away from Russia, for we have no other path. Only in unity with Russia is the salvation of our homeland, our people, and truly, the one who will lead Georgia and the Christian faith to ruin is the king who, driven by petty greed, deviates from this path."
Let me remind those Georgians who do not know the history of Georgia that such a united Georgia was created by the Russians in the 19th century. Before that, all of Georgia was fragmented into small kingdoms and principalities, whose rulers’ favorite pastime was weaving intrigues and betrayals against each other with the help of the Persian shah or the Turkish sultan, before whom they groveled like prayer rugs.
And one more thing: we must not forget that the entire southern part of Georgia, including Adjara, was returned to Georgia by Russian soldiers. Russian soldiers shielded Georgia from fascist invaders with their chests when they came close to Georgia's borders in the summer of 1942, of course, together with the sons of Georgia. History must be read carefully. Meanwhile, our beloved friend America has not shed a single drop of blood for the freedom of the Georgian people.
A Question of Identity
I would like to say a few words off-topic. As I mentioned, I am a historian. I graduated from the history faculty at Tbilisi University. While reading historical literature and documents, I never encountered any records where Georgia was called "Georgia" (as in "Georgia" in English). Everywhere I read "Sakartvelo," "Kakheti," "Kartli," "Imereti," and so on. Where
this "Georgia" came from, I do not understand. And if Georgia is now "Georgia," then what do we call individual Georgians? It seems this label was introduced to please our overseas friend.
Here, I can recall a wise Georgian proverb: "No matter how much you wash a crow, it won't become white." And another important piece of wisdom: "Don't lose the old road, or the old friend."