By Thanos Thanopoulos
The Patriarchate of Georgia has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, following his statements on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, for distorting the history of Georgia.
“The statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 9 on the long history of Abkhazia and the so-called South Ossetia is an interpretation that has caused a very negative reaction to our people. The distortion of historical events promotes the deepening of the existing conflicts,” the Patriarchate of Georgia says in its statement.
“We believe that this statement should be a challenge for the Georgian state, Georgian scholars and for each of us, to react quickly in order to provide scientific research into our country’s general history as well as into its individual stages. Furthermore, the studies should be translated into English, Russian and other foreign languages, in time,” the Patriarchate of Georgia adds elsewhere in its statement.
“The Patriarchate of Georgia is ready to support all parties to organize conferences and meetings on historical reality,” the Patriarchate underlined in the end.
The Russian president in his statements at issue said that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are not part of Georgia.
Vladimir Putin also stated that Ossetia became part of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 18th century as an independent state, while Abkhazia became part of the Russian Empire as a Principality.
Putin also added that the troops of Georgia acted even harder in Ossetia in 1919-1920.
Finally, the Russian President underlined that “all this is what we call today a genocide. It would be good to know all this regarding the current Georgian authorities and not to forget, if the current authorities want to improve their relations with the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.”