Clashes in
Georgia
TWO and a half years after a murderous attack by Sovlet troops on pro-independence demonstrators in the
Caucasian republic of
Georgia, it was the turn of the police of the nationalist president Zvlad
Gamsakhurdia to open fire on opponents on September 2,
1991.
COLIN MEADE
G
AMSAKHURDIA's baijani minority.
The strange incident of the abolition of the National Guard at the time of the coup, meanwhile, may be connected to the fact that it coincided with a major reshuffle by Gamsakhurdia of his government, and doubts about the loyalty of the Guard to himself. Indeed, some 15,000 Guards, under their leader, Tengiz Kitovani, sacked by the president on August 19, have announced that they are no longer under the president's orders.
One strand in the coalition of forces opposing Gamsakhurdia is a rival nationalist current headed by Georgi Chanturia, leader of the National Democratic Party. This party and others were involved in an attempt to launch alternative elections for a National Congress in September 1990, arguing that the Supreme Soviet, in which Gamsakhurdia's party was to come to power, was a part of the illegal Soviet power structure. However the protests also seem to have attracted the support of intellectuals and media workers disturbed
The independence of the three Caucasian republics of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan is not yet assured, despite all the shocks the Soviet system has suffered in recent years. Central government troops continue to roam around areas of conflict, such as South Ossetia and the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. This is clear proof that a purely nationalist outlook, which divides the peoples of the region against one another, is actually a severe hindrance to the establishment of national rights and sovereignty.
Furthermore, the Caucasus has historically been an area where Russian, Iranian and Turkish interests have collided; thus it is not only from Moscow that malign interference can be anticipated. The path indicated by history for the peoples of the Caucasus to achieve independence in peace is a union of the whole region, which can only be realized on the basis of secularism and pluralism. Voices calling opponents stepped up demonstrations after the killings, demanding his resignation, access to the media and parliamentary
Moscow appeal for elections. They accuse the president of a record of anti-democratic practises, as well as of political incompetence and by the president's dictatorial predilections.
for progress in this direction, however, have yet to make themselves heard. *
Labour Party indecision, expressed by his decision to disband the Georgian National Guard at the behest of the leaders of the Moscow
There is plenty of evidence of Gamsak-
THE following appeal for the whatever nuances one might find, anti-democratic victory of his "Round Table" coalition in creation of a Party of Labour was the Supreme Soviet elections in October
Issued in Moscow on August 28, was followed by a takeover of the media,
1991. Among the signatories are while opponents from the rival "National
Nikolai Gotchar, president of the
Moscow soviet, Boris Kagarlitski harassment. On September 18 opposition leader Georgi Chanturia was arrested for and Vladimir Kondratov, members