“We will have a dignified response in every instance, at every level. We will make it very loudly known to everyone what kind of dirty game we are really dealing with and what a filthy game continues against our country,” said Irakli Kirtskhalia, chairman of the “Georgian Dream” parliamentary faction, responding to information released by the BBC, which reported that “chemical weapons dating back to the First World War were allegedly used in Georgia against protesters.”

According to him, “they have descended into madness.”

“The decision of Georgian Dream is completely logical, because what we saw and heard from the BBC went beyond every boundary. What can we even call it? They have completely gone into madness. It is not surprising when we speak about mainstream media like the BBC. Their true face has been revealed globally, especially after 2022. It is also noteworthy that the White House added a category listing untrustworthy media outlets-and BBC is included there. Let’s recall the scandal a few weeks ago, which cost them their director or head of news. After all of this, what do we see? Absolute madness, absurdity. And based on what? Chakhunashvili and others-ordinary agents, little ‘agentukebi’ (little agents) who were traveling around and reporting against the country. We’ve also seen heavier-weight agents-from the Helsinki Commission and elsewhere. And based on this, we now hear such disinformation from the BBC, a media once considered very reputable and important. It is laughable, yet in reality it is not funny, because the whole world is under the influence of this madness. When such media outlets circulate such information-built on extraordinary lies-what are we even supposed to talk about?” - said Kirtskhalia.

Speaking further on the topic, Kirtskhalia stated that the article is a direct insult to the country, the nation, and Georgian statehood.

“It is an insult to the entire institution, to Georgia-what we heard. Regarding our party’s statement, of course, we will have a dignified response to this in every instance, at every level. We will make it very loudly known to everyone what kind of dirty game we are dealing with and what kind of filthy game continues against our country,” said Irakli Kirtskhalia.

For reference, Georgian Dream is initiating legal proceedings against the BBC in international courts. The party states that the BBC disseminated grave accusations against the Georgian government based on the accounts of interested individuals, having no connection to reality.

As a reminder, the BBC reported that evidence collected by them indicates that the Georgian authorities used chemical weapons dating back to the First World War to suppress last year's anti-government protests.

According to the BBC, “demonstrators protesting against the Georgian government's suspension of the EU integration process complained of various symptoms, including burning eyes, shortness of breath, coughing, and vomiting, which lasted for weeks.”

The BBC also reported that they spoke with chemical weapons experts from the World Service, representatives of Georgia’s special forces, and doctors, and discovered that “the evidence points to the use of an agent that the French military called ‘Camite.’”