Press Digest 30.09.2014
Does information regarding presumable creation of Georgia-Abkhazian Confederation ring true?
Will U.S. refuse to grant Saakashvili political asylum too?
Will they let President Margvelashvili visit Davos?
“Delta Iron Horse” stands the strongest chance to best its rivals
How to fight against the disseminators of misinformation
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Does information regarding presumable creation of Georgia-Abkhazian Confederation ring true?
"In the opinion of Georgian experts, recently released information regarding the presumable emergence of the Confederation of Abkhazia does not ring true. However, this issue has stimulated discrepancy from the public. We would like to remind our readers of the fact that at a press conference that was held a couple of days ago former Mayor of Abkhazia, Alslan Smirba, issued information saying that he was involved in negotiations with the Head of Abkhazia’s Government; in the wake of this, he gave his word of honor that after October 27, the issue of a Georgian-Abkhazian Confederation will be resolved once and for all,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.
“I am on friendly terms with Valeri Arshba and Sergey Shamba as well as the Head of Abkhazia’s Government. I guarantee you that after 27 October, we will launch negotiations with Abkhazia and we will do our best to iron out a solution to the issue of our confederation. We will succeed in doing this. I do guarantee you. Under the former Government, the security service officials commissioned me to visit Abkhazia to hold negotiations with the Head of Abkhazia’s Government as well as his secretaries and take one of them to Trabzon. I paid 24 thousand USD to fulfill my task and took one of the deputy heads of Abkhazia’s Government – whose surname I will not give away now – where I was told to. From Georgia, they send Vano Merabishvili who is being held in custody now. For 3 hours, they sat in the hall involved in unabated talks. And do you want to know what they were talking about? They talked regarding nothing special! Federation, confederation, internal issues … I trust nobody. I am keeping to myself and trying to tackle this issue independently. The issue of Abkhazia has almost been fully tackled… As much as 80 per cent of the job has already been done,” claims Smirba.
“Expert on Caucasus issues, Zaal Kasrelishvili, says that their endeavor to work diligently to provide a solution to the issue of Abkhazia is pretty natural. “We want the federation of Abkhazia and not confederation,” we claim. However, we know that they have set a goal of creating the Confederation of Abkhazia. One thing I cannot get though – why or for what reason did they involved Asan Smirba in this issue,” says Mr. Kasrelishvili.
“Former Security Minister of Abkhazia, Levan Kiknadze, thinks that since the Abkhazians have gained the so-called independence, they cannot desire to create the confederation of Abkhazia. “I don’t think that this issue will be seriously scrutinized. I rejected this proposal once. As early as under Ardzinba, they aimed to create the Confederation of Abkhazia. However, they cannot see the writing on the wall; the idea of forming the confederation of Abkhazia is really dangerous. By doing this, they may have automatically raised the issue of seceding from Georgia. The Confederation of Abkhazia would have posed a threat for Georgia’s territorial integrity. Now they have their independence; they have already achieved their long-cherished goal, and I cannot really comprehend what pushed Mr. Smirba to shed light on this issue. Thus, I cannot really define information saying that they aim to create a Confederation of Abkhazia as trustworthy. If they truly want to do this, then we must work out why…,” declares Mr. Kiknadze.
“We would like to remind our readers of the fact that earlier to this, Russian Deputy foreign Minister, Gregory Karassin also released a statement regarding the presumable formation of the Confederation of Abkhazia,” concludes the author of the article.
Will U.S. refuse to grant Saakashvili political asylum too?
“Lugubrious chants have echoed within the Central Office of the Nationals… The U.S. Consulate has reportedly refused to grant a working visa to ex-President Saakashvili. The Alia gazette has been provided with the aforementioned information from the Nationals’ Central Office. Time will show us whether or not this information is close to the truth; however, the actual fact is that the Nationals have been driven into disarray; they are in a panic … We have not found out yet whether or not the leader of the party has confirmed this not so exciting news to the party; however, one fact which has fallen into our hands and as per which Tufts University has refused to cooperate with Mr. Saakashvili can make this information more credible. Mikheil Saakashvili has failed to keep on the right side of the U.S. political upper crust. As for the WH, the ex-President has, in fact, lost all his allies and adherents there. The Alia gazette has contacted Zurab Mamulashvili, international lawyer, for further information regarding the issue,” reports the Alia gazette.
“It’s up to each and every country to make a final decision regarding similar issues; the leadership of a country is entitled to deny a visa to any person; likewise, they are entitled to deny the people the right to work in their state. I cannot bring a quote from the U.S. legislation… however, this is undoubtedly true. And obviously when it comes to an ex-President of this or that country, the Consulate will take all information that it will get regarding him from the State Department under any circumstances. In this particular case, I obviously do not think that a consul has come to this decision independently. The powers that be must have denied Mr. Saaksshvili the right to work in the U.S,” asserts Mr. Mamulashvili.
“When such a decision is made in terms of an ex-President of this or that country, a decision must be qualified as political. Consul or Ambassador naturally cannot independently settle such an issue. As for his tourist visa, it cannot, clearly, help Saakashvili in delivering lectures in different foreign universities.”
“And if the information regarding the U.S. authorities’ decision to refuse cooperation with Saakashvili is corroborated, this will mean that they have “doomed him to death.” And obviously this move from them will produce terrible repercussions for the Nationals; their party will apparently collapse; all their dreams to fan the flames of revolution in Georgia or arrange a coup will be ruined. As you know, they placed confidence in the U.S. and hoped that they would have enjoyed the U.S. authorities backing while putting their intentions into practice… As for Mikheil Saakashvili, he is really in a great hardship today. He hoped that if they declared him wanted via Interpol, he would have instantly been provided with political asylum in America… Thus, if Misha is no longer in the U.S. authorities’ good books, it means that the entire National Movement will be leveled to the ground soon,” reads the paper.
Will they let President Margvelashvili visit Davos?
"President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, has reportedly been invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos. However, the parliamentary majority has already set to alleging that since the PM deals with the economic issues, he and only he must pay a visit to Davos. However, on this particular occasion, the President clearly enjoys an advantage over his “rival” as an invitation has already been extended to him,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.
“Mr. Margvelashvili has reportedly received the invitation from Klaus Shvab, Economic Forum Head, at the World Economic Forum led regional meeting in Istanbul. However, despite this, judging from previous experience, it will be a bit difficult to predict which of the high officials will depart for Davos. This issue has triggered a controversy from the parliamentary majority members as well as our experts,” says the article.
“As for the Parliament’s Vice-Speaker, Manana Kobakhidze, she thinks that Irakli Gharibashvili is a decision-making figure who is clearly entitled to visit Davos. Although the actual fact is that this issue has been enveloped in obscurity so far,” writes the author of the article.
“However, politician Ramaz Sakvarelidze thinks that the invitation was offered to the President and the Government does not need to seek a solution to this matter. “This invitation is absolutely personal. Thus, the issue must not cause any commotion. They don’t have to work out anything; moreover, the PM has already visited this forum and has proclaimed his stance there,” declares Mr. Sakvarelidze.
“As for expert, Soso Tsintsadze, he does not rule out that despite the fact that the President has been invited at the Forum, they can send the PM there. “ As per diplomatic etiquette, the President must attend the Forum as a personal invitation has been sent to him. However, since neither the Government nor the Georgian people have managed to figure out what kind of republic Georgia is, nothing can be excluded. One thing is clear though -- from the beginning, it would be rational if they resolved similar issues without a surge of emotions and large-scale scandals,” maintains Soso Tsintsadze.
“Delta Iron Horse” stands the strongest chance to best its rivals
How to fight against the disseminators of misinformation
On 19 September, 2014, a closed military tender in Saudi Arabia was reportedly wrapped up… armored Military evacuation vehicles produced by a State Military- Scientific Technical Center “Delta” competed with top armored vehicles throughout the world. A winner has not been named yet; however, the Delta “iron horse” stands a strong chance of gaining a victory,” reports military-analytical journal “Arsenali.”
"Our vehicle has successfully passed all tests and has claimed a victory over its rivals. Out of 6 vehicles participating in the competition only two of them reached the final. One of them was ours. Final results of the competition are expected to become known in the end of October. Delta has only one counterweight rival – American Company Lenco. No information regarding the criteria as per which the winner will be chosen has been released yet. However, we presume that along with technical features, the total value of an armored vehicle will also play a decisive role,” announces Foreign Economic Relations Head, Otar Chiteishvili.
“The vehicle was tested in rather inclement weather. It has passed a 40 km section of road extremely fast. Later we moved onto the mountainous terrain. The second stage of the examination was held in the city of Sharura, where the climate is much drier and the temperature is rather high too… Unlike other cars, our vehicle has not faced any major problem while covering this area,” declares Chief Constructor of “Delta”, Konstantine Japaride.
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"Events that have been unfolded in the international arena have proven that neutralizing misinformation and counterpropaganda is a direct responsibility of Special Services. Likewise, they are obliged to catch spies too. Special Services, as a rule, carry out “misinformation operation” aiming to delude the people by passing misinformation onto them,” reports Journal Arsenali in the article under the title: “most powerful tool of a psychological war.”
“They employed misinformation as a powerful tool to mislead an opponent in the furthest antiquity. The representatives of Special Services, provocateurs, different businessmen as well as politicians have always used misinformation for their personal gain.
The SU Special Services used 3 core principles to disseminate misinformation throughout the public. The initial material must have definitely seemed credible in those dark days. If you mixed 90 percent truth with 10 percent lie, then your misinformation would have seemed trustworthy. Plus, the more sensational the “news” was, the faster the media outlets spread it.”
“Shortly after Georgia gained independence, the Georgian authorities have found it extremely cumbersome to “neutralize” the disseminators of misinformation. This has proven to be their weakest point. Instead of dealing fatal blows to their rivals, they have always slapped them on the wrist… Thus, if the authorities want to hamper them from spreading misinformation, they must take only measured steps… time for taking impromptu actions has gone. Only the strongest and the wittiest will win in the ongoing psychological war,” reads the journal.
