APPEAL of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia to Mr. Mikhail
Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union, Mr. Boris Yeltsin, President of the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the State Council of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics, the Supreme Council of the Russian SFSR
We would like to draw
your attention to the destructive and often violent attacks that have become
more frequent lately. The attacks undermine the ongoing social and political
processes in
We imply the
intensified activities of separatist and extremist forces on the territory of
the former Autonomous Region of South Ossetia, and namely, the oppression of peaceful
Georgian population by armed bands with the connivance or even open support and
direct participation of the troops of the Soviet Ministry of Interior Affairs.
Not long ago, the
self-proclaimed Executive Committee of the so-called South Ossetia addressed
the Supreme Council of the Soviet Socialist Republic of North Ossetia with a request
to incorporate South Ossetia and
We hope that you
will adequately assess this absurd but far-reaching proposal in order to prevent
further encroachments on the territorial integrity of and interference into the
domestic affairs of the sovereign
What is even more outrageous
is that the demarches of the separatist forces entail terror and violence
against the Georgian population of the region perpetrated by Ossetian
extremists and the forces of the Ministry of Interior Affairs.
Four military
helicopters carrying missiles intruded into the Akhalgori district on September
10. They were flying from Akhalgori to the
At 10 pm on October
7, two armored personnel carriers belonging to the Ministry of Interior Affairs
and carrying armed people in masks assaulted the
On October 8 night,
two armored personnel carriers of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, ambushed
near Ergneti, bulleted a passing car carrying four local residents, three of whom
were wounded, including one badly.
On October 10, at
about 12 hours in the noon, Ossetian extremists opened fire at the residents of
the villages of Kaleti and Atotsi in Kareli district (former Kornisi district).
Nine armored personnel carriers and one helicopter participated in the attack
which lasted until 8 pm and resulted in five wounded civilians who were hospitalized.
Not long ago, armed
bandits killed four Georgian herdsmen and stole their cattle. Ossetian bandits brutally
beat and took hostage nine drivers carrying building materials to the
earthquake-affected population. The incident occurred in Tskhinvali in the
presence of Interior Ministry personnel.
The other day,
armed bandits killed a woman in the
It is particularly
outrageous that the Interior Ministry personnel, whose duty is to protect lives,
law and order, participate in the armed attacks on the Georgian population.
It is also alarming that the abovementioned armored
personnel carriers moved from the so-called state of emergency area in Tskhinvali
and advanced 4-km deep into the Gori district.
The activities of
the Soviet press contribute to escalation of tension in the region. For
example, newspaper “Izvestia” published on October 5 information that the issue
of unification of “South” and “North” Ossetias would be discussed at the next
session of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Socialist Republic of “North
Ossetia”. This fact can be regarded as another manifestation of the aggressive
attitude of our neighbor state.
No comments, as
they say.
All this allows us to
regard the mentioned actions as gross violation of sovereignty of the
The Supreme Council of the
The Supreme Council
of the
(Bulletins of the Supreme
Council of the Republic of Georgia, 1991,
# 10, pp. 65-67)