The parliament of Georgia began to discuss the State Strategy for development of relations with the peoples of the North Caucasus
The document is being developed by the parliamentary committee on Diaspora and North Caucasus Affairs. Its chairman, Nugzar Tsiklauri, was the initiator of the resolution of May 20, 2011, on recognition of “the genocide of Circassians” in the North-West Caucasus in the mid-19th century. Thus, the strategy continues the course toward development of a “North Caucasian policy”, considering the deep historical ties between Georgia and the peoples of this region of Russia. Development of relations with the North Caucasus became one of the main aspects of the National Security Concept adopted last year in the context of relations with Russia, which were defined by the authors as “the main foe and threat to Georgian statehood.”
The tendency is not only an emotional reaction to the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia. Indeed, the Georgian authorities aimed at preventative measures. Explaining the decision to abolish the visa regime for residents of the North Caucasus, Saakashvili said: “We want to approach the peoples of the North Caucasus to secure ourselves from a backslide to an imperial policy, when Moscow managed to turn them against us.”
The strategy of relations with the peoples of the North Caucasus includes several directions of cooperation. First of all, the authors admit respect for religious differences between Georgia and the North-Caucasus peoples; they express readiness to “open all communications for visits to Islamic sacred places.” According to recent data, the number of pilgrims to Mecca who prefer the Georgian route (the shortest, if you drive by car) is growing.
In order to approach young people, Georgia plans to open summer scout and student camps. Such camps exist on the Black Sea coast: in Anaklia, hundreds of boys and girls from Belarus and Moldova have vacationed here for 5 years. It seems that next summer teenagers from the republics of the North Caucasus will join them.
Georgia intends to allocate places in the best universities for residents of the North Caucasus and send them to prestigious European and American educational centers. As Oxford, Harvard, Stanford and other famous universities are “the forges of pro-Western elites” for the whole world, the initiative could have serious consequences.
Moreover, Tbilisi is ready to be the information platform for North-Caucasian scientists and human rights activists. Georgia opens its archives to historians who want to study “the true history of the North Caucasus peoples, who underwent many ethnic cleansings and genocide in the Russian Empire, in the Soviet Union and in the Russian Federation.”
Georgia takes the duty of “informing the international community about the facts of violations of human rights in the North Caucasus, harassment on ethnic or political grounds, citizens missing, and so on.”
The concept says that Georgia is ready to create the most favorable conditions for North-Caucasian businessmen.
There is no doubt the document will be adopted in the near future. Tbilisi is not afraid of Moscow’s reaction. They think that Moscow has used all its levers and trumps against Georgia. Furthermore, the strategy doesn’t speak about support for extremists or separatists. Therefore, the Georgian authorities suggest Russia to start competing for the minds and hearts of the people. Georgia had lost a similar competition in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It hopes to win the new one.
