Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The Russian-Georgian Journalist School continues working in Tbilisi. It gives an opportunity to listen to lectures and participate in trainings on various issues of the mass media work and the situation in the South Caucasus.
The fourth day of the school began from the report by the MSIIR expert Andrey Sushentsov “Russian-Georgian Relations in the Regional Context.” The report was prepared together with the editor of the politic department in “Expert” Magazine, Nikolai Silayev. It caused wide interest not only of the school’s participants, but also of the expert society of Georgia. Interesting discussions followed the report.
Andrey Sushentsov concluded that the main result of the survey “Georgia after the elections and prospects of the Russian-Georgian thaw” is that Russia and Georgia are not doomed on the infinite contradiction. The authors suggest that the most painful problem – unification of Georgia, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia – can be solved in the future by establishing a confederative union under conditions of willed agreement of Abkhazians and Ossetians.
Sushentsov and Silayev recommend cancelation of the “counterproductive” law “On Occupied Territories” and turning to the strategy of “smaller-scale stories”, rejection of the concept of occupation. Experts remind that interests of Moscow, Sukhumi, and Tbilisi not always coincide, and the authorities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia make decisions which sometimes do not satisfy Russia. They say that “the problem of parameters of military presence of Russia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia can be discussed in the future,” while restoration of railway traffic can solve many economic and humanitarian problems.
The North Caucasus policy of Georgia still raises concern of Russia as decisions on recognition of Circassian genocide haven’t been reconsidered yet, even though destabilization of the North Caucasus will concern Georgia itself. As for the “European-Atlantic choice,” Sushentsov and Silayev think that if NATO is not an anti-Russian choice for Georgia, the membership in the alliance can match with normal relations with Moscow.
Studens also participated in the training by the producer of “Mayak” Radio, Gia Saralidze, “Peculiarities of establishing and modern conditions of Russian FM radio broadcasting. ” Penetrating influence of FM-radio causes a growing interest to this media industry which has unique peculiarities and professional requirements. The training was so interesting that the audience thanked Gia Saralidze with ovation.
In the second half of the day the director general of the information and analysis agency “Vestnik Kavkaza” Ismail Agakishiyev read the lecture “Problems of tolerance in the mass media of the South Caucasus countries.” Agakishiyev presented a new definition of the term “tolerance” in the context of inter-ethnic and inter-religious problems of the South Caucasus: “If tolerance is latitude, I prefer notions of “respect” and “respectful attitude”.” According to him, the countries of the South Caucasus shouldn’t lose a unique treasure and heritage of the common history: interpenetration of great and ancient cultures of the Caucasus people. This process is marked by famous “multinational yards” in capitals of the South Caucasus where representatives of various ethnic groups lived together. But differences in religions and cultures led not to conflicts, but mutual enrichment. “The Caucasus is a place where in a small territory one can see a Muslim mosque, an Orthodox cathedral, a Jewish synagogue, an Armenian church, and a Catholic church. It is a great fortune and we shouldn’t reject it,” Ismail Agakishiyev said. “Of course there are conflicts, but they should be described independently. For example, speaking about tragic events in Baku in January 1990 – slaughtering local residents and Armenians – it should be remembered that there would be much more victims among Armenians, if Baku residents hadn’t hidden many of them.”
The speaker noted that “the Baku events were organized by destructors of the USSR. They organized conflicts all over the South Caucasus and controlled them. Baku population appeared to be a victim of these villains. Specially trained groups committed massacres in Baku for making a reason for sending troops into the city on January 20. Baku residents saved their neighbors from the massacres, and many Azerbaijanis living in Moscow organized their moving to Russia. Everybody thought that it was timely until the center would find out who organized the tragic events and punish them. But instead of this the authorities sent punitive troops to the city which provided the victory over Nazism by oil and fuel supplies to the Soviet Army. In the night from the 19th to 20th January hundreds of innocent people of various nationalities were shot.”
The emotional discussion of the delicate and painful topic showed that there are many Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Russians, and Ukrainians living in Georgia among students of the school. They agreed with the view that tolerance’s essence is in mutual respect and culture of neighboring, understanding of the phenomenon which is typical for all Caucasian nations. The joint speech by Gia Saralidze and Ismail Agakishiyev ended with ovation of the audience which confirmed that Georgians need communication with people from Russia who respect audience and cane provide a professional dialogue. Such communications is able to create positive attitude toward Russians and change Russia’s image in Georgia. The political scientific center “North-South” and Vestnik Kavkaza became the media-bridge between the countries which improve tolerance and mutual respect to the positions of each other.\
