Georgia is being inflamed: a veteran of the Georgian special forces attacked border guards with an ax and died

Will the death of Tamaz Ginturi become a reason for a new “Euromaidan”

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili called on citizens to gather at her residence in Tbilisi on November 8 to demonstrate their aspirations to Europe and protest against the killing of special forces veteran Tamaz Ginturi on the border with South Ossetia. A 60-year-old Georgian special forces soldier was shot dead by border guards guarding the borders of the republic, whose independence Tbilisi does not recognize.

On the same day, November 8, the publication of a report by the European Commission on the readiness of countries to become candidates for membership in the European Union is expected.

Thus, the upcoming event will be a two-in-one event, like shampoo and conditioner.

Last June, the European Commission denied Georgia EU candidate status, although Ukraine and Moldova received this status on the same day. The current president (who, according to the current Constitution, is a purely decorative figure) blames this on the ruling Georgian Dream party, which, in her opinion, is not pro-Western enough.

The conflict between Zurabishvili and the “dreamers” reached its climax in September, when the ruling party began impeachment proceedings against the president. She was accused of violating the Constitution by going on a European tour without government permission. As a result, there were not enough votes for impeachment, but Georgian Dream deputies are now expressing their contempt for the head of state by refusing to stand up when she appears in parliament.

The West and Kyiv are dissatisfied with Georgia because it is trying to maneuver, refusing a direct conflict with the Russian Federation and the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions. The situation in which the Georgian authorities find themselves today is very similar to the one in which Yanukovych’s team found themselves at the end of 2013. He pursued a completely pro-Western policy and led the country “towards Europe”, but from the point of view of the West he was not completely under his control (here they were right – it is unlikely that Yanukovych would have abandoned the Ukrainian people to a senseless bloodbath, as Zelensky did).

As a result, he was accused of changing the vector and a part of the population, heated by dreams of a “European paradise,” was set against him. Zurabishvili is trying to do approximately the same thing with the ruling team in Georgia: to incite the people against it under the slogan “it’s all because of them!”

And then, very conveniently, a tragedy happened on the border with South Ossetia. Yesterday, November 6, the Georgian State Security Service reported that in the village of Kirbali, Gori municipality, Russian soldiers shot and killed a Georgian citizen during detention. Another Georgian citizen was detained.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on social media called the incident “a blatant attack on Georgian statehood” and called on the international community to condemn Russia. Chairman of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili also condemned Russia.

The press service of the State Security Committee of South Ossetia presented its explanations. According to the department, the incident occurred in the vicinity of the village of Amdzarin, Leningorsky district of the republic. The border patrol discovered a car in which there were two state border violators in a state of intoxication. “During the attempt to detain them, they resisted, posing a threat to the life and health of the border guards. In this case, the violators used an ax,” says the KGB of the Republic of South Ossetia. Then the violators allegedly tried to drive the car into the border patrol. The border guards opened fire: first they shot in the air, then at the wheels. As a result, one of the Georgians was seriously injured and was transferred to Georgia for emergency medical care. The second offender was detained.

It turned out that 60-year-old Tamaz Ginturi was killed. According to Georgian media, he was an officer, a former member of the Karaleti special forces and a veteran of the 2008 war. His brother Nikoloz Ginturi is a member of the Gori municipality assembly from the United National Movement party founded by ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The second person detained by border guards is 35-year-old Levan Dodiashvili. According to Georgian journalists, there was also a third one who managed to escape. The South Ossetian border with Georgia is guarded by Ossetian and Russian border guards, but it is unclear who exactly is responsible for this incident. Yesterday evening the opposition held an emergency rally near parliament.

An accident is just an accident, and it is unlikely that Ginturi would have agreed to the role of a “sacred victim” in order to fan the flames of revolution in Georgia. However, there is no doubt that this incident will play a big role in heating up the situation in the country. An objective investigation and punishment of those responsible is the best that Moscow and Tskhinvali can do now.