Putin blasts Georgia for ‘erasing Soviet past’

[A.V.]

Putin blasts Georgia for ‘erasing Soviet past’

22 December 2009,
MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin Tuesday slammed the controversial demolition of a war memorial in Georgia as a plot to erase the common past of the two countries within the Soviet Union.

The Russian strongman proposed that the World War II memorial be rebuilt in Moscow, pointedly reminding Georgia that the city was once the shared capital of their united Soviet state.

“This is yet another attempt to erase from the collective memory of the people of the former Soviet Union the memory of their common past and of their heroic history,” Putin said in comments broadcast on state television.

“I think it’s possible to rebuild this monument in the capital of our once united state: Moscow.”

The memorial was demolished in the Georgian city of Kutaisi Saturday on the order of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, provoking vehement protests from Russia.

A seven-year-old girl and her mother were accidentally killed in the work to raze the memorial, the Georgian interior ministry said.

Georgia, which gained sovereignty with the collapse of the USSR in 1991, has sought to distance itself from its Soviet past since Saakashvili came to power in the 2003 pro-Western “Rose Revolution”.

Ties with Russia remain strained since the two countries’ fought a war in August 2008 over the Moscow-backed rebel Georgian region of South Ossetia.

Putin has repeatedly expressed his respect for the achievements of the Soviet Union and famously described its collapse as the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century.

 

[A.V.]

shameful in a way when russia is restoring some of the soviet monuments and architecture <the farm lady statue in moscow > people are doing stuff like these

 

[Ray]

Unfortunate.

I am sure many Georgians also died in WWII.

 

[zraver]

Unfortunate.

I am sure many Georgians also died in WWII.

Even though Stalin was Georgian by birth the USSR was Russian dominated and before that the Russian Empire was again Russian imposition on Georgia. Leaving the monument up is less to honor Georgians impressed into Soviet service than a reminder of Russian dominance. Different nations deal with their imperial past in different ways. For Example, India didn't leave the statue of King George V over the India Gate. AFAIK, Frampton's Jubilee Monument to Queen Victoria once located in Calcutta does not survive any longer.

 

[A.V.]

sir whether good, bad or evil one must not cut the roots of history ,let the future generations choose for themselves it shoud be condemned world-over.
whether georgia likes it or not they were a part of the USSR and nobody can erase them by smashing down a monument meant to honour warheroes especially when the move is politically motivated
why should the common georgian pay for a single man,s ego its high time people realize that we need to broaden our views , it was because of narrow outlook that the USSR fell but what georgia did was exactly what USSR would have done it shows that they have not moved on but are going back in time

 

[zraver]

sir whether good, bad or evil one must not cut the roots of history ,let the future generations choose for themselves it shoud be condemned world-over.
whether georgia likes it or not they were a part of the USSR and nobody can erase them by smashing down a monument meant to honour warheroes especially when the move is politically motivated
why should the common georgian pay for a single man,s ego its high time people realize that we need to broaden our views , it was because of narrow outlook that the USSR fell but what georgia did was exactly what USSR would have done it shows that they have not moved on but are going back in time

The formerly oppressed are under no obligation to revere the relics of their former masters. Geoirgia is not the first former Soviet/Russian imperial possession to seek to throw off the monuments to its former masters.

 

[bengalraider]

Georgian President Blasted Over Monument's Demolition​

Two people were killed in the demolition of the Glory Memorial in Kutaisi.

December 21, 2009
By Nino Gachava, Giorgi Gvakharia

KUTAISI, Georgia -- It wasn't the birthday celebration Mikheil Saakashvili was hoping for.

Hundreds of angry demonstrators gathered in the western Georgian city of Kutaisi today to protest the president's decision to destroy a Soviet-era war monument in a blast that accidentally killed a local woman and her 8-year-old daughter on December 19.

Sozar Subari, the former ombudsman and a member of the opposition Alliance for Georgia, laid the blame for the incident squarely on the president's shoulders.

"These two deaths are the result of one person's whim, and Georgia is becoming a victim of this person's whims," Subari said. "It was the whim of this person to start the war last year, and then lose it in a shameful manner."

Georgian officials had originally scheduled the demolition of the Glory Memorial to coincide with the president's 42nd birthday today.

Saakashvili had hoped to build a new parliament building on the site as part of a decentralization drive to help develop cities outside the capital, Tbilisi.

'Historical Vandalism'

The initiative was unpopular from the start. Even those who supported the idea of moving the parliament to Kutaisi saw the destruction of the monument as unnecessary and an affront to the 300,000 Georgians who died in World War II.

Opposition leader Salome Zurabishvili, who formerly served as foreign minister under Saakashvili, said the demolition showed blatant disregard for Georgia's wartime sacrifices.

Zurabishvili attacked the president as a "barbarian."
"This is a memorial to those people who fought for freedom against Nazism. Georgians and non-Georgians, Europeans and Jews who were killed in World War II," Zurabishvili said.

"And if we want to forget all this, then we are a nation of barbarians, with a barbarian president who can just call up from somewhere and give an order to detonate the explosives, so that no protests can interrupt."

Georgia's political opposition had originally scheduled today's rally with the aim of blocking the demolition. But then the 46-meter-high arch was suddenly destroyed two days ahead of schedule, in an apparent attempt to avoid public scrutiny.

And after Eka Tsutskhvashvili-Jincharadze and her daughter Nino were killed by flying chunks of concrete caused by the blast, the gathering evolved into a mournful and angry demonstration against the president. (This video -- warning: graphic! -- shot on a mobile phone appears to show the tragic aftermath of the blast.)

Some Kutaisi residents said demolition crews attempted to warn local residents to take precautions during the blast. But the warnings failed to protect the mother and daughter from the force of the shattering concrete, which pummeled nearby houses and killed them as they were seeking shelter in their yard.

One Kutaisi woman said the blast crew failed to anticipate how powerful the explosion would be, pointing to the "huge distance" between the monument and neighboring homes.

"And this is our history. We have to protect our past -- only then, can we start to build something new," she added. "Why did we need this? Even without the deaths, it was the wrong thing to do. To me, it's an act of vandalism."

Personal Grudge?

Saakashvili, who was in Copenhagen at the time of the blast, flew back to Georgia the same day and has responded to the crisis by firing the regional governor and ordering the chief of the privately owned detonation crew to be detained.

A presidential spokeswoman said Saakashvili was "shocked by the tragedy" and promised that the state would provide aid and moral support to the victims' families.

But the purge has not deflected attention from what many see as yet another example of Saakashvili's arrogance and personal caprice going awry.

The president has made no secret of his dislike for the memorial's creator, 82-year-old sculptor Merab

Sculptor Merab Berdzenishvili
Berdzenishvili, who has been quietly critical of Saakashvili's regime.

A Berdzenishvili sculpture of King David the Builder -- Georgia's most revered historical figure -- was moved from central Tbilisi to an outlying street several years ago by presidential order.

Many people saw the parliament project as a pretext to tear down the Glory Memorial, saying there was ample land to build the government building without removing the sculpture.

Berdzenishvili said he was heartened by the outpouring of public anger over the destruction of the Glory Memorial, which featured an armed horseman stabbing a German soldier with a spear -- an image reminiscent of St. George slaying the dragon.

"The Kutaisi memorial is not just a memorial for the fallen. For me, it was also an opportunity to express my thoughts and feelings about the war," Berdzenishvili said.

"It's an antiwar statement. It's a very complex composition, with a lot of interwoven motifs. Every epoch has its dragons. And for the 20th century, it was fascism."

Kremlin Criticism

Russia was quick to criticize the memorial's destruction, with the Russian Foreign Ministry saying in a statement that the Georgian authorities had "committed an act of public vandalism, insulting the feelings of any civilized person."

"This sacrilege...is yet another disgraceful act by the current leadership in Tbilisi in its maniacal drive to erase the historical memories of its own people," the statement said.

The controversy over the memorial and the fatal blast has almost completely overshadowed Saakashvili's original plan to bring the parliament to Kutaisi, an initiative the president hoped would bring greater prominence to the economically depressed city.

One Kutaisi man argued that the parliament project could have proceeded without the loss of history and human lives.

"I think they should have left it as it is. And as for the parliament, I think it could be beneficial for Kutaisi, but this shouldn't have happened," he said.

"I have no explanation for how this happened."

Georgian President Blasted Over Monument's Demolition - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty 2009

 

[StealthSniper]

Here's a link to the video of the demolition of the monument.


Warning Graphic


http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ca0_1261563937

 

[StealthSniper]

shameful in a way when russia is restoring some of the soviet monuments and architecture <the farm lady statue in moscow > people are doing stuff like these

Yes A.V, the ironic thing is that they destroy the Soviet monument and now they have to make a new monument for the people that died when they destroyed the first monument. This was very disrespectful and shameful.

 

[Zmey Smirnoff]

The formerly oppressed are under no obligation to revere the relics of their former masters. Geoirgia is not the first former Soviet/Russian imperial possession to seek to throw off the monuments to its former masters.

I suggest you re-read the post carefuly, Zraver. This monument was dedicated to GEORGIAN soldiers who died in WW2. Nothing to do with "former masters" or "Sovier imperial possession".

 

[jakojako777]

Even though Stalin was Georgian by birth the USSR was Russian dominated and before that the Russian Empire was again Russian imposition on Georgia. Leaving the monument up is less to honor Georgians impressed into Soviet service than a reminder of Russian dominance. Different nations deal with their imperial past in different ways. For Example, India didn't leave the statue of King George V over the India Gate. AFAIK, Frampton's Jubilee Monument to Queen Victoria once located in Calcutta does not survive any longer.

Leaving the monument up is less to honor Georgians impressed into Soviet service than a reminder of Russian dominance

OK and in that definition that is heavily tainted with accusation of something "imperialistic" in those days is ABSURD!
Allusion of colonial dominance or prolongation of Russian domination by Soviets is pure nonsense!
And monument was built by Soviet COMMUNISTS not capitalist Russia!
And was probably erected by the Georgians (in majority) for the Georgians (in majority) who also fought there !
You present same USSR who let out Belarus and Ukraine to take their independence despite common sense of crucial geo-strategic interests to keep those Republics within the union and basic instinct of survivel...


WHY Belarus independent country,be cause it was once country in 17th century!?
So what?
Texas was Mexican and independent with Hispanic majority today do they have right to leave?I don't think so.....
They are not even your cousins like Ukrainians & Belorussians are with Russians!

That separation of those 2 Republics from Russia was only in USA & NATO interest not even in interest of Belorussians themselves which their situation today shows anyway!
The same goes for Ukraine.
And even MUCH more for Russia!
If those 2 Republics stayed Russia would be untouchable for USA today
And their Georgian puppet and all NATO games around Russia would not change anything!

I'm sure if Hispanics one day if they ask independence of Texas they will be crashed like bugs (despite history and today's majority)yet you pretend that Soviets were imperialistic with their republics DESPITE the FACTS that they just walked away!
This is even much LESS that Russia from 1913 was as territory so what else do you want?!
USA will be happy only when Russia is no longer around but that is just your dream...

The ONLY reason why USA "cares" about Georgia is be cause they kill Russians

And now MUSIC from "oppressors" of U.S.A. PUPPET country Georgia !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlW-8fJwOmU&feature=player_embedded&aia=true

 

[A.V.]

The siad monument is being recreated in Moscow on a smaller scale and it would be finished very soon .... hope someday it will be rebuilt in georgia too

 

[Georgian Hind]

PUPPET country Georgia !

can U say one reason why do you think thant Georgia is Puppet of nato or USA?
Becouse Georgia "Attacked" Russia ? And it could`n defend his own land without some kinde of "GREEN LIGHTs" form EU and USA? We are Helping US much better then he helps us and it means we are puppets? 90% of Georgian army equipments are Soviet and Turkeysh and it means that there is not some kindeof HEAVY military relation between US and Georgia.
The war between georgia and russia is allready 200 years. Long Before US gain Geo-political Interesets in Caucasus.

But I now reason why russians are using this popaganda.
They(russians) Shame to say that thay are fighting with nation with 3/4 milion population.
and they say that US or EU is behinde georgia.

it`s just : LoL

P.S. I think Destroying that monument was mistake by Georgian Goverment.
in WW2 800 000 georgians Fought for Soviets(300 000 died) and 40 000 for Nazi Germany but all of them thought that they where fighting for GEORGIA.