Word: gamsakhurdia
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What I remember best about meeting Zviad Gamsakhurdia a year ago is the dogs. As the Georgian nationalist's wife served tea to several visitors, she apologized for the growls coming from the walled grounds of the villa. "They're here to protect us," she said, "but sometimes I wonder...
...impossible to preserve an empire by democratic means!" cried a speaker at the rally. Zviad Gamsakhurdia, chairman of the parliament in Tbilisi and leader of the republic's drive for independence, urged Georgians -- and all ethnic peoples in the Caucasian melting pot -- to set aside their differences and join in opposition to the Kremlin. But he warned against giving way to provocations or taking up arms alone...
Georgians have every reason to be worried that they may be high on Moscow's target list. The republic has been on a collision course with the Kremlin ever since Gamsakhurdia's nationalist coalition won an election victory last October. The first acts of the new parliament were to drop the words Soviet and Socialist from the republic's name and inaugurate a transitional period to full independence. Georgia has announced that it will not sign the new Union Treaty proposed by Gorbachev and has sent only 10% of its quota of conscripts to the armed forces. Says deputy parliamentary...
...weeks ago, Gorbachev struck down both legislative acts and gave the Georgians three days to withdraw their "armed formations" from South Ossetia. Gamsakhurdia rejected the ultimatum. "We understand," he told Moscow, "that you have the power at your disposal to try to suppress the national independence movement in Georgia. But what would be the price of that victory? And would it be a victory?" A visiting Soviet parliamentary commission hinted last week that Moscow might be willing to allow Georgian police to remain in the region but wanted guarantees of its "cultural autonomy...
Such grandiose plans may come to naught if the Georgian independence drive sparks ethnic tensions among the republic's minority peoples, who make up a substantial 30% of the population. Many are concerned about the Georgia-for- Georgians tone that has been creeping into the political debate. Gamsakhurdia believes Moscow is "fighting against us through the hand of other nationalities...