From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Aug 25 2008 - 13:14:41 EDT
Ossetia looks to Russia for independence and more
The Associated Press
August 25, 2008
TSKHINVALI, Georgia:
A big poster of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin greets visitors
to the capital of separatist-held South Ossetia — a clear signal of
what most residents hope is to come.
As both chambers of Russia's parliament passed resolutions Monday
urging the Kremlin to recognize South Ossetia's independence, South
Ossetians overwhelmingly agreed — with many here seeing independence
from Georgia as the first step to becoming part of Russia.
"Ossetians have no doubts — we'll only be with Russia," said Robert
Bestayev, 36, a beaming South Ossetian military communications officer
with a tiny Russian flag on the lapel of his worn-out gray suit. "It
has already happened, now is the time to confirm it."
While Russia's formal annexation of what is now considered Georgian
territory would further split Moscow from the West, South Ossetians see
incorporation into the Russian Federation as a way to guarantee they
never come under Georgian rule again.
Most here recognize that South Ossetia, by itself, is too small —
it's size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, or about 1.5 times the
size of Luxembourg — and too poor to survive very long on its own.
"We'll die without Russia," said Yuza Valiyeva, a 58-year-old nurse.
"What is independence? Who would protect us if were are independent?"
She spoke standing next to the ruins of her one-story house in
downtown Tskhinvali where, she said, Georgian shelling destroyed the
roof and two walls of the house.
The fighting erupted Aug. 7, when Georgia tried to retake Tskhinvali
by force. Russian troops overwhelmed the Georgians, and for nearly two
weeks occupied positions deep within Georgia.
The war has brought relations between Russia and the West to a
post-Cold War low, and the Kremlin would certainly raise tensions
further by recognizing the declared independence of South Ossetia and
another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia.
South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity said his region's
independence was indisputable. "We have more of a right to recognition
than Kosovo," he told Russian lawmakers Monday.
He was referring to the region that declared independence from
Serbia in February, a move recognized by the United States and the
European Union, but hotly disputed by Serbia and Russia.
Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia won de-facto independence in the
1990s after wars with the Georgians, and have survived ever since with
Russian support.
"So far we insist on independence," said South Ossetian Foreign
Minister Marat Jioyev. "But for more than two centuries, the Ossetian
people looked to Russia."
Russia has dominated affairs in the ethnic cauldron of the Caucasus
Mountains region for centuries — vying for influence with Turkey, Iran
and Britain.
When the Soviets carved the former Russian empire into regions, they
divided the ethnic Ossetians. South Ossetia became a semiautonomous
part of the Georgian Soviet republic, while North Ossetia reported to
Moscow directly.
Georgia, however, charges that the territory of the breakaway region is an ancient Georgian principality.
Ossetians claim Georgians have been trying to eliminate and
assimilate them throughout the 20th century, especially in last years
of the Soviet Union, when Georgian leaders sought to scrap
Ossetian autonomy.
"Through suffering, we have earned the right for life without
Georgia," said Soslan Besayev a 40-year-old worker at a bread factory.
"We've been fighting for this throughout the 20th century."
Political and economic ties link South Ossetia to Russia — the
population of about 70,000 residents relies on farming, and the
government gets about a third of its revenues from levying customs
duties from freight traffic at the Roki tunnel that links Russia and
Georgia.
Russia has also handed out passports to many people in the two
separatist regions.
Moscow says it would spend millions of dollars (euros) restoring
South Ossetian infrastructure and economy — a pledge that makes
absorption into Russia even more desirable.
Anatoly Pliev, a law professor with the South Ossetian Humanitarian
University, which now lies in ruins from the fighting, sees a
benevolence invisible to many in the West.
"Russia has been the friendliest superpower in our history," he said.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/25/europe/EU-Georgia-Looking-to-Russia.php
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