Kokoev Speaks of ‘Party of Peace’

In an interview on November 14 with the Georgian television station Rustavi 2, de facto President of breakaway South Ossetia Eduard Kokoev said that peace should be preserved in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

During the interview Kokoev commented on the efforts of, as he described it, a “party of peace,” that includes the Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga Khaindrava. Kokoev also spoke out against Mikhail Kareli, the governor of Shida Kartli region, and Irakli Okruashvili, the Interior Minister for their roles in “contributing to the tensions” in the region.

“One could say that the peacemakers are both Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zvania and the co-chairman of the Joint Control Comission, Khaindrava,” Kokoev told Rustavi 2 television on Sunday.

“The behavior of the Shida Kartli governor,” added Eduard Kokoev, “is contributing to the tensions. The behavior of the Georgian Interior Minister is contributing to the tensions as well.”

Goga Khaindrava, who has been in the South Ossetian conflict zone since November 11 in order to oversee the demilitarization of the region as envisioned by an agreement signed by Eduard Kokoev and Zurab Zhvania on November 5, told reporters on November 13 that the process of demilitarization, a main component for the establishment of peace in the region, “will be a long process which requires time and patience.”