Minister of Defense of Georgia, Juansher Burchuladze says the Georgian Dream government is the only one that has "avoided all kinds of armed conflict" in the country.
The Minister paid tribute to the memory of the soldiers killed in the war at the Mukhatgverdi Cemetery and expressed his condolences to their families.
"I would like to express my condolences to the families of the victims. Defense forces lost 170 of their military servicemen, more civilians were killed by the aggression. Thousands of Georgians were injured and our government will support all of them. Our primary task is to prevent and reduce the risks, so that our country will avoid any armed conflict.
Society must be united against this challenge. We cannot have different opinions. As for the government, our government is the only one in this historical period that has avoided all kinds of armed conflicts," - Burchuladze said.
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Russia launched a 5-day war against Georgia on August 7, 2008. However, the military escalation started in April of the same year and it had several reasons. One of them was the NATO Bucharest Summit, which provided that Georgia will become a member of NATO. Russia responded that it would do "anything to prevent Ukraine and Georgia from joining NATO."
However, representatives of the current Georgian ruling team do not think that the war was started by Russia on August 7, 2008. According to them, the war started on August 8, when former Georgian President Saakashvili opened fire on Russian troops.
A ceasefire agreement was signed on August 12, 2008, which Russia is still violating. The 6-point plan, among other things, stipulates that the Georgian military forces must withdraw to their normal bases of encampment. Though, this is impossible due to the Russian occupation regime. Russia continues its creeping occupation, laying barbed wire, seizing lands, goods of the population and even hijacks Georgian citizens.
As a result of the interventions of the Russian occupation forces, 228 Georgian civilians, 170 military and 14 policemen were killed. 150 thousand people have left their homes, most of them are still IDPs.
Critics have accused Georgian Dream of gambling on the fear of war in Georgia's domestic political discourse.
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