Revolution is in the air

Today, 7 November, marks the 92nd anniversary of the Bolshevik anniversary in Russia. Undoubtedly, the Communists will take to the streets, but judging by the turnout last year at the Kremlin, this anniversary is less and less important to the average Russian.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, today marks the 2nd anniversary of the November riots that forced early presidential elections and resulted in Imedi TV being taken off the air for its anti-government coverage. Protests against the Saakashvili regime are expected and may be addressed in a later post on this site, if interesting developments occur as a result.

Aban 13 Protests

Today (November 4th) is another important day in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thirty years ago, protesters took to the streets and “in a fit of frenzy” as I’ve read in various accounts over the years, seized the US Embassy (henceforth referred to locally as “the den of espionage”). Like any good revolutionary, the people came out again today to mark the anniversary, but they weren’t alone. They were also joined by anti-government protesters.

For those looking on the official spin of today’s events, they can go to the Islamic Republic News Agency’s website and read about the goings-on in Farsi. The English page is down, go figure. The Tehran Times has an interesting, if brief and not unexpected story about how various government figures called upon Iranians to commemorate the anniversary of the embassy seizure as a way of honoring the martyrs. Don’t expect much coverage of the anti-government protests on either website until the government (ahem) uncovers a secret plot by the West to support the renewed protests.

Meanwhile, Reuters has an article suggesting that the anti-government protesters were made up largely of Mousavi and Karroubi supporters, with the latter failed candidate in attendance as well, only to have his entourage attacked by plainclothes officers. Perhaps the most intriguing article I’ve run across so far came from the LA Times, which included snippets of what was being said rather than just reporting broadly on the events themselves.

On the pro-government side, there was the usual “Death to America,” “Death to Israel,” etc. that they’ve been shouting–to varying degrees of sincerity–for the last thirty years. But what intrigues me is what the opposition is reported to have said. They’ve continued with their “Death to the dictator” (speaking of Ayatollah Khamenei), just as they did in June, but that should still raise some eyebrows. First off, approach this from the mindset of an American saying “death to President X”. You cannot do that in a public forum without getting arrested or at least questioned. But we have freedom of speech here. Obviously, in Iran, they’re far less tolerant of such things and yet some continue on anyway. They’re also reported to have said (I believe quoting from the LA Times article) “Obama! Obama! Either you’re with them or with us.” That sounds eerily similar to President Bush’s remarks to world leaders following 9/11, which leads me to wonder if the protesters saying that would prefer that President Bush was still in office. The other interesting remark that caught my eye was “Russia is the den of espionage.” Usually, such remarks are directed at America, but apparently anti-government protesters are unhappy with how swiftly President Medvedev offered his congratulations to Ahmadinejad’s truly unbelievable re-election. More than that, though, it shows the extent to which sloganeering has taken hold in the Islamic Republic. Take out America or Russia and insert the name of any country that’s ticking you off at the moment. It makes for a nice rallying cry at protests, but do it too much and the rallying cries become meaningless.

When all is said and done, though, I think the one soundbyte journalists will (or perhaps should) focus on is the one coming from Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, a noted critic of the government. On his website, he posted a statement about the seizure of the US Embassy, translated into English as follows: “Considering the negative repercussions and the high sensitivity which was created among the American people and which still exists, it was not the right thing to do.” That has to rank as the most conciliatory message ever stated by an Iranian cleric in the last thirty years, and given that this was a grand ayatollah, no matter his personal feelings towards the current regime, that is a bold, bold statement.

And finally, just as a little treat for those, like me, who don’t read Farsi as well as they’d like, a couple of good phrases to google on the internet:

مرگ بر دیکتاتور :: death to the dictator

لانه جاسوسي :: den of espionage

10 Georgians To Pay Attention To

In writing this post, I wanted to include as much useful information about some of Georgia’s powerful figures both within the Saakashvili government and the opposition. I have deliberately chosen to skip over Nino Burjanadze, Levan Gachechiladze, and Irakli Alasania because they are already so high-profile anyone following Georgian politics ought to already have a basic understanding of who they are and their particular policy positions. It was my hope to have some concrete idea of how popular each of the persons in my list are; however, because of the lack of information readily available in English, I have had to resort to hearsay, which may reflect the bias of the sources used.

NB: While the list is very deliberate, it is not inclusive, hence I have refrained from using “the top 10″ designator that I used in a previous post regarding Iranian officials.
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Zurab Adeishvili. Georgia’s Minister of Justice since November 2008. His resignation, along with that of Ivane Merabishvili, has been one of the demands of the opposition. He has been criticized for not stepping in to protect protesters from unidentified assailants. Adeishvili is said to be an influential member of Saakashvili’s government and joined the United National Movement prior to the Rose Revolution. He maintains an account on Facebook.

Bacho Akhalaia. Georgia’s Defense Minister since August 2009, Akhalaia was appointed by Saakashvili to “bring a stricter hand to the country’s military“. Akhalaia has been the target of criticism by human rights groups for his role as Chief of Georgia’s prison system. In addition to being an ally of Saakashvili, he is said to be a close friend of the equally-reviled Merabishvili. Upon his appointment to the defense post, Akhalaia has said that one of his priorities will be to strengthen the country’s relationship with NATO.

Koba Davitashvili. He leads the People’s Party, one of Georgia’s opposition parties. He has an interesting story from the November 2007 riots in which he was allegedly severely beaten by government forces then taken to a hospital in Gori. With no knowledge of his whereabouts thereafter, it was assumed that he was killed. Davitashvili later held a press conference and told his story. Davitashvili was one of a number of high-profile opposition figures who supported Levan Gachechiladze’s bid for the presidency in 2008.

Nikoloz (“Nika”) Gilauri. Georgia’s Prime Minister since February 2009, he is another close ally of Saakashvili and joined the government following the Rose Revolution. Upon assuming his current post, Gilauri set his sights on tackling Georgia’s ongoing problem of unemployment, as well as broadening democratic reforms, and pursuing measures to reassert control over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Temur Iakobashvili. Georgia’s Minister for State Reintegration since January 2008. In testimony following the August 2008 war with Russia, Iakobashvili placed blame not just at the feet of the Kremlin, but also at NATO whose actions regarding Georgia provoked Russia into the war. He recently also announced that he would not consider making Armenian an official language in Georgia – a proposal sought by the sizeable Armenian population of southern Georgia.

Kakha Kukava. He is one of the leaders of the Conservative Party of Georgia and has sharply criticized President Saakashvili’s lack of democracy. Specifically, he accused Saakashvili for attacking the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali for political gain – to quiet the opposition – rather than as an attempt to protect the sovereignty of Georgia’s borders. He has a Facebook page and even wrote on there referring to Saakashvili as Sultan.

Ivane (“Vano”) Merabishvili. Georgia’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Merabishvili is widely considered the second most powerful person in Georgia. He has been in government since the Shevardnadze era, criticizing the former president for his inaction in fighting corruption. Merabishvili has since been accused of sending in forces to quell anti-government rallies during the November 2007 protests. He has a Facebook page.

Giorgi (“Gigi”) Ugulava. The mayor of Tbilisi since July 2005, Ugulava helped organize the Kmara! (Enough!) movement that ushered in the Rose Revolution. At present, it is presumed that he will run for mayor in next year’s election – the first time Tbilisi’s mayor will be popularly elected. In conjunction with President Saakashvili, Ugulava has initiated controversial plans to demolish old structures in Old Tbilisi to make way for modern high-rises. Ugulava, who, by some accounts, enjoys little public support, is considered a key ally of the embattled Saakashvili.

Grigol Vashadze. Georgia’s current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vashadze also served as a member of the Soviet START I team that negotiated with the United States and holds dual citizenship of both Georgia and Russia. Despite his ties with Russia, however, Vashadze has been critical of policies emanating from Moscow. Georgia’s Messenger (among other sources) noted that Vashadze has argued that “the reason for the “uncivilized” relations between Georgia and Russia is The Kremlin’s desire to establish “total control” over Georgia“.

Salomé Zourabichvili. A veteran of the Rose Revolution, she joined the opposition following her dismissal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2005. In 2006, she founded the political party Georgia’s Way. In 2008, she supported the idea presented by Patriarch Ilia II to exchange the republican system of government in Georgia for a constitutional monarchy. Zourabichvili has criticized the American government for throwing money at the Saakashvili regime without requiring accountability in return. With respect to the recent war with Russia, Zourabichvili has stated: “If in the future we ever want to renew ties with the populations of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, whoever succeeds Saakashvili will have to address the consequences of his actions. We shall have to ask for forgiveness for the assault upon Tskhinvali“. At the same time, she has stated that she wants the breakaway republics to return to Georgian control. Her social media presence comes via Facebook.

The death of Gamsakhurdia

RFE/RL and Georgian Daily are reporting that a new commission has been set up to investigate the mysterious death of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgia’s first post-Soviet president.  The 11-member commission will have three months to fully investigate Gamsakhurdia’s death.

While overwhelmingly elected to office, President Gamsakhurdia quickly gained notoriety for suggesting that Georgia was for Georgians and all other nationalities, such as the Ossetians, were guests. His detractors believe that his nationalist sentiments caused the various nationalist wars in Georgia in the early 1990s. Gamsakhurdia, himself, however, was only in power a short time – from April 1991 to January 1992. A coup d’etat forced him from power and eventually, Eduard Shevardnadze would settle in as the new president. Following his removal from power, Gamsakhurdia went into exile in Chechnya and launched a bloody civil war against Shevardnadze who was, by then, consolidating his power in Tbilisi. On December 31, 1993, Gamsakhurdia was found dead with a partial autopsy revealing a bullet hole in his skull.

Officially, Gamsakhurdia committed suicide and even left a suicide note behind that was published by the Chechen government. Gamsakhurdia’s supporters believe, however, that he was murdered. One theory (offered by a member of Shevardnadze’s government) suggests that Gamsakhurdia was killed following an argument with one of his own men, which only adds to the intrigue. Throw in the usual claims of Russian involvement for its own purposes and you have a nice international conspiracy that continues to stunt the development of the Georgian nation today.

It will be interesting to see if the panel’s conclusions are deemed satisfactory and if it helps heal some of Georgia’s as-yet open wounds from the 1990s.