Experts: Georgia's independence is under threat again, 95 years after fall of the republic

April has marked 95 years since the time Soviet power was established in Georgia. This was preceded by invasion of the Red Army in 1921, treated by Georgian historians as an occupation of the country. Experts see certain parallels with current Russian-Georgian relations.  

"It was definitely an occupation of Georgia; and there's no other opinion among historians on this issue," Lela Saralidze, Doctor of History, a Senior Researcher at the Institute of History and Ethnography of the I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

She added that Georgia was of strategic interest for Russia, not only as the country situated close to Azerbaijan and Armenia, already "sovietised" by then, but also because there was oil in Batumi.

Professor Malkhaz Matsaberidze, Director of the Institute of Political Studies of the Tbilisi State University, believes that Georgia "would not have recollected the history so bitterly as today," if the Russian-Georgian relations had not been so tense.

"When a country is not ready to admit the past aggression, as it is evident in the case of Russia, then, it is ready for a new aggression. This was confirmed in 2008 during the Russian-Georgian war, and more recently – in Ukraine," the Professor has added.

For the last more than two hundred years, the history of Georgia has been associated with the struggle for independence, where Russia has been a force tending to restrict it, Giorgi Mchedlishvili from the Georgetown University has noted.

Mr Mchedlishvili believes that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's policy is back in the mainstream of neo-imperialism – just as it was nearly a century ago.

"Instead of building productive and friendly relations with former republics based on the shared history and cultural links, such as, for example, the United Kingdom did with its former colonies, Russia has chosen to again act by force of arms, and by trying to undermine the statehood of those republics, which decided to step on the road of full-fledged political development," said the expert.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.