Sanakoyev: Most Ossetians Support Broad Autonomy

“South Ossetia must stay within Georgia,” says Dmitry Sanakoyev, head of the Tbilisi-backed temporary administrative unit of South Ossetia.

The 38-year-old Sanakoyev, once de facto prime minister of breakaway South Ossetia, spoke with The Messenger in his administrative base of Kurta — mere kilometers away from secessionist-controlled Tskhinvali. Ossetian and Georgian flags hang on the wall behind his desk, together with a three-foot-long Georgian sword. [More]

Ossetian Community Assembly

Over 100 representatives of the Ossetian community from throughout Georgia gathered at an assembly in the Georgian-administered village of Tamarasheni in the South Ossetian conflict zone on July 22. The Tbilisi-backed conference discussiong cooperation with the provisional government was held in a newly built multi-functional complex in Tamarasheni, less than a kilometer away from the successionist capital of Tskhinvali.

Dimitri Sanakoev, head of the South Ossetian provisional administration, told the conference that there are two options: either confrontation, or cooperation and integration into the European family together with Georgia. “This road is full of challenges, but I am sure Ossetians will overcome all the problems,” he said.

He also pointed out that this road does not mean cutting ties with Russia. “We will maintain close ties with Russia and its North Ossetian Republic,” Sanakoev said. He said that his administration will closely cooperate with the Georgian central authorities in defining South Ossetia’s autonomous status within the Georgian state. [More]