The day of September 20, 1990 became a turning point, marking a radical turn in the life of our people - a turn towards freedom and independence, noted President of South Ossetia Alan Gagloev, speaking at the military parade in Tskhinval on Wednesday in honor of the Day of the Proclamation of the Republic.
“This was the birth of a new era, the beginning of which was marked by a series of significant events - heroic and tragic, full of drama, high patriotism, military spirit and civic feat.
The declaration of sovereignty was South Ossetia’s decisive response to national oppression and cultural genocide, suppression, discrimination and humiliation, a response to the desire to deprive Ossetians of the right to their native language, national culture, a response to ethnic cleansing and openly stated intentions by the Georgian leaders for the complete destruction of South Ossetia,” - said the President.
According to him, the creation of our own statehood was the only opportunity to protect South Ossetia and its people from arbitrariness, to ensure the people’s right to freedom and national dignity.
“Georgia committed genocide against the Ossetians in 1920, and the same Georgia at the end of the twentieth century did everything possible to deprive us of the right to a homeland, national dignity and future, to completely wipe South Ossetia from the face of the earth, to bring us to our knees and trample on our people.
Embittered by the Ossetians’ attempts to defend their inalienable rights, the Georgian authorities, in response to the legal steps taken by South Ossetia, turned to the language of brute force, unleashing a brutal, bloody war,” Gagloev has noted.
However, the Georgian leaders, confident in the overwhelming superiority of the Georgian armed forces over the unarmed South Ossetia and hoping to deal with the Ossetians in a short time, miscalculated, the President has emphasized.
The Head of State has added that the Georgian militants were met by fearless Ossetian fighters who stood up with their breasts to defend their Fatherland.
“On the side of the people of South Ossetia there was a sense of unity, cohesion, the will to freedom and confidence in the justice of their cause.
War, blockade, terrible natural disasters, irreparable losses and severe hardships - our people went through all this, but did not turn a single step from their chosen path,” the President said.
