Substituting concepts and attempts to disguise territorial claims with religious slogans do not change reality, the South Ossetian Foreign Ministry, has stated commenting on the statements made by the leadership of the Georgian Orthodox Church, represented by Patriarch Shio III, at the international symposium "God, Homeland, Man" in honor of the 1700th anniversary of Georgia's adoption of Christianity.
"The statements about the 'ancient historical lands' and calls to 'reunite' South Ossetia with Georgia, under the familiar discourse of faith and brotherhood, are nothing more than a continuation of the old political rhetoric in a new, spiritual package.
"Unfortunately, the Georgian clergy, as well as the political figures, continue to use inappropriate terminology in relation to the Republic of South Ossetia, referring to it by the derogatory term 'Tskhinvali Region,'" the Foreign Ministry has stated.
Moreover, the final documents of the negotiation process involving international structures, in which South Ossetia is present under its actual name, bear the signatures of the authorized Georgian politicians, the Ministry has noted.
"The thesis regarding the so-called ancient historical lands of Georgia in the context of South Ossetia and Abkhazia should be addressed separately, and it should be reminded that historical facts speak to the contrary.
This also applies to the concept of the unified Georgia, which, in historiographical terms, represents the entirely different entity in form and content," the Foreign Ministry continued.
They added that, without mentioning the victims and suffering endured by the civilians of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, or expressing regret for the crimes committed by the Georgian political regimes against the Ossetian and Abkhaz peoples, the Primate of the Georgian Church expressed hope for the "restoration of fraternal unity and love."
"People of South Ossetia, remember well how much grief was brought by the so-called fraternal Christian love of Georgia in the 1920s, 1989-1992, and 2008. Such 'good intentions' while ignoring theRobvious facts are unacceptable for our republic," the Foreign Ministry has concluded.
