Welcome everyone.
I welcome the parents of our heroes – their mothers, fathers, brothers, children, spouses and family members.
We have all gathered here in Gori, in the military academy, which was once flattened to the ground and is now restored again.
We have gathered to pay tribute to our heroes, to talk about yet another anniversary of the 2008 War.
Today’s date is the last and the most recent among the thousands of grim dates in Georgian history, when the enemy had attacked us to annihilate our country, statehood and freedom.
Among those macabre days, today’s date hurts the most, and this wound will never heal.
Our history is written by the blood spilled for independence, and the 7th of August 2008 has been added as yet another page to the chronicles of Georgian history.
It indeed is an eternal wound. I have attended the funeral today of our soldier Gela Tigiashvili, in the Kaspi Region, who had been identified by DNA analysis. His mother Ketevan, his wife Irma and his sons Lasha and Vasha are present here today.
Gela Tigiashvili had fought in the war in Abkhazia. He once again put on the army uniform in 2008, and went to the Tskhinvali Region to fight the Russian aggressor, where he fell heroically.
I have also attended the funeral of a Georgian sniper Zurab Turashvili, two days ago in the village Almati, Kvareli District, who was also identified by a DNA analysis.
He was one of those snipers who did not leave Tskhinvali, who did not adhere, including to the order of withdrawal on the organized retreat, and made stronghold in the buildings. According to the information of the occupant, they had resisted for several days, until the last bullet, and defended the Georgian soil.
The day before yesterday had been very difficult for me as well.
Of course, it was the most difficult day for his parents as well.
The father of Zurab Turashvili – Giorgi, and his sister also attended the funeral of Gela Tigiashvili today. They arrived from Kvareli (they live nearby the great Gremi Cathedral) and stood by another family, who are the parents, children, spouse and the brother of the heroically deceased soldier.
It is the expression of incredible unity, solidarity, the continuation of what these men have sacrificed their lives for, for what the sons of those who are present here today–their spouses and the closest and beloved people-have felt.
And this is why today is primarily the day when we commemorate our self-sacrificing patriots, and pay tribute to our heroes.
I would like to ask you to observe a minute of silence in memory of the fallen heroes…
We will remember their names for eternity. Their murderers will never triumph… The dreams of those murderous culprits - to see Georgia on its knees - shall never come true…
We will ensure that the noble cause of the fallen Georgian patriots will be fulfilled!
Today is also the day of support for all of our internally displaced persons, when we remind ourselves that we will never leave any of them in peril.
We understand that their pain is unimaginable. Words cannot describe the anger which they feel. And I want each of them to know that their pain is our pain, their anger is our anger, and this feeling will not change until each and every citizen of Georgia, who has been made a refugee in his or her own country, will be able to return home, restore dignity, and reclaim property.
Certainly, the unhealed wounds will remain, but we will surely return what has been taken from us and belongs to us, and we will put together what has been broken into pieces!
Georgia will be united!
Georgia will be free!
We know what objective that the Kremlin had pursued on the 7th of August 2008, as well as at the time when they were preparing for the 7th of August, for years.
Their objective was to completely conquer Georgia - they wanted to take Tbilisi and reverse Georgia’s foreign political course by 180 degrees. Much like in 1921, they were waiting in the Kremlin for the news of victory, for the message that the Russian flag waves again over Tbilisi.
Different politicians often argue today whether Georgia had won or lost in this war.
Until there are occupants stationed on our soil, several kilometers from here, certainly we cannot say that we are victorious in this war.
But, let us pose a question: what has the Russian aggressor won by intervening in Georgia?
Let us look back at the recent history.
The Soviet Union and Russia had intervened in several countries in the twentieth century with the same goals as it had in Georgia.
It intervened in three Baltic States, basically, annexed them without any resistance and ended their independence.
All three countries together, were of course, much larger in comparison with Georgia, but they could not preserve independence and were fully conquered by Russia.
Russia could not conquer Georgia.
The large Soviet Army had intervened into Hungary in 1956. It ended the independence of Hungary in several days and killed its president. Hungary, of course, was bigger than Georgia. Despite the resistance of Hungarians, Russian managed to conquer Hungary…
It could not conquer Georgia.
The Soviet Army had intervened into Czechoslovakia in 1968, ending the Prague spring, the attempt of the Czechoslovakian people to turn towards Europe and build a democratic order. Czechoslovakia, of course, was bigger than Georgia. Czechoslovakia had been completely conquered by the Russian Army and it ended its independence.
They could not conquer Georgia and end our independence.
The Soviet – Russian Army had intervened into Afghanistan in 1979. It killed the Afghan President in one hour, occupied Afghanistan, and this country did not manage to become strong for many years, even as of today. Afghanistan is much bigger than Georgia.
There is only one part of Georgia that is occupied. Georgia continues free, democratic, successful development. That is why, every stone of our villages and every square meter of land which they have flattened, is the holiest of the holiest for me.
Yet, of course, the occupant had not intervened to conquer a few hundred of our villages. It had three strategic objectives during the 2008 War, and he had made it public before and afterwards too.
The first objective was to topple the Georgian Government, to change the democratic order of Georgia, physical elimination of the Georgian leaders.
Of course, then and now, they did not accomplish these openly declared objectives – Georgia has the same government and i.e. Russia is not victorious.
The aggressor and occupant is not victorious.
Their second objective was to destroy the geo-political significance of Georgia, of Georgia as a great economic center, of a great transit center of energy resources, to lock the function of the hub and establish complete control over the rich resources of Central Asia and the Caspian Sea.
Hence, they wanted to strip Georgia of its significant geopolitical role, and i.e. ruin the basement, which partly rests on the world support towards Georgia.
Russia could not achieve this – the Russian occupant is not victorious.
Their third objective was strategic – the halt of NATO expansion towards Georgia. Thus, to stop our NATO enlargement, as for us it is, it has been, and it will remain the most significant objective of our development. Their objective was to stop our Euro integration.
Not only did they fail to stop it, but we are even closer to Europe, to the Association Agreement with the European Union, to the visa free travel, to the free trade, to the announcement date of a prospect of EU membership.
These are not my words, this is what the European leaders are stating and as it was confirmed at the Chicago Summit.
This is what the Russian leader was saying; that he at least managed it and halted the process of Georgian integration into NATO.
It was stated at the last summit in Chicago that the next summit in 2014 will be dedicated to enlargement, and by the universal consensus, Georgia will be one the first candidates.
Thus, Russia is not victorious.
That is why Russia, who occupied Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Afghanistan, Western Poland and the Baltic Sea States before that, occupied Georgia in 1921 too, as the leader of Georgia then did not have enough resources, the internal political and international support, and on the day of entrance of the 11th Army, they left Georgia’s borders, who were unfortunately led by Georgians.
The occupant had left us, the Georgian Government, with only one un-bombed and open road.
It was the road towards the Tbilisi International Airport, and it was a road to the east, towards Azerbaijan and Armenia.
They hinted for us, by all means, to act as the 1921 Georgian Government did, which left for Batumi and went to Istanbul from there – while handing the country to the occupant.
They had promised to the Georgian leadership then too, that they would preserve the independence of Georgia which they did for several years until they annexed it.
What was this independence about?
We have chosen the way of resistance together with our fighters, with our officers, with our soldiers, together with the entire international community, those European leaders, who did not get scared, and despite the threat of being shot down, entered our international space and stood together with, and by the side of, the Georgian people.
I.E. Russia is not victorious and it will never be in relation to Georgia.
Our freedom cherishing nation will see the final victory and it is absolutely inevitable.
But, the Georgian resistance and the support extended to Georgia by Europe and the United States of America rendered the Kremlin’s dreams futile.
However, the Soviet dream is still alive in Moscow, and now they have a new plan for Georgia. This plan aims at breaking Georgia from the inside and conquering our country with the assistance of Georgians and rendering it into servitude.
The rationale behind the new plan of Putin is based on the hope that Georgians will become tired of constant resistance, that their resolve and fighting spirit will suffer.
The authors of this new plan have a good understanding of the Georgian history, as they know that one can always find such Georgians, who will decide to acquiesce with the conqueror in exchange for their well-being.
They believe that the history of 300 years of servitude has finally broken the freedom-loving Georgian character to the extent that they will easily break our spirit and make us surrender.
They force us to bow down our heads and say what they have been implanting into our conscious for centuries – the thinking that renounces resistance, and prescribes yielding to the overbearing force.
But the truth is that the history of Georgia recalls many Georgians, who demanded to yield to the conqueror; but history does not recognize the existence of any conqueror, which showed mercy or rendered assistance to us.
We have seen many Georgians who had said that we should bow our heads down to the invaders, but we have not seen any invader, who had turned into our benefactor.
It is a historic fact that any time when Georgia made a compromise, when Georgia had expected the mercy of the conqueror, it all ended with a full fiasco for our statehood, completely razed to the ground our national identity, and almost brought our self-identity to the brink of extinction.
We are a great nation because our history had taught us well these lessons.
It is a historic truth that the small nations like Georgia, and especially those surrounded by the empires ready to devour them, were not able to maintain their independence, national identity and statehood.
Have you ever asked yourself how Georgians, the small nation that we are, managed to keep our nationhood, language, faith and statehood?
How did we achieve this against the background of each and every known empire wanting to annihilate us?
How was it possible?
Ask yourselves!
The answer to this is enshrined in each and every page of our history.
We have managed to survive because we never gave in to the enemy; we have never bowed our heads down.
We have managed it because we had never backed down despite the size and resolve of the enemy.
We have managed because we never listened to those Georgians who pushed us into the deadly embrace of the enemy.
We managed to survive because we never took a step back; we never started to weigh how powerful our enemy was…
We managed it because we never followed in the footsteps of those who tried to make deals with the conquerors.
This country does not belong to that sort of people!
Georgia is the country of the King Vakhtang Gorgasali!
Georgia is the country of the King David IV the Builder!
Georgia is the country of the King Demetrius II the Martyr and King George V the Brilliant!
Georgia is the country of Kakutsa Cholokashvili and Merab Kostava!
Georgia is the country of those heroes who sacrificed their lives in 2008 for their country on this very ground, under this very sky, for the independence of their country.
And that is why we still stand on our feet, and we still hold our beautiful flag of independence embroidered with five crosses. We do so because this country is theirs, and not of those who have called to acquiesce with the enemy!
We will not back down even an inch!
We will not give in to the enemy!
We will never get tired of loving and cherishing our freedom!
We will not get tired of our national pride!
The Kremlin may have plans about Georgia, but the Georgian people will decide the future of this country!
Our plan is freedom!
Our plan is development!
Our plain is progress!
We will never go back to the past! The Soviet Union will never be restored notwithstanding the wishful thinking of those in Moscow!
No matter how many traitors they will find and employ in Georgia, there will be hundreds of patriots standing up against every traitor!
No matter how many defeats they prepare for us, we will respond with victory!
Our plan is simple and straightforward: we will not back down even an inch for the interests of Georgia!
Very soon, rather in one flash for history, we will live to see the new Russia. This will be the Russia, which buries the idea of restoring the Soviet Union for good. This will be the Russia, which rejects the imperial fantasies. This will be the Russia, which embarks on building the democratic state.
We will mend the fences and settle our relations with that Russia. And we will do so not in exchange for our interests, but as a NATO and EU member state on the basis of equality and in the spirit of partnership.
We will find compromises with that sort of Russia, but we will never compromise the independence, territorial integrity, and statehood of our country.
Very soon, in a flash for history, Abkhazia and South Ossetia/the Tskhinvali Region will be free from the Russian occupation, and the peril of national annihilation they currently face under the prevailing conditions of the occupation. They will acquire their chance to decide their own fate and choose the desired development course.
This will be the time when we will stand strong as a developed European nation with an effective social protection system and universally accessible, highest quality health system. We will build a free and democratic state with a strong agriculture, high figures of employment, economic opportunity and free of corruption and crime. This will be the country where human rights as well as the rights of businessmen and national minorities will be safeguarded.
This is our plan, and this very plan implies the indisputable reunification and inevitable victory for our country!
With our unity and the will of God, we will surely prevail!
God bless our country and each one of you!