Field notes from Georgia
At a difficult time when thousands of people are evacuating Georgia for Armenia, one person is doing the exact opposite. Yerevan-based British photojournalist and fellow blogger Onnik Krikorian is in Georgia covering the conflict with Russia.
Writing about a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza and Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili, Onnik reports an incident that conventional media rather leave unmentioned.
But, I also have to say, I was not impressed and wondered what the U.S. Secretary of State thought of sharing center stage with a man who likened the Russian invasion of Georgia with a girl being raped because she wore a short skirt. Such statements during the press conference did not appear sufficiently presidential, in my opinion, and were seemingly not reported by the mainstream media.
Onnik’s photos are available here.
8 Responses to “Field notes from Georgia”
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Onnik Krikorian on 20 Aug 2008 at 2:06 pm #
Simon, I just got back, but anyway, as my laptop died on me and I was unable to find time to get into an Internet cafe in Tbilisi more than once, the uploading of photos to Flickr will take a while. Anyway, more to come including IDPs in Tbilisi and inside the Russian-occupied town of Gori.
Aron D on 28 Aug 2008 at 8:21 am #
Hey Onnik,
what does the short skirt has to do with Saakashvilli statement?
You are mixing up with two different things. I hope that you have no problems with females wearing short skirts))
Onnik Krikorian on 30 Aug 2008 at 10:10 pm #
Aron, the short skirt reference is actually something Saakashvili said. Look on CNN and you might find the full video of the press conference, but basically he went on and on quoting stupid analogies for the invasion of Georgia.
Next to Condoleezza Rice he used analogies for Georgia like “Is girl who is raped at fault because she wears a short skirt? Or is someone who is murdered to blame because the killer doesn’t like the look in his eyes?”
Direct quotes from Saakashvili, who definitely doesn’t have a problem with girls in short skirts given all the gossip about his womanizing. Regardless, no, I don’t have a problem with girls in short skirts either.
However, I do have problems when a military conflict is underway and a president uses such simplistic analogies.
Onnik Krikorian on 01 Sep 2008 at 12:20 pm #
Sorry, but most of his speech made me cringe, and the poor quality of its actual delivery made it worse.
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/08/108289.htm
Aron D on 03 Sep 2008 at 10:15 am #
Thanks for the clarification. By the way, I really like woman with short skirts and I am for the liberation of women. I hope You feel the same as regarding to the equality of the sexes.
Since You are more knowledgeable the political situations in the region, what is your general assessment? And how Armenia’s realtions with Georgia and Russian is going to change?
I really liked in the past when your group stood up and did protest in front of Russian embassy in Armenia when the Armenian expatriate in Moscow was murdered by the skin heads. Thanks.
Aron D on 03 Sep 2008 at 10:22 am #
Saakashvili family origin is said to be Sahakian which is Armenian surname and saakashvili is the georgianized version. A georgian Armenian has confirmed to my dad regarding this matter. Any comments are welcome.
Thanks.
Onnik Krikorian on 03 Sep 2008 at 10:12 pm #
Aron, wasn’t my group outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs protesting the killing of ethnic Armenians in Russia. It was a demonstration organized in particular by Isabella Sargsyan, one of the founders of Sksela (which later effectively turned into Hima) and Media / PR person at the Eurasia Foundation in Armenia.
As for Saakashvili’s possible Armenian origins, he denied this when interviewed for the first time by Armenian Public TV H1. Not sure if he is or he isn’t. It’s also possible he might deny it because during the election campaign before the Rose Revolution, allegations of being “Armenian” were made as part of a campaign of Black PR.
Aron D on 04 Sep 2008 at 8:22 am #
Thanks for the info. I didnot know the level of chauvanism in Georgia towards the Armenians. It is sad, because he wanted to be elected as a Georgian, therefore, he had to lie about his origin.