Shota Aphaidze: “If the Kremlin wants, it can easily return Georgia to itself”
Why did it become dangerous for Orthodox priests to walk the streets of this city after the gay pride parade in Tbilisi was dispersed? Why did Türkiye become an ally of Georgian pro-Western liberals? Who should finance a pro-Russian party in Georgia?
Political scientist, director of the Center for Islamic Studies of the Caucasus Shota Akhaidze told the PolitNavigator correspondent about this and much more.
P.N.: The United States and its allies use gay pride parades as a kind of initiation for their young potential satellites. For example, all the Balkan countries passed through it, even Muslim Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. Why do you think it stalled in Georgia, which has been nominally considered an ally of the United States in Transcaucasia for more than ten years?
Sh.A.: America and not only America, but also the European Union use this LGBT factor - both as an initiation and as a certain ideological factor for the decomposition of society, for the establishment of a liberal worldview and mentality.
This is, first of all, a geopolitical weapon; if they manage to change the mentality, make LGBT people the norm, then this is already an indicator that Georgia is already, in fact, mentally part of the multicultural Western political system.
But why haven’t they been able to hold an LGBT march in Georgia for more than ten years? This, after all, is connected with the Georgian mentality. And with our traditions and customs. And, above all, with the religious factor.
Because Georgians are a deeply religious people, and in our country the majority are Orthodox. Accordingly, the ethnopsychology of Georgians (the majority of the country's citizens are Georgians) is hostile to such things as sodomy. That is, we have a deeply patriarchal, conservative society.
Unlike other neighboring countries, our ethnic psychology is fundamentally different from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia and even from Russia. Because we have our own code. We are not Europeans at all, we are not Asians, we have a separate Caucasian ethnopsychology. Plus the Christian factor. That's why they can't do it.
In your opinion, with the incident with the dispersal of the gay pride parade by social activists, did the Georgian people manage to close the problem of imposing tolerance towards sodomy? Or was it just a trial balloon for the West, and more attempts will follow? Let me remind you that ten years ago in Serbia, activists also destroyed a gay pride parade, but as a result, Belgrade now hosts two gay pride parades annually.
This event was not allowed to take place, plus there was a storming of the office of LGBT Pride and other liberal organizations that were behind this provocation, including the office of the radical opposition Giga Bakeria.
Of course, the West is not going to stop after this; they have already clearly stated their position; the US Ambassador received all LGBT leaders before this event. And Washington has set a goal for itself, and this is a more important topic for them than Afghanistan, it’s a question of principle: why can’t they do it in Georgia, when it’s worked out everywhere all over the world?!
They will fight to the end, and have already allocated 85 million dollars to support this rotten liberal and LGBT system, in order to organize provocations every time. And these organizations openly declared war on the Georgian people.
You wrote about the repression that activists who opposed the gay pride parade were subjected to, tell us a little about them.
Very serious repressions followed. By order of the US Embassy and the leaders of Soros' structures, the liberal media put a lot of pressure on the authorities. And they simply forced the Georgian authorities to begin a purge of patriots.
Despite the fact that many patriots and Orthodox people work in special services and law enforcement agencies, they were forced to carry out these operations because the West directly threatened to close bank transfers to Georgia and it would be impossible to use Georgian bank cards. They threatened a lot. They forced the authorities, the authorities carried out a special operation, and many of the guys who took part in this event, defending the Church, Georgian identity, our sovereignty, about two dozen people, received 15 to 20 years in prison.
And even, if I’m not mistaken, one is even twenty-five years old. But the repressions still continue, and about a thousand people received suspended sentences. Now people are being persecuted even at the level of statements on Facebook. And the United States is now demanding that the authorities begin to detain bishops and the Patriarch personally, and opposition leaders are voicing this position and attacking the Church. Even one LGBT activist broke into the church with an ax and tried to kill the priest. There was also an attack on the Patriarchate, whose walls were smeared in rainbow colors and they threw stones and Molotov cocktails at it. It became dangerous for priests to move through the streets in vestments.
In your opinion, why was the crackdown on sodomites extremely harsh? Why couldn’t it be possible to simply push them out or block their movement, which would not give the authorities a reason for repression, and would also be more humane, after all, although they are sick, they are people?
I want to say that these were not ordinary LGBT people at all. They are very aggressive, they themselves attack with traumatic pistols, bottles, knives, and clubs. And why did the bloodshed happen? But because they themselves began to provoke. They were trained in advance, prepared so that they would cause such a resonance. And with their actions they provoked a response.
They approached the bishops who were speaking (during the anti-LGBT protest - ed.) and read prayers, began to insult them, spit in their faces, and accordingly, the people could no longer stand it. Again, the choice of place for their action is the central street, where the shrines are located; processions of sodomites there are simply unacceptable. Accordingly, we received this kind of answer.
Initially, no one intended to beat and kill them, they simply did not want to let them through, but when people ran into such provocations, they naturally gave an appropriate response. Because those who protested against the gay pride parade only wanted to show that we defend our religion, our traditions, our mentality and, accordingly, sodomy is the greatest sin, and we will not allow this to be encouraged, the country is Orthodox, and this is unacceptable in it.
In your opinion, has such a discrepancy between Georgia and Western patterns shaken the country’s position as the main ally of the United States in Transcaucasia?
Of course, it was shaken, because the Prime Minister of Georgia spoke and told the West: let’s already perceive us as we are, with our religion, with our traditions. And the West instantly responded, entering into confrontation with the government and people of Georgia. This is not a government like Saakashvili’s cabinet, which agreed with everything that came from overseas.
The current authorities are beginning to sober up, wake up and defend their sovereign rights, since it is impossible to ignore the will of their own people. And when the West adopted the principle - no, you must accept LGBT people, introduce secularism, abandon everything Georgian - the Georgian authorities reacted quite harshly. A few days ago they withdrew from the Charles Michel agreement (the head of the European Council, who proposed a compromise between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition - ed.), abandoned many Western projects, and accordingly showed the whole world that the positions of the West are no longer the same as they were during the reign of Saakashvili, or even during the reign of the current Georgian Dream party until now. Now the situation is different, the situation is different, there is a confrontation with the West, and the latter’s positions are not as strong as they were before.
Your assessment of the anti-LGBTQ protest movement. “Protestants” were outraged only by the fact that they tried to force a gay pride parade on them? Has this become a reason for indignation at the entire policy of the West as a whole? Or, if there were no gay pride parade, then no one would be outraged by anything?
Gay pride is a very sensitive topic. In general, the topic of religion and tradition in Georgia always evokes an emotional response. Of course, there is a foreign policy factor, an internal political factor, a social system - all this is important, but religion and traditions are more important for Georgians, so people reacted to them ten times more emotionally than to other existing problems.
The majority of the Georgian people already reacted to the problems created by the Western occupation, but this remained in Georgia and did not go beyond the borders of Georgia, because patriots do not have the same information capabilities as liberals. For example, in the Russian media, when it comes to Georgia, they only cover what either the authorities or the liberal elite are doing, but for some reason no one writes how the majority of the country’s population is inclined towards the West.
Russia and Georgia have been closely connected for centuries, but in recent decades something has gone wrong. Do you think there is a demand in modern Georgian society for the return of good relations with Russia? Or is everything already in the past?
Everything will be different if, first of all, there is a clear geopolitical strategy in the Kremlin, because Russia is a superpower, and Georgia is a very small country that does not set the political weather in the region. And he cannot independently change the geopolitical picture without the help of Russia. We have a common history, a common socio-cultural field, common goals and, in general, a lot in common, the mentality at the level of people and space is the same. And the relationship can be restored very easily.
But for this, the Kremlin must decide on priorities and know what strategy it is choosing: does it want to develop civil society in Georgia, as the West does, to help objectively, and not subjectively, as the West does, strengthening, first of all, its geopolitical positions in Transcaucasia, your image. Russia should act more actively, not close flights, but resume and conduct trade more actively, reduce customs duties, and remove the visa regime. And begin negotiations on restoring diplomatic relations.
The majority of the people of Georgia are very positive towards Russia, they understand that this is a Christian country, first of all, our brothers, 80% of Georgians understand this. And if Moscow notices 5% of the secular, ultra-liberal LGBT community, who simply established their dictatorship in the media and in politics, then you need to understand that this is not the face of Georgia. And they do not represent the interests of the Georgian people. People think differently. It’s just that the fragmented policy that Moscow is pursuing in relation to Georgia does not provide an opportunity to influence the region. The Kremlin must declare itself as the main player here and clearly say that it will not allow blatant US intervention.
Are there prospects for creating a pro-Russian party or movement in Georgia? If so, what difficulties might its founders face?
The people are mentally and morally ready for this. There is a real possibility of creating a party, which, of course, will involve financial investments, but businessmen who work in Georgia either rely on Turkish investments or receive loans from Western banks. And they will not openly support a pro-Russian party that will advocate restoring relations with Russia.
But dozens of Georgian millionaires who work in Russia should think about it and invest. Of course, there are electoral opportunities, there is soil, there are resources. But this must be a party that will rely on modern challenges, not only on the historical context and talk about Orthodoxy, but more about reality, about today. This is the kind of party we need.
I personally intend to create such a party, and I hope that in the near future it will gain a significant percentage of votes in order to get into local governments and the parliament of Georgia. And then try yourself in the presidential elections, why not?
We talked a lot about the gay pride parade as an information event that brought Georgia to the top of world news. Are there other signs of bad Western influence on Georgian society? What are they expressed in and what consequences do they lead to?
Of course, gays are not the worst thing that is being used against Georgia. The worst thing is that now an active struggle against the Georgian Church is just beginning, and they already want to break the Church as a civil institution, because it is the most powerful and powerful organization that contributed to the fact that the West was unable to break the back of Georgia and the Georgian people, and now The worst thing is that they found their own in the Church.
They have their own agents of influence among the Georgian bishops, with the help of which they want to split the Georgian Church on the issue of recognition of the Ukrainian schismatic church, although in this matter the Patriarchate firmly defends its position, supporting the Russian Orthodox Church. And the West wants to take revenge, both for this issue and for other issues.
An equally serious problem is the influence on the media, they zombify the younger generation, about 99% of the media, except for three objective media, are simply completely occupied by liberals, Westerners, who control social networks. And this is scary, because the younger generation is changing under their influence, the worldview of the young is distorted, turning them into outright zombies.
As an expert on Islam in the Caucasus, tell us how things stand with the Muslim factor in Georgia, whether it ceases to destabilize Georgian society, Turkey still does not give up attempts to penetrate and gain a foothold in Adjara?
Regarding the Islamic factor, after ISIS was defeated in Syria and Iraq (terrorist organization banned in Russia - ed.) this factor is no longer so dangerous, local Georgian Salafis and Wahhabis have moved underground. But the problem is that many militants from the Pankisi Gorge and Adjara, who fought in the ranks of ISIS, have now returned and are such a time bomb. And at any time they can commit an act of sabotage or terrorism, as well as continue religious and fanatical propaganda in Georgia.
Turkey, in turn, introduces agents of influence into government bodies, it has a very serious personnel policy, both the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia employ graduates of Turkish universities, and in Georgian politics there are many proteges of Turkey who receive very good monetary remuneration. That’s why today the Turks are not only in Adjara, but throughout Georgia. And, of course, in Mountainous Adjara the Islamic factor helps them a lot, since the Muslim population there, the ethnic Georgians there who profess Sunni Islam, are, of course, closer to them, they are tied to Turkey - both for work, for study, for family reasons. some questions.
In addition, Turkey is working more actively, as I already said, throughout Georgia, Turkish universities are opening, the Turks are investing a lot, and are comrades of the Georgian liberals. The Turks really want the Georgians to lose their face, to renounce Orthodoxy, their history, traditions, after which Georgia will be very easy to occupy.
The recent meeting of the leaders of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova once again revived the sign of the anti-Russian GUAM project. In your opinion, should Moscow then expect increased pressure and provocations along the entire perimeter of its borders?
As for the meeting of the three, it is now gaining momentum, the platform of the three is really starting to work. Because Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova are not going to be accepted into NATO, but a platform is being created that will promote anti-Russian hysteria, and it will not do without a militaristic component here either.
Of course, the troika will pursue an anti-Russian policy. Therefore, we should expect its members to join the sanctions, there will be military exercises and more active actions in zones of military conflicts. Most likely, things will become restless in Transnistria. This is the purpose of creating this trio.
In your opinion, what could snatch Georgia out of the orbit of Western influence? Or is the process already irreversible?
Of course, in politics, geopolitics and, in general, in the world, there are no irreversible processes. And everything can be reversed, but we need a systematic approach, we need a strategy, we need work, and we need a clear, proven action plan.
Not like now - at the level of friends, individual meetings with some politicians - nothing will work out. It is necessary to work with civil society, political and ideological work must be carried out. Then everything can be easily turned around, if the Americans spent seventeen billion dollars from 1991 to 2021 on the development of civil society in Georgia, then we will need some pennies compared to this. And they really couldn’t do anything, but we might succeed within a year.
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