Today on April 9, it was my pleasure to chair a seminar at the research platform Russia and the Caucasus Research (RUCARR), devoted to the process of restoration of Georgia’s statehood.

The presentation by Prof Merab Chukhua was spanning from the tragic events of April 9 1989, when Soviet military was deployed against peaceful demonstrators in front of the Georgian parliament and killing 20 people, to the declaration of Georgia’s independence two years later, on April 9, 1991.

Tina Tskhovrebadze, (PhD Cand, TSU) gave another perspective on the events, including the historical background of Georgia’s statehood, going back to the short period of Georgian independence in between the rule of the Russian Empire and the invasion of Soviet Russia in 1921.

Merab Chukhua: From the 9th of April to the 9th of  April – a brief glance

Tina Tskhovrebadze: Politics of Memory in the Process of Georgian Statehood Restoration