Georgian Officials and International Community Condemn Car Bomb Attack

TBILISI – Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and President Giorgi Margvelashvili publicly condemned an apparent terrorist act that occurred late Tuesday night and left five passersby injured

Givi Targamadze – a leader from the opposition United National Movement – was uninjured when a car bomb reportedly detonated after he and his driver entered the vehicle just outside his party’s headquarters in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

In an address to the nation, Kvirikashvili said that the act was a provocation orchestrated by “Georgia’s enemies as a way to cause civil unrest in the country ahead of the Saturday’s parliamentary elections”.

Margvelashvili strongly condemned the incident, calling it an assault on Georgia’s democratic values.

 “Yesterday's incident was an attack on the normal democratic processes,” Margvelashvili said.

Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili and Republican Party leader Khatuna Samnidze also condemned the attack and blamed the dangerous precedent set by the ruling Georgian Dream and its bitter political rival, the UNM, of using provocative actions to whip up public support only days before an election.

“This is a logical continuation of the dangerous process, established by the Georgian Dream and the former governing team of the UNM,” Samnidze said.

The EU Ambassador to Georgia, Janosh Herman also condemned the attack and called for calm ahead of Saturday’s vote.

“We condemn any act of violence…It is very important that all of the political parties in Georgia respect the democratic principles acknowledged by the EU,” he noted.

The US Embassy in Tbilisi also strongly condemned the incident, saying in a statement that the US government views any attempt to disrupt the democratic process in Georgia as an attack on the country’s citizens.

“Together, with the international community, we have called on all parties to refrain from violence and respect the rule of law,” the US Embassy’s statement reads.

International news agency Reuters reported that Targamadze appeared to be the target of an assassination attempt, while the BBC noted that Targamadze was charged in absentia in Russia for funding mass protests in the country in 2012-2013. 

By Thea Morrison

Edited by Nicholas Waller