Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili today opened a new Patriot youth camp in Ganmukhuri, near the Abkhaz border. Saakashvili addressed those in attendance, declaring that Georgians, Abkhaz and people of other ethnicities would certainly return to Abkhazia. Saakashvili said young people of all ethnic groups would stay at the Ganmukhuri patriot camp.

"Our answer to violence is calm, unity, strength and development. Our answer to the rhetoric of threats is to offer peace and friendship. I want to tell everyone that this is not a camp for ethnic Georgians. Georgians, Armenians, Azeris, Jews, Greeks and Ossetians from Tskhinvali will all stay at this camp together. We will certainly invite Abkhaz young people from Ochamchire, Gagra and Gudauta. I want them to see that their country - Georgia - is not like they are told it is. Georgia is a country comprised of people of many ethnicities and many faiths and is a brilliant example of tolerance and united development.

"The Abkhaz ethnos' only chance to retain its own unique identity is within this multiethnic and democratic Georgia, which will give them a strong guarantee that they will be able to develop as an autonomous region. I want everyone to comprehend that, no matter what guarantees others offer them, this is no longer a Georgia that will concede its positions and this is no longer a world that will stand for the oppression of 500,000 people who were illegally expelled from their homes. We will return and we will open similar places of peace and friendship in all parts of Georgia without exception: from Gagra and the Psou River to the Choloki River," President Saakashvili said.

Press Office
of the President of Georgia