TBILISI. Dec 11 (Interfax) - Members of Georgian non-governmental organizations and opposition political parties gathered near the presidential residence in Tbilisi on Wednesday to protest President Salome Zourabichvili's anti-militaristic remarks.
Speaking before prominent Georgian science and education figures on Tuesday evening, Zourabichvili said, "Our obligation is to communicate our culture and our identity to the world."
"This is what we can interest the world with, because we don't have and won't have an army or weapons," Zourabichvili said. "Nor do we possess great economic potential, but we do have a very powerful weapon, which is our knowledge," she said.
Zourabichvili's words that "we don't have and won't have an army or weapons" drew criticism not only from the opposition but also from Defense Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who told journalists that Zourabichvili's remarks about the Georgian army were categorically unacceptable to him.
"As defense minister, I want to say that our military service members are the worthiest citizens, and I will do all I can for the Georgian army to be even stronger. Our army is strong, and those serving in it are heroes," he said.
Chairperson of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee Sopio Kiladze said she believed Zourabichvili might have expressed her idea not accurately enough as she grew up and lived abroad for a long time.
"I think the president might have expressed her idea not accurately enough as she grew up not in Georgia," Kiladze told journalists.