Within its 3,000 year-long history of Georgian statehood, the last two centuries saw Georgians fighting annexation by the Russian Empire — from 1891 until 1918, when Georgia gained independence from czarist Russia and established, however short-lived, its first Democratic Republic (1918–1921). Russia recognized the independence of Georgia, along with the Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and other European countries. But in February of 1921, Tbilisi was again occupied by Soviet Russia. For the next 70 years, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia was one of the 15 constituent republics of the Soviet Union until the breakup of the USSR and Georgia regained its sovereignty in 1991.
The Embassy of Georgia to the United States marks the Centennial Anniversary of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia by organizing a cycle of events starting in February, peaking in May and continuing throughout 2018.
Following the February-April activities, May turned out to the busiest month with Georgia’s independence celebration events as well as country-focused conferences:
The Embassy of Georgia kicked off the celebratory events on May 3rd with the first lecture of the Alexander Kartveli STEM Speaker Series. The featured speaker was legendary NASA engineer John Casani, who has been working on various space missions for over 50 years, including Voyager 1 & 2. In cooperation with Alexander Kartveli Association, the Embassy opened its Kartveli Learning Center, dedicated to renowned American-Georgian aircraft engineer and innovator Alexander Kartveli, born Alexander Kartvelishvili. The cycle of events is aimed at raising public awareness of his innovations and of STEM education.
On May 9th, the Georgian Association in the USA, Levan Mikeladze Foundation, and the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) co-hosted the anniversary-marking conference ‘Centennial of the First Georgian Republic: Past, Present and Future of Georgia,’ which gave an excellent overview of the political and economic developments from the foundation of the first Republic until today. Rejep Jordania, the son of the first President of Georgia, addressed the conference, and there were a number of honorary guest speakers.
International trade, energy and transportation routes which connect the West and the East were the topic of discussion on May 18th at the 2018 Trans-Caspian Forum hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The forum brought together the Central Asia, Caspian and the Black Sea strategic regions to discuss a transit corridor between Europe and East and Southeast Asia connecting trade, people and economies.
Ambassador David Bakradze greeted the participants, and was joined by six other Ambassadors from the wider Eurasian region: Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Deputy Minister of Economy Genady Arveladzediscussed the Georgian Government’s strategy toward the enhancement of the strategic location of the country, ongoing and planned reforms aimed to turn Georgia into a regional hub for logistics and innovation, and its role in the development of the emerging international transit projects. The Senior Vice President of the U.S.-based SSA Marine, Bob Watters, represented the Deep Sea Port Anaklia project. This project will start operation on the Black Sea coast of Georgia in 2020, will receive Panamax and Post-Panamax ships, and will increase the East-West and North-South connectivity. The US Chamber of Commerce and Caspian Policy Center co-organized Forum started on May 17th with presentations to the U.S. Congress and Heritage Foundation.
To celebrate Georgia’s rich culture with its diverse cuisine and wine, the Embassy of Georgia partnered the Georgian Restaurant SUPRA to introduce Washington, D.C. residents to our incredible food at the 10th Annual Events DC Embassy Chef Challenge. The challenge was presented by TCMA at the Ronald Raegan Building on May 17th, and Chef Malkhaz Maisashvilirepresented Georgia by preparing a traditional dish from the 19th century — Chanakhi, paired with red dry Saperavi wine, provided by Konstantin Khizder, one of the importers of Georgian wine to US. Chef Malkhaz was featured at Food as Diplomacy program of WAMU 88.5.
On May 21st, the U.S. Congress Georgia Caucus and the Georgian Embassy hosted a reception at U.S. Congress Rayburn Building marking the centennial of Georgia’s First Democratic Republic. The visiting Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashviliand Georgia Caucus co-chairman Congressman Gerry Connolly addressed the U.S. Congress Representatives and staffers. “We won’t stop until Georgia’s sovereign state is returned its territories and the Russian occupation comes to an end… In this regard, Georgia has showed an exceptional courage considering its big neighbor, Russia’s, feelings. We stand by Georgia in the U.S. Congress and support the country. We’re excited by your courage and have formed a strong group of supporters at the Congress to stand by your side,” noted Rep. Connolly.
The Embassy of Georgia, in celebration of the Centennial of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia, hosted the 2nd Annual U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Conference along with The Heritage Foundation and United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on May 23rd. The conference discussed the U.S.-Georgia strategic ties at the first panel titled, “Geopolitics and Security: U.S.-Georgia Strategic Alliance in Making,” At the second panel, “Trade and Commerce: Georgia — Strategic Gateway for Regional Expansion,” Georgia’s key interconnecting function for international trade and transit routes was discussed. The Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili underlined milestones of U.S.-Georgia relations and emphasized the progress of Georgia on its European and Euro-Atlantic path in his opening remarks. While Minister of Defense of Georgia Levan Izoria praised U.S.-Georgia military-defense cooperation and joint fight against international terrorism in the closing remarks.
Among the honorary speakers were: Mikheil Janelidze, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia; Fiona Hill, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC), James Carafano, Vice President of Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy and the E. W. Richardson Fellow at The Heritage Foundation; Robert Karem, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs; Luke Coffey, Director of Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation; Dimitry Kumsishvili, First Vice Premier and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia; Brock Bierman, Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia, USAID; Ambassador Elisabeth Millard, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs; Christian Danielsson, Director General for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission; and Jonathan Katz, Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
On the same evening of May 23rd, The Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili addressed the guests of the Embassy of Georgia-hosted Independence Gala Reception together with U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-IN) and Georgian Ambassador David Bakradze. All three speakers stressed the dedicated fight for freedom by several generations of Georgians and vital importance of strong strategic partnership with the U.S. for maintaining Georgia’s independence and sovereignty.
The Embassy reception highlighted the deep history and culture of Georgia with a photo exhibit presenting the 100 year timeline of Georgia’s pro-independence movement.The ancient culture of the nation was introduced to guests with the antique Golden Heritage replicas and artisan crafts demonstrated by Georgian Arts & Culture Center, while the State Agency of Wine supported a Georgian wine display featuring the oldest winemakers in the world viticulture — Georgia, cradle of wine. Guests had an opportunity to enjoy the Ministry of Culture-sponsored ‘Georgian Overtones’ program performance by New York-based Georgian pianist Giorgi Mikadze and his band, and the Georgian ensemble Basiani Trio.
In addition to the national celebrations in Washington, D.C. and New York, the Embassy of Georgia, together with the Consulate General of Georgia in New York, hosted the Centennial of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia for the San Francisco-based diaspora and friends of Georgia on June 2nd.
Additionally, on June 5–6, Georgian Staff of the WBG/IMF Association and Georgian Embassy lead the Georgia Heritage Days, highlighting the ancient and rich culture of Georgia at the World Bank Headquarters. WB/IMF staff and visitors had an opportunity to enjoy Georgian food prepared by the Georgian Restaurant SUPRA, as well as variety of Georgian wines. Antique Golden Heritage replicas and artisan crafts were displayed by the Georgian Arts & Culture Center, while traditional Georgian scarfs Kalakhi made by nuns and the modern art of Levan Margiani was displayed by American Friends of Georgia. The event featured the D.C.-based Georgian artists’ art and design as well.