Conflict divides Georgian-Ossetian border residents

14 August, 2008, 22:26

In peacetime, residents of the Georgian-Ossetian border region mixed and even intermarried, regardless of their ethnic origin. But five days of intense conflict have split apart friends and families along ethnic lines.

For years, villagers of Balta, near the Georgian-Ossetian border, lived peacefully together. But now many of the men have left to join their respective sides in the conflict.

Many in the village are asking themselves where they should go, being half Georgian or half Ossetian.

Lyudmila Tinikashvili, an Ossetian by origin, lived in the village with her Georgian husband for over thirty years.

“We're outside politics, we're ordinary people. We just want to keep the same links and relationships as before the conflict. When it started, all the Georgians left for Georgia. All out relatives are there,” said Lyudmila.

Georgian Nanuli Pavliashvili came to the village when she got married, almost forty years ago. Two of her daughters are married to Ossetians. She is worried what will happen to her family.

“Of course we're not being driven out yet but we are afraid. Nobody knows what's going to happen,” she said.

Despite the conflict, last week in the village church a Georgian-Ossetian couple got married.

The villagers are raising funds for the victims of the conflict. They say it doesn't matter whether they are Georgian or South Ossetian – they are just ordinary people who lost their loved ones during a war.