January 2 - President Saakashvili traveled in the South Ossetian conflict zone, where he met with the local population of the Georgian village of Tamarasheni.

 

January 4 - President Saakashvili left for Ukraine for a two-day informal visit. 

 

January 4 - Russian envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin said his country is “not entirely happy” with the way the Georgian authorities had been implementing the Council’s resolution on Abkhazia.

 

January 5 - One Georgian policeman died and another was injured after a group of armed men attacked a police checkpoint in the Georgian village of Ganmukhuri in the Abkhaz conflict.

 

January 10 - President Saakashvili signed constitutional amendments into law in a televised ceremony and said that the new law “is a step ahead towards constitutional stability.”

 

January 10 - The Georgian Coast Guard detained two fishing vessels, one sailing under the Russian and another under the Ukrainian flags, in the Abkhaz section of Georgia’s territorial waters.

 

January 11 - President Saakashvili arrived in Georgian-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia where he attended a session of the Abkhaz government-in-exile.

 

January 11 - President Saakashvili said: “The adoption of a new constitution will be possible only after total restoration of the country’s territorial integrity; we have no other choice”.

 

January 12 - Top officials from Azerbaijan and Georgia gathered in Tbilisi in an attempt to finalize a deal on the construction of the Baku-Akhalkalaki-Kars railway, which will link Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia.

 

January 15 - The fixed tariff for water consumption in Tbilisi has increased from GEL 1.2 to GEL 2.4 per family member per month.

 

January 15 - Two Russian peacekeepers were injured after their vehicle hit a mine in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

 

January 16 - World Bank issued a report according to which Georgia is one of the largest emigration countries.

 

January 16 - EU delegation, involving Peter Semneby, the EU special envoy to the South Caucasus, and Hugues Mingarelli, the European Commission Director for Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia, held talks with South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity in Tskhinvali. The next day the delegation traveled to Sokhumi

 

January 18 - Russia will send its Ambassador to Georgia, Vyacheslav Kovalenko, back to Tbilisi, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

 

January 18 - Colonel Nikoloz Janjgava has been appointed Commander of the Georgian National Guard.

 

January 19 - Fourteen years of negotiation, led by the UN and Russia, have done little to resolve the conflict in Abkhazia and “if the sides continue to flex their muscles and do not resume talks, there could be renewed hostilities in 2007, especially in and around the Kodori valley and the Gali district,” the Belgium-based International Crisis Group said in a report.

 

January 19 - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity in Moscow.

 

January 22 - A new TV station under the patronage of the Georgian Orthodox Church will begin broadcasting aimed towards promoting, as the founders say, “Georgian national values.”

 

January 22 - A Batumi court found former leader of the Adjara Autonomous Republic Aslan Abashidze guilty of misuse of office and embezzlement of GEL 98.2 million state funds, and sentenced him to a 15-year imprisonment in absentia.

 

January 23 - Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said that although there are many skeptics in Europe doubting the success of Tbilisi’s efforts to replace the current Russian-led peacekeeping operations with international forces, it is a realistic goal that will be accomplished “sooner or later.”

 

January 24 - Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili is paying a two-day working visit to Italy.

 

January 25 - Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Merab Antadze left for Moscow where he met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gregory Karasin.

 

January 26 - Certain number of Chechen militants is still harboring in Georgia’s Pankisi gorge, Russian border guard service official said.

 

January 26 - TBC Bank said Israel's second largest bank, Leumi, would buy 20% of the TBC Bank’s share capital. The deal, however, never materialized.

 

January 28 - Three South Ossetian militiamen were injured after their post in the southern outskirts of Tskhinvali came under fire.

 

January 29 - Several heads of provincial districts and chairmen of Sakrebulos (local councils) have filed for resignation at the demand of ruling National Movement party leaders who have accused some of the local officials of misuse of office.

 

January 29- Georgian and Russian Foreign Ministers, Gela Bezhuashvili and Sergey Lavrov, held a phone conversation.

 

January 30- A few hundred protesters gathered outside the Tbilisi Municipality to protest against what they call the “abolition of compensations” by the government for war veterans.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=14534

 

February 1 - Russian President Vladimir Putin said that last year Moscow took into consideration Georgia’s desire to purchase cheap gas from Azerbaijan and did not pressure Tbilisi to immediately sign a contract with Gazprom.

 

February 2 - Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili and U.S. Ambassador to Georgia John Tefft signed an agreement to combat illicit trafficking in nuclear or radioactive materials.

February 3 - Two civilians – an ethnic Georgian and an ethnic Ossetian - have reportedly been injured as a result of shootout that occurred in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

 

February 4 - Officials in breakaway Abkhazia said head of the local election commission in the Gali district of the unrecognized republic, David Sigua, was abducted.

 

February 6 - Russia's ambassador to Georgia said Moscow wanted Georgia to be a neutral state.

 

February 6 - President Saakashvili met with the leaders of opposition parliamentary factions and discussed issues related to the country’s territorial integrity.

 

February 7 - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Georgia and signed an agreement on a regional railway link connecting Azerbaijan with Turkey via Georgia. The leaders have also a new terminal of the Tbilisi International Airport, which was constructed by the Turkish consortium TAV-Urban

 

February 11 - Breakaway Abkhazia held local self-governance elections.

 

February 12-18 - CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg visited Georgia and looked into the human rights situation in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as in the Adjara Autonomous Republic.

 

February 12 - A Georgian army helicopter with 17 Defense Ministry personnel onboard crashed on February 12 in Kutaisi. No one died.

 

February 12 - President Saakashvili visited the village of Kurta in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

 

February 12 - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Dan Sullivan and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Europe Paul Dyck visited Georgia.

 

February 13 - President Saakashvili attended the presidential inauguration ceremony in Turkmenistan.

 

February 13 - Georgian courts should shed light on the high-profile murder case of Sandro Girgvliani “in a way expected by society,” Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said.

 

February 13 - Visiting Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili met with his Slovakian counterpart Jan Kubis in Bratislava.

 

February 15 - Veteran Georgian lawmaker Zurab Tskitishvili from the ruling National Movement party said he was quitting the Parliament.

 

February 15 - Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu met with his Georgian counterpart Vano Merabishvili in Tbilisi.

 

February 15 - The Georgian-language newspaper Georgian Times published a list of, as it said, the “richest Georgians” on February 15, featuring Badri Patarkatsishvili in the top of the list with USD 12 billion. Also on the list are former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, with USD 250 million, and Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli with USD 75 million.

 

February 16 - President Saakashvili visited Dubai.

 

February 16 - A court in the western Georgian town of Zugdidi found Pridon Chakaberia, head of the administration of Kvemo Bargebi village in the Gali district of breakaway Abkhazia, guilty of trafficking a “large amount of heroin” and sentenced him to 10-year imprisonment.

 

February 17 - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli left for Kuwait for a two-day visit.

 

February 17 - The ruling majority in the Parliament turned down a draft law targeting former KGB employees. On the same day the ruling party unexpectedly unleashed criticism of the Rustavi 2 television for “a shameful attempt” to promote Joseph Stalin as the “greatest Georgian politician.”

 

February 19-22 - Staff and command exercises of the breakaway Abkhaz armed forces with the participation of two reserve brigades was held.

 

February 19 - With the current pace of reforms Georgia has a real chance of becoming a NATO member, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after talks with his Georgian counterpart Gela Bezhuashvili in Tbilisi.

 

February 22 - GEL 6 million (about USD 3.5 million) has been allocated in the 2007 state budget to develop infrastructure in the Georgian-controlled Didi Liakhvi Gorge of the South Ossetian conflict zone.

 

February 23 - The ruling National Movement party said an anti-NATO campaign that has recently been pushed by a number of marginalized political forces in Georgia was sponsored by the Kremlin.

 

February 23 - President Saakashvili said he had “full confidence” in Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli and his cabinet.

 

February 24 - A portion of tin sheeting from the roof of the recently constructed terminal of Tbilisi International Airport was ripped off by strong winds.

 

February 26-28 - President Saakashvili met with top officials from NATO and EU in Brussels.

 

February 27 - The ruling majority and opposition in the Parliament have agreed to set up an inter-faction group to develop a bill that will provide additional guarantees for the protection of property rights.

 

February 27 - A group of Abkhaz opposition MP candidates have unleashed criticism of Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh for interfering in their election campaign and hence violating election code of the unrecognized republic.

 

February 28 - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Russian state-run daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the resumption of a normal dialogue with Georgia will depend on how Tbilisi behaves towards its breakaway regions and Moscow.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=14701

March 1 - Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko started two-day official visit to Georgia.

 

March 1 - Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II left for Moscow for a four-day visit.

 

March 3 - Abkhaz militia arrested three Georgians for “illegally crossing the border.”

 

March 3 - Parliament passed amendments to the law allowing citizens from five Arab Gulf states - the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman – to visit Georgia for up to 90 days without a visa.

 

March 4 - Breakaway Abkhazia held parliamentary elections. The Georgian Foreign Ministry described parliamentary elections in breakaway Abkhazia as “another in a series of unlawful acts”, adding that “any kind of reference to the legitimacy of the so-called elections is immoral and cynical.”

 

March 5 - President Saakashvili visited Kazakhstan.

March 7 - Moscow has stopped short of recognizing the March 4 parliamentary elections in breakaway Abkhazia but said it “respects” the polls, which “were a continuation of the democratic trends that were observed during the recent local self governance elections” in Abkhazia on February 11.

 

March 9 - During a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on March 8, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili reaffirmed his country's support for Japan’s bid to take a seat in the UN Security Council.

 

March 10 - The Russian Foreign Ministry warned South Caucasus states not to consider the possibility of installing components for a U.S. missile defense system in the region.

 

March 11 - The villages of Chkhalta and Azhara in the Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia came under artillery and helicopter fire..

March 12 - A Georgian army helicopter MI-24 Hind crashed in the Dusheti District of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, about 50 kilometers away from Tbilisi.

 

March 12 - A former leader of the opposition Conservative Party and ex-lawmaker Koba Davitashvili set up a new political party, the Party of People.

 

March 13 - The Georgian Parliament passed a declaration supporting Georgia’s aspirations for NATO membership with 160 votes to 0.

 

March 14-15 - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli will pay a working visit to Germany.

 

March 14 - President Saakashvili visited Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia, less than three days after the area was reportedly attacked by Russian army helicopters.

 

March 15 - Russia’s VimpelCom launch a new mobile phone operator in Georgia under the Beeline brand name.

 

March 16 - The United States will continue its efforts to help Georgia boost its energy security, visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell said at a news conference in Tbilisi.

 

March 17 - Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze left for the United States.

 

March 17 - Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said that he does not plan to resign, amid calls from the opposition.

 

March 18 - Two people died and at least five were injured as a result of explosion in the Georgian-populated Gali District of the breakaway Abkhazia.

 

March 19 - President Saakashvili met with Tbilisi-loyal, self-imposed South Ossetian leader Dimitri Sanakoev, less than a week after he announced Tbilisi’s readiness to launch “official relations” with the Kurta-based alternative authorities.

 

March 20 - A joint patrol of UN and Russian peacekeepers “did not observe any deployment of heavy weapons” in the Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge, UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) said.

 

March 20 - Police started installing of CCTV cameras in 70 major thoroughfare and public places in Tbilisi.

 

March 21-23 - An informal, information session of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC) over South Ossetian conflict meets in Istanbul.

 

March 22 - Colonel David Nairashvili has been appointed as Commander of the Georgian Air Forces replacing Alan Lakoev.

 

March 22 - President Saakashvili paid “brief, private, friendly visit” to Armenia.

 

March 23 - Foreign Ministers of breakaway Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestria held talks in Moscow in frames of the Community for Democracy and Human Rights (CDHR), an organization set up by three secessionist regions.

 

March 24 - 550 servicemen from the 33rd Light Infantry Battalion of the Third Infantry Brigade left for Iraq.

 

March 25 - Two Georgian servicemen have been killed in a clash with South Ossetian forces.

 

March 27 - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gregory Karasin met with Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh in Moscow.

 

March 27 - Tbilisi said it wanted Moscow to reimburse pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages for the alleged violation of the rights of hundreds of ethnic Georgians who have been deported from the Russian Federation.

 

March 29 - U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza visits Georgia.

 

March 30 - Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili visited Ukraine.

 

March 31 - Thousands of people throughout Georgia have arrived in the medieval cathedral in Mtskheta, close to Tbilisi, to pay tribute to the late President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, whose remains were brought to Georgia for reburial, 13 years after he was buried in Chechnya.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=14893

April 3 - Kazakhstan has pledged to direct at least 10 million tones of cargo annually to the Baku-Akhalkalaki-Kars railway route, which is expected to go into operation after two and a half years.

 

April 3-6 - A U.S. Congressional delegation led by Representative David Price visited Georgia.

 

April 3 - Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said that the current crisis in Ukraine is an “internal matter.” He did, however, call on the Ukrainian leadership to resolve the dispute “within a legal framework.”

 

April 5 - The March 11 rocket attacks in the Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia were “a major setback” to efforts to bring peace, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in his latest report to the Security Council.

 

April 9 - The second plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of breakaway Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestria was held in Moscow.

 

April 10 - The Georgian government’s human rights record improved in some areas during the year, although serious problems remained, according to the U.S. Department of State annual report.

 

April 10 - There is no cause for conflict between Georgians and Ossetians, Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II said while visiting the South Ossetian conflict zone.

 

April 17 - The law of Georgia on disciplinary responsibility and disciplinary prosecution of judges of common courts includes vaguely worded provisions that pose a real threat to the independence of the judiciary and ultimately to the rule of law, the Venice Commission said.

 

April 17 - Leaders of the opposition Industrialists party Gogi Topadze and Zurab Tkemaladze will met with Tbilisi-loyal, alternative leader of South Ossetia Dimitri Sanakoev.

 

April 18 - Latvian Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks visited Georgia.

 

April 19-21 - NATO Parliamentary Assembly's 65th Rose-Roth seminar held in Tbilisi.

 

April 20 - Leader of the opposition Labor Party Shalva Natelashvili has demanded that British Ambassador to Georgia Donald McLaren be recalled from the country.

 

April 21 - South Ossetian and Abkhaz leaders, Eduard Kokoity and Sergey Bagapsh, respectively held talks in Moscow.

 

April 23 - The leader of the opposition New Rights party, MP Davit Gamkrelidze met with Tbilisi-loyal, alternative leader of South Ossetia Dimitri Sanakoev.

 

April 23 - A court in the western Georgian city of Kutaisi released Pridon Chakaberia, head of the administration of Kvemo Bargebi village.

 

April 23 - The parliamentary majority and a group of students, affiliated with the ruling party, have slammed the Republican Party activist Paata Zakareishvili, for making “harmful and irresponsible” statements.

 

April 25 - A Russian governmental delegation led by prime ministerial aide Gennady Bukaev held talks with the prime minister of breakaway South Ossetia, Yuri Morozov, in Tskhinvali.

 

April 25 - President Saakashvili held talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London. 

 

April 26 - Georgian Public Defender Sozar Subari has delivered a report to the Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights and Civil Integration on the country's human rights record in 2006.

 

April 27-30 - Georgian Defense Minister Davit Kezerashvili visited Iraq.

 

April 30 - Georgian General Prosecutor Zurab Adeishvili visited Azerbaijan.      

http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15039
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15045

May 1 - The Georgian Ministry of Environment said it held an auction on May 1 and leased large tracts of forested land for 20 years. The announcement sparked protests by environmentalist groups. The auction has raised a total of GEL 7.7 million (about USD 4.5 million).

 

May 2 - A 14-member delegation of the U.S. army led by the Commander of U.S. Army in Europe, General David D. McKiernan arrived in Georgia.

 

May 3 - Senior lawmakers from the ruling National Movement party praised South Ossetian alternative leader Dimitri Sanakoev for adhering to “a right position” and said their meeting with him was “very positive.”

 

May 3 - The authorities in breakaway Abkhazia released three Georgian students arrested on March 1.

 

May 4 - Georgia is not planning to open talks with the U.S. on building an anti-missile radar site on its soil, Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said.

 

May 7 - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli returned to Georgia last night after undergoing heart surgery in Houston, Texas on April 19.

 

May 7 - Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves started a three-day official visit to Georgia.

 

May 7 - Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili welcomed Nicolas Sarkozy's victory in the French presidential elections and said that Sarkozy had always been a friend of Georgia’s. He also said that Sarkozy would be a future General Charles de Gaulle.

 

May 8 - Two Georgian lawmakers from the opposition Industrialist Party were briefly detained by police in a hotel in Vienna, Austria, after local police, allegedly, took one of them for ex-Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze.

 

May 8 - The Georgian Parliament has passed a resolution condemning, as it put it, attempts to “provoke” riots and hooliganism in the streets of Estonian towns. The disturbances followed the Estonian government's relocation of a Soviet war memorial in Tallinn.

 

May 8 - Parliament passed a resolution by 149 to 4 votes 8 to set up a provisional administrative entity in South Ossetia.

 

May 10 - President Saakashvili appointed Tbilisi-loyal South Ossetian alternative leader Dimitri Sanakoev as head of the provisional administration in South Ossetia.

 

May 10 - Two airplanes violated the Georgian airspace from the Russian Federation, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

 

May 11 - The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine signed a joint declaration at a summit in Krakow, Poland calling for increased cooperation in transporting oil and gas from Central Asia to Europe via the South Caucasus.

 

May 12 - A Georgian policeman was injured in a shootout which occurred in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

 

May 14 - Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze started a five-day visit to the Czech Republic.

 

May 15 - Ukraine’s PrivatBank entered into the Georgian market after buying into 75% of shares of a small Georgian Tao Bank for USD 25 million.

 

May 16 – Secessionist South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity reshuffled his cabinet.   

 

May 17 - Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Mostafavi arrived in Tbilisi on a two-day visit. 

 

May 17 - President Saakashvili hosted visiting Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt in Batumi, Adjara, where both of them opened a museum dedicated to Alfred and Ludwig Nobel.

 

May 17 - Police arrested seven employees of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) and charged them with negligence. The case involved the disappearance of old banknotes – worth of GEL 96,000 – which were withdrawn from circulation by the NBG for destruction years ago.

May 20 - Former lawmaker Guram Sharadze was shot dead in downtown Tbilisi. Police said a suspect was arrested shortly afterwards on a nearby street.

 

May 21 - Opposition lawmakers demanded to find out who, or which state agency, ordered the demolition of a half-constructed Orthodox church in the Khelvachauri district of Adjara.

 

May 23 - Public Defender Sozar Subari demanded the suspension of the chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Special Operations Department (SOD), Irakli Kodua, for his alleged involvement in the illegal arrest and torture of innocent men and the fabrication of evidence.

 

May 23 - Tbilisi City Court found Irakli Batiashvili guilty of involvement in the 2006 summer's alleged attempted coup and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment.

 

May 25 - Parliament, with its first reading, approved with 106 to 9 votes, a proposal giving the green light to free economic zones in Georgia.

 

May 26 - President Saakashvili officially opened a new terminal in Batumi airport. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul also attended the opening ceremony.

 

May 29 - Zviad Tsetskhladze, a businessman and former lawmaker, was found dead in his office in Tbilisi.

 

May 29 - Russia partially resumed issuing visas to Georgian citizens, eight months after it was suspended by Moscow amid a spy row with Georgia.

 

May 30 - A parliamentary delegation, led by Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, left for St. Petersburg to participate in the Parliamentary Assembly of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

 

May 31 - Georgian and Russian negotiators have failed to make a breakthrough in talks over Russia’s possible accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

 

May 31 - The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Tbilisi of playing “political games” with the water supply to the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali.  

http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15202
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15211

 

June 1 - Georgia has called on the UN Secretary General’s Group of Friends, involving France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia and the U.S., to persuade Sokhumi to resume UN-mediated talks, known as the Geneva Process.

 

June 1 - Georgia's economic performance continued to be impressive despite the external shock associated with Russia’s economic embargo, IMF officials said.

 

June 2 - The Center of Ossetian Culture and Art was opened in Tbilisi.

 

June 4 - President Putin reiterated that the Kosovo case would set a precedent and may even cause negative consequences for Russia.

 

June 4 - South Ossetian and Abkhaz leaders, Eduard Kokoity and Sergey Bagapsh respectively, pledged to provide mutual support in case of hostilities with Georgia.

 
June 4 - The European Union granted Georgia the right to align itself with political declarations adopted in the framework of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.

 

June 6 - Police arrested six Georgians in Vienna suspected of stealing a Stradivarius violin worth an estimated EUR 2.5 million and a Vuillaume violin, worth EUR 120,000.

 

June 7-8 - Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili visited Sweden.

  

June 7 - Water supply was restored to the breakaway South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, ending almost a two-week long crisis.

http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15239
 

June 8 - Tbilisi is taking “imaginative” steps towards resolving the South Ossetian conflict, but its new strategy may backfire “unless it proceeds cautiously and engages all actors,” the Brussels-based think-tank, International Crisis Group, (ICG) said.

 

June 8 - Parliament approved amendments to the 2007 state budget, envisaging increases in state expenditure by about GEL 600 million (USD 357.1 million).

 

June 8 - Parliament passed with 145 to two votes a proposal to increase troop levels in Iraq from the current 850 to 2,000, making Georgia one of the biggest contributors to US-led operations in terms of per capita troop deployment.

 

June 8 - Turkmenistan and Georgia have agreed to set up an inter-governmental commission to boost cooperation in energy issues.

 

June 9 - A South Ossetian militiaman was killed in a clash with Georgian police.

 

June 10 - Russia has pledged to gradually lift its trade embargo against Georgia and respect Georgia’s territorial integrity, President Saakashvili said – a day after he met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in St. Petersburg on the sidelines of an informal CIS summit.

 

June 10 - President Saakashvili met his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, on the sidelines of an informal summit of CIS leaders in St. Petersburg.

 

June 11 - Russia and Abkhazia have denied that Sokhumi is planning, with Moscow’s assistance, to build a military base in the Gali district of the breakaway region

 

June 11 - By lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 years, “Georgia has gone against international and European standards,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

 

June 12 - A 50-year-old man died as a result of flooding in the mountainous Racha region of western Georgia.

 

June 12- Three activists from the human rights advocacy group, Equality Institute, were jailed for 25 days for “hooliganism.”

 

June 13-15 - Ambassador John Danilovich, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) visited Georgia.

 

June 13 - President Saakashvili met with U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns in Paris.

 

June 13 - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli met with his Czech counterpart, Mirek Topolánek, in Prague.

 

June 13 - JSC Healthy Water Inc has retained its license for bottling Nabeghlavi mineral water for the next 25 years.

 

June 14 - The Georgian and French presidents discussed possible cooperation in civil nuclear energy, at a meeting in Paris.

 

June 14 - Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze met Christian Poncelet, the president of France's parliamentary upper house, the Senate, in Paris.

 

June 14 - The level of democracy has slightly improved in Georgia, because of progress in electoral processes, independent media and local governance, the U.S.-based Freedom House said in its 2007 report on countries in transition.

 

June 14-15 - The foreign ministers of three unrecognized republics – Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestria – meet in Tiraspol to discuss cooperation.

 

June 18-19 - The presidents of Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan and the prime minister of Moldova gathered in Baku at a summit of a grouping of these four countries known as GUAM.

 

June 18 - Sixty mortar launchers, ten Racal radio transmitters and 3,000 military uniforms have been donated to Georgia by Greece, the Georgian Ministry of Defense said.

 

June 19-20 - Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mohammadi visited Tbilisi to participate in a roundtable discussion on Georgian-Iranian Relations: Political, Economic and Cultural Issues.

 

June 20 - Georgia and the United States signed an agreement “to help build trade and investment relations” between the two countries.

 

June 21- Bezhan Gunava, an opposition lawmaker from the Conservative Party, was accused by the ruling party MPs of inciting ethnic hatred after his remarks about Meskhetians.

 

June 22 - Georgia and the United States signed an Open Skies agreement, expanding and liberalizing bilateral civil aviation relations between the two countries. http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15318

 

June 22 – The Parliament passed draft law on repatriation of Meskhetians with 134 to 14 votes.

 

June 26 - Dimitri Sanakoev, the head of the provisional administration of South Ossetia, delivered a speech on his vision on conflict resolution at the 9th session of the EU-Georgian Parliamentary Cooperation Committee on June 26.

 

June 28 - Two South Ossetian militiamen were badly injured after their post in Tskhinvali came under fire.

 

June 29 - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made a brief and surprise stopover in Tbilisi. He met President Saakashvili, Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili and Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze during his few hours stay in Tbilisi.

 

June 30 - A resident in the Georgian village of Tamarasheni and two residents of the breakaway South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, were injured as a result of a shootout in the conflict zone.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15360

July 1 - Public transport fees – on the Metro and municipal buses – double in Tbilisi.

 

July 1-2- Kote Kemularia, Secretary of the Georgian National Security Council, visited Iran.

 

July 3 - Parliament approved with 110 votes to one on its third and final reading a proposal paving the way for the establishment of free economic zones in Georgia.

 

July 3 - Parliament approved with 115 votes to 15, on its first hearing, a proposal to ban video recordings and photo coverage from court buildings and courtrooms by media sources.

 

July 5 - Georgia's Constitutional Court moved to Batumi, Adjara Autonomous Republic.

 

July 5-7 - Rene van der Linden, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), will visit Georgia.

 

July 6 - Two Abkhaz civilians were shot dead in the breakaway region’s Gali district.

 

July 7 - The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Rene van der Linden, traveled to Tskhinvali on July 7 and held talks with the South Ossetian secessionist authorities.

 

July 8-9 - Ivailo Kalfin, the Bulgarian foreign minister and deputy prime minister, visited Georgia.

 

July 9 - The leaders of breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Sergey Bagapsh and Eduard Kokoity, respectively, visited Moscow.

 

July 9 - The prime minister of breakaway Abkhazia, Alexander Ankvab, has survived an assassination attempt.

 

July 10 - Georgian police released two Russian peacekeepers in Zugdidi after having detained them briefly.

 

July 11 - The Georgian parliament approved a law on the repatriation of Meskhetians on its third and final hearing by 117 votes to 19.

 

July 12 - Abkhaz authorities will spare no efforts to help in the repatriation of ethnic Abkhazians from Turkey, Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh said.

 

July 12 - Georgian police handed over two Russian journalists, arrested in the South Ossetian conflict zone, to the Russian embassy in Tbilisi.

 

July 12 - A report by the UN Observer Mission in Georgia has suggested that Russian army helicopters could have been involved in an attack on upper Kodori Gorge on March 11, 2007.

 

July 13 - The Abkhaz conflict will create no problems for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, as it will be resolved by then, Vladimir Kozhin, a top aide of the Russian president, told Echo Moskvy radio station.

 

July 13 - Chief negotiators on the South Ossetian conflict from Russia, South Ossetia and Russia’s North Ossetia meet in the breakaway region’s capital, Tskhinvali, on July 13. Georgia refused to attend.

July 15 - A Georgian soldier has been shot dead in the Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia.

 

July 17 - South Ossetian and Russia's North Ossetian leaders, Eduard Kokoity and Teimuraz Mamsurov, respectively, held talks.

 

July 18 - The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, in which it points the finger at Tbilisi, saying that the March 11 attack on upper Kodori Gorge “favored, first and foremost, the Georgian side.”

 

July 19 - Aleksander Sukhitashvili, deputy defense minister, resigned.

 

July 19 - Davit Bakradze, a senior MP from the ruling National Movement party, has replaced Merab Antadze as state minister for conflict resolution issues.

 

July 20 - Residents of a 13-storey apartment block in downtown Tbilisi were forcibly evicted by police, prompting further allegations of official disregard for property rights.

 

July 23 - A massive public campaign will be launched to make South Ossetian secessionist leader Eduard Kokoity quit, Vladimir Sanakoev, a spokesman for the Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration, said.

 

July 24 - Management rights to Batumi airport for the next 20 years have been given to the Turkish company, Tepe-Akfen-Vie (TAV), for the symbolic amount of one dollar, in accordance with PM Nogaideli’s decree.

 

July 24 - The deputy speaker of the upper house of the parliament in Russia’s Chechen Republic, Isa Khashkhanov, visited breakaway Abkhazia.

 

July 25 - Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili and his Armenian counterpart, Vartan Oskanian, discussed bilateral cooperation in Tbilisi. 

 

July 27 - U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza started a two-day working visit to Georgia.

 

July 31 - Georgia’s central bank has issued a banking license to HSBC, giving the formal go-ahead for the bank to start operations in Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15521

August 1 - South Ossetian security officers recovered two explosive devices in Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee reported.

August 3 - Nine opposition parties have signed a joint memorandum calling on the authorities to immediately tackle “the intolerable conditions” in the prison system.

 

August 4 - The largest market in Tbilisi has been closed for reconstruction, triggering a protest by hundreds of traders, who fear for their jobs.

 

August 5 - A peaceful public campaign with the goal “of getting rid of Eduard Kokoity,” the secessionist South Ossetian leader, has been launched, Vladimir Sanakoev, a spokesman for the Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration, said.

 

August 6 - Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh visits Moscow to discuss investment projects with Russian companies.

 

August 6 - Two Russian attack aircrafts violated Georgia's airspace and one of them fired an air-to-surface guided rocket onto Georgian territory, the Interior Ministry said.

 

August 10 - A joint session of government officials from breakaway South Ossetia and Russia’s North Ossetian Republic opened in Vladikavkaz.

 

August 11 - Media restrictions, involving a ban on video recording and photo coverage from court buildings and courtrooms, were imposed.

 

August 13 - Irakli Tavartkiladze, the mayor of Batumi in the Adjaran Autonomous Republic, resigned.

 

August 13 - At least twelve inmates of a juvenile prison on the outskirts of Tbilisi and one guard were injured after infighting between inmates, officials said.

 

August 15 - Kavkasia TV said it would not accept financial support from the authorities to cover the cost of leasing office space.

 

August 17 - The U.S. embassy in Tbilisi, in a statement, has corroborated Tbilisi's version of events surrounding the August 6 missile incident.

 

August 20 - Large-scale military exercises were launched in breakaway Abkhazia.

 

August 21 - South Ossetian secessionist leader Eduard Kokoity arrived in breakaway Abkhazia.

 

August 22 - The Georgian air defense system tracked two violations of Georgian airspace in Upper Kodori gorge, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

August 22 - An aircraft crashed in the Kodori Gorge, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba and Chief-of-Staff of the breakaway region's armed forces Anatoly Zaitsev have claimed.

 

August 23 - Miomir Zuzul, the special representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, met with officials in the Russian Foreign Ministry to discuss the August 6 missile incident in Georgia.

 

August 24 - Levan Nikoleishvili, the first deputy defense minister, has resigned.

 

August 26 - President Saakashvili is in Slovenia to address an international conference on EU enlargement

 

August 27-30 - Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is paying a working visit to Batumi, in Adjara.

 

August 27-September 9 - Joint Georgian-UK military medical exercises - Georgian Express-2007 - were were held at the Vaziani military base near Tbilisi.

 

August 27 - Three Georgian citizens, a 13-year-old boy among them, were released by the South Ossetian secessionist authorities, a day after their arrest.

 

August 27 - The Muslim community of Abkhazia is concerned about an obvious anti-Muslim campaign in Abkhazia, Timur Dziba, the chairman of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Abkhazia (SBM), said.

 

August 29 - Fifteen Russian peacekeepers in the Abkhaz conflict zone, arrested by Georgian police, were released.

 

August 29 - Lado Chipashvili, the minister for healthcare, labor and social welfare, was dismissed in a cabinet reshuffle.

 

August 30 - Davit Bakradze, the Georgian state minister for conflict resolution issues, started a two-day working visit to Moscow.

 

August 30 - Three ministers have lost their posts in the biggest cabinet reshuffle in nine months; all key ministers, however, have retained their portfolios.

 

August 30 - President Saakashvili visited the South Ossetian conflict zone.

 

August 31 - Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh left for Moscow where he attended the Day of Moscow festivities to mark the 860th anniversary of the city.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15701

September 2 - Shalva Natelashvili, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, left for Strasbourg, where he attended a hearing of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the merits of a case taken by his party against Georgia.

 

September 3-4 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos visited Georgia.

 

September 4 - Mikheil Saakashvili is “the most popular Georgian of all times,” Tbilisi-based Rustavi 2 TV’s primetime news program announced on September 3 during a nine-minute long summary of positive western press coverage of Georgia and its leader.

September 4 - Gela Bezhuashvili, the Georgian foreign minister, met with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Brussels.

 

September 4 - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met with South Ossetian secessionist leader Eduard Kokoity in Moscow.

 

September 5-6 - Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili visited Azerbaijan to attend a session of the Council of Interior Ministers of CIS countries.

 

September 6-7 - Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili visited Germany.

 

September 7 - A man was wounded in a blast north of the breakaway South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali.

 

September 7 - Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Grigory Karasin, met with Abkhaz leader, Sergey Bagapsh, in Moscow.

 

September 9 - Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili started a three day working visit to the United States.

 

September 9 - Uruzmag Karkusov, who was a prime minister in the Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration, was appointed as deputy to the economy minister, Giorgi Arveladze

 

September 11 - Merab Antadze, the deputy foreign minister, will be appointed as Georgian ambassador to Ukraine, replacing Grigol Katamadze, officials said.

 

September 12 -Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili will visit Lithuania on September 12-14 to hold talks with his Lithuanian counterpart, Petras Vaitiekűnas, and President Valdas Adamkus, the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported.

 

September 12 - The governor of the Shida Kartli region, Mikheil Kareli, was dismissed.

 

September 13 - Matyas Eorsi and Kastriot Islami, co-rapporteurs from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) with responsibility for monitoring Georgia, paid a fact-finding mission to the South Ossetian conflict zone.

 

September 14 - MPs Teo Tlashadze and Ketevan Makharashvili, who have close links to the ex-defense minister, Irakli Okruashvili, officially quitted the ruling National Movement party.

 

September 17-18 - Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev visited Georgia.

 

September 19 -The head of Russia’s North Ossetian Republic, Teimuraz Mamsurov, arrived in the breakaway South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali to participate in the All-Ossetian Assembly.

 

September 20 - In an attempt to promote investment in the breakaway region, Sergey Bagapsh, the Abkhaz leader, is participating in an investment forum, which opened in Russia’s Black Sea city of Sochi.

 

September 20 - Two Abkhaz militiamen were killed, at least one injured and at least six others captured by Georgian forces after a clash.

 

September 23 - Mikheil Kareli, the former governor of Shida Kartli region, was arrested, while trying to flee the country, Nika Gvaramia, the deputy prosecutor general said.

 

September 23-25 - Parliamentary speakers from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden visited Georgia.

 

September 25 - Dimitri Kitoshvili, the president’s spokesman and parliamentary secretary, was arrested and charged with extortion.

 

September 25 - Irakli Okruashvili, ex-defense minister and once President Saakashvili’s closest ally, has accused the president of engaging in “anti-state steps” and “ordering murders.”

 

September 26 - Parliament approved on September 26 Ivane Machavariani (brother of Vice-Speaker Mikheil Machavariani) as Georgia’s first-ever ambassador to Japan.

 

September 26 - Russia’s reckless acts in its drive to incite and support separatist movements in Georgia must be countered by the international community, President Saakashvili said in a speech at the UN General Assembly.

 

September 26-27 - Robert Simmons, the NATO Secretary General's special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, visited Georgia.

 

September 27 - Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze left for New York on the personal invitation of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

 

September 27 - Irakli Okruashvili, an ex-defense minister, was arrested two days after he launched an opposition party and levelled a series of serious accusations against President Saakashvili.

 

September 28 – Thousands gathered outside the Parliament in the largest protest rally in recent years demanding Okruashvili’s release and early parliamentary elections, as well as abolishment of the president’s post.

 

September 29 - President Saakashvili made his first comments on Okruashvili and said the latter’s accusations against him were false.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15914

October 2 - The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, adopted a statement condemning “the anti-democratic policy” of the Georgian authorities.

 

October 3-4 - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer visited Georgia.

 

October 4 - A corporal from the 3rd infantry brigade, Zurab Chigoshvili, committed suicide while serving in Iraq, the Georgian Ministry of Defense said.

 

October 5 - President Saakashvili left for Tajikistan on October 5 to participate in a summit of the heads of states from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Dushanbe.

 

October 7 - Ilia II, the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, said it was time to consider establishing a constitutional monarchy.

 

October 8 - Okruashvili retracted his accusations against President Saakashvili of plotting to murder Patarkatsishvili and said that his accusation had been aimed at “gaining political dividends” for him and Patarkatsishvili. He also pleaded guilty of extortion and negligence in a surprise taped video confession. He was then released on GEL 10 million bail.

 

October 9 - An agreement on the development of cooperation between Georgia and Denmark was signed by the Georgian and Danish foreign ministers.

 

October 9 - The Georgian National Olympic Committee (GNOC) overwhelmingly voted for the impeaching of Badri Patarkatsishvili, the GNOC president.

 

October 10 - Bank of Georgia said it had bought Universal Bank of Development & Partnership (UBDP) in Ukraine for USD 81.7 million.

 

October 10 - Business and media tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, who became involved in the standoff between the ruling party and opposition after Okruashvili’s retraction of his accusations against Saakashvili, said the current “difficult situation” in the country could force him to go into politics.

 

October 11 – Irakli Okruashvili’s associates announce that the ex-defense minister quit the politics.

 

October 13 - Nineteen seventies disco band Boney M. performed in the Georgian-administered village of Tamarasheni in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

 

October 15 - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli left for Armenia to participate in a session of the joint Georgian-Armenian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation in Yerevan.

 

October 17 - Ten opposition parties, campaigning jointly for early parliamentary polls, outlined their priorities in a joint twelve-point manifesto. On the same day the coalition outlined four major demands.

 

October 18 - An Abkhaz militiaman was killed and a Georgian policeman injured in a clash.

 

October 18 - President Saakashvili left for Portugal.

 

October 18 - Three activists from the opposition group Equality Institute and one from the youth wing of the opposition Republican Party were jailed for 20 days on public disorder offences.

 

October 18 - The reported closure of an Orthodox church in the Azerbaijani province of Qakh has led to a series of protest rallies outside the Azerbaijani embassy in Tbilisi.

 

October 19 - Thousands gathered at the opposition-organized protest rally in Georgia’s second largest city, Kutaisi. The event was part of a campaign by ten opposition parties as a lead-up to a planned rally outside Parliament in Tbilisi on November 2.

 

October 19 - Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili and his Serbian counterpart, Vuk Jeremic, discussed bilateral relations and international issues during talks in Paris.

 

October 21 - Koba Davarashvili, director-general of the Tbilisi-based Rustavi 2 TV station, was replaced by Irakli Chikovani.

 

October 23 - Thousands people participated in an opposition-organized protest rally in Batumi.

 

October 23 - Alexei Miller, the chairman of the Russian energy giant Gazprom, met with South Ossetian secessionist leader Eduard Kokoity in Moscow.

 

October 23 - Several thousand people participated in an opposition-organized protest rally in Batumi, Adjara, on October 23.

 

October 23-26 - Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze visited Turkey and attended the foreign ministerial summit of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in Ankara. Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili also participated in the event.

 

October 25 - Davit Bakradze, the Georgian state minister for conflict resolution issues, met with Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba in the breakaway region’s capital Sokhumi.

 

October 25 - Salome Zourabichvili, Davit Usupashvili and Konstantine Gamsakhurdia – the leaders of opposition Georgia’s Way, Republican and Freedom parties, respectively, met with EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, in Brussels. The meeting was part of a ten-party opposition coalition’s international efforts to promote its moderate, less radical, image.

 

October 25 - Davit Kekua, former chief of the criminal police in Tbilisi and ex-deputy of the Interior Ministry’s Inspection Unit, hanged himself in his cell in prison number 7.

 

October 26 - An Armenian citizen was arrested while attempting to smuggle 2.04 grams of a radioactive substance, Lawrencium-103, from Georgia into Turkey, the Georgian Border Police said.

 

October 27 – Tbilisi handed over seven Abkhaz militiamen to UN observers after court in Tbilisi released them following passing five-year suspended sentence on them.

 

October 28 - Business and media tycoon, Badri Patarkatsishvili, said he would provide funding to the opposition for holding protest rallies “in a civilized manner.”

 

October 28 - The opposition’s protest rally in Zugdidi was marred after a group of the ruling party supporters attacked and beaten up two opposition lawmakers and several opposition activists.

 

October 30 - Giga Bokeria, an influential lawmaker from the ruling party, says the authorities will not compromise on elections date.

 

October 30 - Tensions in the Abkhaz conflict zone involving standoff between the Russian peacekeepers and Georgian interior ministry forces were defused after the Russian troops released at least four Georgian policemen detained earlier on the same day.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16138

 

November 1 - Thousands of protesters arrived from the provinces late on that day.

 

November 1 - Daniel Fried, The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs said in Tbilisi the United States did not see its role as a mediator in the current political standoff between the authorities and opposition in Georgia.

 

November 2 - Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the Parliament at the opposition-organized rally. Later on the same day the opposition leaders met with Parliamentary Chairperson, Nino Burjanadze and several other key lawmakers from the ruling party. Burjanadze said that the authorities would not compromise on the elections date.

 

November 3 - Thousands resumed protesting outside the Parliament. Opposition announced President Saakashvili’s resignation was its major demand.

 

November 4 - In his first comments after the launch of protest rallies, President Saakashvili said he did not plan to compromise on major demands pushed forth by the opposition.

 

November 5 - On the fourth day of protest rally at least dozen of protesters, including an independent lawmaker Levan Gachechiladze launched a hunger strike. Meanwhile, New Rights opposition party – which was not part of the opposition coalition running street protests, called for holding a referendum on timing of the next parliamentary elections.

 

November 5 - Irakli Okruashvili, the ex-defense minister, made a surprise appearance and said in a late-night live interview with Imedi TV that he was forced to retract accusations against President Saakashvili while being in jail.

 

November 6 - Badri Patarkatsishvili, a business tycoon, has warned that the authorities’ tactic of brushing off tens of thousand protesters calls may trigger “uncontrolled processes.”

 

On the same day opposition leaders have announced that they were planning to set up, what they called, “a town of tents” – a reference to permanent protest rallies.

 

November 7 - Early in the morning police, with use of only batons, broke up a small group of protesters, including hunger striker, which was occupying only a small square in front of the parliament. Opposition leaders, however, called supporters to resume rally.

 

Few hours later, protesters started to again gather outside the parliament, which eventually resulted into a clash with police. Protesters pushed the police back and managed to block the Rustaveli Avenue in front of the parliament.

 

At about 1pm local time riot police and water cannon vehicles were deployed on the Rustaveli Avenue. Shortly after tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons were used to disperse protesters. Masked men in black civilian uniforms were also seen attacking and beating up protesters.

 

At about 5pm local time thousands of protesters gathered on an open area called Rike several kilometers away from the parliament. The rally, however, was again dispersed by the riot police.

 

In the evening President Saakashvili said the unrests in Tbilisi were masterminded by Russia and implemented through the help of “some radical opposition parties.”

 

Imedi TV was shut down in a police raid and Tbilisi-based local television station, Kavkasia, went off the air at about 9pm local time. Batumi-based Channel 25 also went off air.

 

At about 10:30pm local time PM Zurab Nogaideli announced about the state of emergency only in Tbilisi.

 

Economy Minister Giorgi Arveladze, however, announced after midnight that state of emergency was declared on the entire territory of Georgia.

 

November 8 - Riot police disperse protesters in Batumi. Protesters thought state of emergency was declared only in Tbilisi, as many in Georgia did not know about late-night announcement by Arveladze that emergency rules were imposed on the entire territory of Georgia.

 

November 8 - In the evening President Saakashvili said in his televised address that he was planning snap presidential elections for January 5 in an attempt to gain the people's “unequivocal mandate” in his drive “to tackle foreign threats.” He also called a plebiscite – a non-binding referendum – to decide when to hold the next parliamentary elections – in spring, as demanded by the opposition, or in late 2008.

 

November 11 – Opposition and the authorities agreed to start talks.

 

November 11 – Badri Patarkatsishvili said he would run for presidency.

 

November 22 - Georgian cabinet and new Prime Minister, Lado Gurgenidze, won confidence vote in the Parliament with 155 votes to 0. The opposition boycotted the voting.

 

December 1 - Shalva Natelashvili, leader of the opposition Labor Party and presidential candidate, opened his election headquarters in Tbilisi.

 

December 3 - Levan Gachechiladze, an independent lawmaker nominated as a presidential candidate by the nine-party opposition coalition, unveiled, what he called, “major principles” of his election program at a presentation.

 

December 3 - Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze will visit London on December 3 to hold talks with a group of British businessmen and investors.

 

December 3 - Police reportedly broke up a protest rally in Batumi.

 

December 11 - Colonel Davit Aptsiauri has been appointed Commander of the Georgian National Guard, replacing Col. Nikoloz Janjgava.

 

December 11 - Seven presidential candidates have been officially registered by the Central Election Commission (CEC), making them eligible to run in the January 5 early election.

 

December 12 - Imedi TV resumed broadcasts thirty four days after the television station was shut down in a police raid and twenty four days ahead of early presidential polls.

 

December 15 - Movement for United Georgia Party held its inaugural session on December 15 and elected ex-Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili as its “honorary chairman.”

 

December 16 - A South Ossetian militiaman died and two others were badly injured in a bomb attack in Tskhinvali.

 

December 18 - Presidential candidate Levan Gachechiladze met with groups representing ethnic minorities in Georgia.

 

December 17 - The use of rubber bullets by riot police dispersing demonstrators on November 7 was illegal and those who authorized it should be punished, Sozar Subari, the Georgian Public Defender, said.

 

December 19 - The government has agreed to the opposition-proposed wording for the forthcoming plebiscite on the timing of parliamentary elections.

 

December 20 - Presidential candidate Levan Gachechiladze of the nine-party opposition coalition sold his 9% shareholding of Georgian Wines and Spirits (GWS). http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16612

 

December 20 - The November 7 violence exposed the Georgian government’s “shaky commitment to human rights and the rule of law” and it is high time for the west to confront Georgia over the issue, Human Rights Watch said.

 

December 21 - A corporal from the 3rd infantry brigade serving in Iraq, Jambul Mgeladze, died in a car accident.

 

December 24 - MP Valery Gelbakhiani, the head of presidential candidate Badri Patarkatsishvili’s campaign headquarters, was declared an official suspect in a conspiracy to overthrow the government.

 

December 25 - Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko visited Georgia.

 

December 26 - Six Imedi TV journalists quit the station following allegations that presidential candidate Badri Patarkatsishvili, the station's founder, was plotting a coup.

 

December 26 - Imedi TV staff and management said the television station was “temporarily suspending” broadcasts in an attempt “to distance ourselves from dirty political games” and in protest against both its owner and the authorities.

December 27 - Business tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili said he would pull out from the presidential race

 

December 28 - Mikheil Saakashvili said he no longer needed “a revolutionary team” and vowed, if re-elected, “to fundamentally reshuffle” his political team and make it “more all-inclusive.”

 

December 29 - Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili has warned policemen against getting involved in the electoral process.

 

December 31 - Illia II, the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, has called for a high voter turnout on January 5 presidential election.
http://www.civil.ge/eng_/article.php?id=16719