Eduard Djabeevich Kokoity

Eduard Djabeevich Kokoity

Kokoity (right) with Sergei Bagapsch (left) and Dmitri Medvedev in the Kremlin on September 17, 2008

Eduard Kokoity ( Russian Эдуард Джабеевич Кокойты , Russified name form Кокоев / Kokojew , Ossetian Кокойты Джабейы фырт Эдуард * 31 October 1964 , in Tskhinvali , South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast , Georgian SSR , Soviet Union ) is a South Ossetian politicians.

The PE teacher was elected President of South Ossetia in December 2001 and November 2006 .

Life

Eduard Kokoity first worked as an electrician after attending middle school. In 1980 he became champion of the Georgian SSR in freestyle wrestling . From 1983 to 1985 he did his military service in the Soviet Army . He then began studying physical education at the Tskhinvali Pedagogical Institute , which he successfully completed in 1988.

During his studies, Kokoity became a Komsomol secretary. In 1989 he was the first secretary of the Komsomol City Committee of Tskhinvali. Between 1992 and 2001 he lived mostly in Moscow as a businessman . In 1997 he became head of the South Ossetian trade agency in Russia. On November 18, 2001, he was elected President of South Ossetia with 45% of the votes cast. On November 12, 2006, he ran in the presidential election against Oleg Gabodze, Inal Puchayev and Leonid Tibilow . He was confirmed in office with 96% of the votes cast and also received the support of the Communist Party of South Ossetia .

Kokoity is considered a political hardliner. He is aiming for the final separation of South Ossetia from Georgia and the unification of South and North Ossetia within Russia , and has repeatedly applied for South Ossetia's associate membership in the Russian Federation. On November 24, 2003, he described South Ossetia as "Russian territory" . He can only imagine a good neighborly relationship with Georgia . On September 11, 2008, he confirmed this political course, South Ossetia was planning to join the Russian Federation. After this statement had spread via news agencies, Kokoity denied: his statements were "obviously misunderstood" .

Kokoity with Sergei Bagapsch

Kokoity owes its election victory to the financial and political support of the influential Tedejew family clan around the former head of the South Ossetian Security Council Albert (Dick) Tedejew and his brother Jambulat , former world wrestler and today's coach of the Russian national team. The family clan had previously promoted Kokoity's predecessor in office, Tschibirow , but abruptly turned away from him in 2001. In the elections in South Ossetia, Kokoity was always supported by the Unity Party, founded in 2003 . Kokoity sought the entry of the Republic of South Ossetia into the Union state of Russia and Belarus .

After his election victory, Kokoity first gave the Tedejew clan responsibility for the South Ossetian customs service and the armed escort of goods along the Transcaucasian highway to Russia. In July 2003, Kokoity had senior members of the Tedejew clan arrested and associations of the Defense, Security and Justice Ministries disarmed. The department for escorting the transport of goods was closed and customs reports directly to the president.

Kokoity and other South Ossetian government politicians are said to have close business ties with organized crime in Russia. His unclear use of Russian aid funds for South Ossetia and his increasingly authoritarian style of government were also criticized.

On December 11, 2011, Kokoity resigned from all positions.

Private

Kokoity is also a Russian citizen . He is married and has three sons.

Web links

Commons : Eduard Dschabejewitsch Kokoity  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Russian Citizen becomes South Ossetian president , message onthe Jamestown Foundation monitor , December 19, 2001.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Today the Ossetian form (Kokoity) is used almost exclusively in Russian texts .
2. ↑ ZDF today: Confusion about South Ossetia's course  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   September 11, 2008. Content no longer available.
3. ↑ Kommersant : So, Let's Negotiate for It! ( Memento of November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) - September 12, 2008
4. ↑ Interview with Kokoity  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in Komsomolskaya Pravda . Content no longer available even in web archives (April 2018).  
5. ↑ Der Tagesspiegel: "The observers twist the truth" , August 19, 2008 (comment by Elke Windisch)
6. ^ The daily newspaper: Abkhazia's fear of the neighbor: Symbolic revaluation , August 26, 2008
7. ^ Power Struggle Under Way In South Ossetia. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, April 19, 2010, accessed April 17, 2018 . 
8. ↑ В политическую борьбу вступает вольная - Оппозиция Эдуарду Кокойты начинает дейсквия из Москвы. Коммерсант.ru, May 23, 2009, accessed April 17, 2018 (Russian).