Georgian Dream propagandist Zaza Shatirishvili has urged opposition-minded Georgians, including young people, to emigrate, drawing parallels with the exoduses under Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, whom he praised as a ‘hero’.
During a guest appearance on the Radio Space podcast, Shatirishvili said that many people around him who support the former ruling United National Movement (UNM) have left the country.
‘Since January, many have gone; a lot [of them] have lost hope, and it would be very good if these people leave’, he said.
Although he specifically mentioned the UNM, Shatirishvili was apparently referring more broadly to citizens with opposition leanings — especially those boycotting the upcoming municipal elections and young people attending the ongoing anti-government protests.
‘Gen Z is completely uneducated’, he said, singling out students of Ilia State University (ISU) in particular, which is considered a hub of liberal thought in Georgian academia.
‘[Joseph] Stalin entered [a theological] seminary and became a revolutionary. When you see what’s happening at (ISU), you either become a normal person or undergo indoctrination — that is, you become dumbed down. So if Gen Z has been dumbed down, that’s very [logical]’, he added.
Shota Kincha
Ultimately, Shatirishvili conceded that only a small portion of Georgian students attended the protests, and he remained optimistic about Georgian youth. However, he again singled out those he criticised before — a segment he called ‘unnecessary’.
‘Georgia is a country of traditions, where respect for elders and other values matters greatly, but there is a part that is unnecessary. And that part should leave, just as the communists left the Basque region for the Soviet Union, when [Francisco] Franco defended religion in exactly the same way we do today’, he added, drawing a parallel to the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, after which the fascist Franco came to power. Shatirishvili was referring to the Red Terror in Spain, in which leftist groups committed violence against the Catholic church both before and during the war.
Franco, whose regime was responsible for the killing and disappearance of tens of thousands, was referred to by Shatirishvili as a ‘hero’ who saved Spain from ‘liberalism, the deep state, anarchism, and Trotskyism’.
Shatirishvili is one of the faces of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s propaganda, frequently publishing articles based on the party’s conspiratorial claims, including those about the ‘deep state’ and the ‘global war party’.
His views are actively promoted by pro-government media.
OC Media
