This article is part of a partnership with OC Media. You can read the original in English here.
Members of the youth organization of the ruling Georgian Dream party visited the city of Shusha (Shushi) in Nagorno-Karabakh to participate in a conference organized by Azerbaijan’s ruling New Azerbaijan Party. During the event, the chairman of the youth organization, former judoka and Georgian MP Varlam Liparteliani, spoke at one of the panel discussions.
The Azerbaijani state news agency Azertac described the event as an international conference titled “Regional Contribution to Global Security: Building Peace in the South Caucasus.” During the opening, Aydin Karimov, the representative of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Shusha, noted that life is returning to the “liberated territories,” and children’s laughter is once again heard in schools and kindergartens.
The panel discussion in which Liparteliani participated was dedicated to the topic “Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Modern Challenges in Urban Planning.”
“Georgia’s goal remains unchanged: the peaceful de-occupation of our territories and the creation of a safe, inclusive, and sustainable environment for the lives of all citizens, including those who lost their homes and native communities as a result of conflicts,” the Georgian Public Broadcaster quoted Liparteliani as saying.
According to Azertac, the discussion was also attended by representatives of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, Belarus’s largest pro-government party Belaya Rus, and the Democratic Party of Turks of Macedonia—a small party representing the Turkish minority in North Macedonia.
The 37-year-old Liparteliani ended his sporting career in 2021 and entered parliament on the Georgian Dream party list following the controversial October 2024 parliamentary elections.
In February 2025, amid an opposition boycott of parliament, he became one of three ruling party MPs who formally left Georgian Dream and announced their intention to create a “healthy opposition” in parliament. However, by June of the same year, he returned to the party’s ranks, and in December, he was appointed chairman of its youth organization.
Georgian Dream’s youth organization and the actions of its members have repeatedly been the subject of public criticism. Representatives of the organization have been accused of using violence against critics of the government.
One of the most recent such incidents occurred in September 2025, when Giorgi Shukvani, a leader of the ruling party’s youth wing, was filmed during an anti-government protest in central Tbilisi. The footage shows him spitting at female protesters as well as a journalist.