Career
Prior to his appointment in the General Staff in February 2004, Iukuridze served as the head of the Main Military Inspectorate. He was dismissed as the Chief of the General Staff soon after the renewed clashes with separatists in South Ossetia. Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia, said that Russia-educated Iukuridze could no more head the military which was adopting North Atlantic Treaty Organization standards.
According to the Georgian media speculations, the deaths of 16 Georgian servicemen in South Ossetia was the real reason of Iukuridze’s dismissal.
Afterwards, Iukurdze was a military attaché to Russia.
