The conflict, one of the bloodiest in the post-Soviet era, remains unresolved. The Georgian government has offered substantial autonomy to Abkhazia several times. However, both the Abkhaz government and the opposition in Abkhazia refuse any form of union with Georgia. Abkhaz regard their independence as the result of a war of liberation from Georgia, while Georgians believe that historically Abkhazia has always formed part of Georgia.[6] Georgians formed the single largest ethnic group in pre-1993 Abkhazia, with a 45.7% plurality as of 1989. During the war the Abkhaz separatist side carried out an ethnic cleansing campaign which resulted in the expulsion of up to 250,000[7] and in the killing of more than 5,000 ethnic Georgians.[8] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) conventions of Lisbon, Budapest and Istanbul have officially recognized the ethnic cleansing of Georgians,[9] which UN General Assembly Resolution GA/10708 also mentions.[10] The UN Security Council has passed a series of resolutions in which it appeals for a cease-fire.[11]
Background
The written history of Abkhazia largely begins with the colonization by Ancient Greeks of its coast in the 6th-5th centuries BC. During this time, the territory was part of the western Georgian kingdom of Colchis (Egrisi). During the Antiquity, various tribes were recorded on the territory today known as Abkhazia: Moschi, Sanigs, Misimians, Apsilae and Abasgois. Moschi, Sanigs and Misimians were known to have Georgian (Kartvelian) origin, while origin of Apsilae and Abasgois is disputed, with some scholars considering them to be Kartvelian tribes, while others regard them as being ancestors of people today called as Abkhazians. Throughout Antiquity, the territory was controlled by Pontus, the Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire. Local tribes played a huge role into consolidation of local population into single unit. They managed to break free from the Byzantine Empire in the 8th century and establish their independent kingdom. During this time, the term "Apkhazeti" first appeared in the Georgian annals, which is of Mingrelian (Western Georgian) origin, "Apkha" meaning back or shoulder.[12][13][14] The term gave rise to the name "Abkhazia", which is used today in most foreign languages. It was used to denote whole Abasgia (Byzantine name for the territory). The medieval Kingdom of Abkhazia managed to unite whole Western Georgia into a single political entity and transferred its capital to the Georgian city of Kutaisi. Although the origin of this kingdom's ruling family is still disputed, most scholars agree that the Abkhazian kings were Georgian in culture and language. The kingdom is frequently referred in modern history writing as the Egrisi-Abkhazian kingdom due to the fact that medieval authors viewed the new monarchy as a successor state of Egrisi and sometimes used the terms interchangeably. In order to eliminate the Byzantine religious influence, the dynasty subordinated the local dioceses to the Georgian Orthodoxpatriarchate of Mtskheta.[15][16]
In the 10th century, Kingdom of Abkhazia played an important role in Unification of the Georgian realm. Through dynastic succession, Bagrat Bagrationi united Kingdom of Abkhazia, Southern Georgian Kingdom of the Iberians and Eastern Georgian territories of Kartli under single political entity, Kingdom of Georgia. Duchy of Tskhumi was established on the territory of Abkhazia, which later was transformed into Duchy of Abkhazia. The Kingdom became the largest entity in the Caucasus by the 12th century. However, in the late 15th century, the civil strife within the Kingdom of Georgia led to its dissolution. Various new Georgian kingdoms arose in its place, such as Kingdom of Kakheti and Kingdom of Kartli in the Eastern Georgia, Samtskhe-Saatabago in the Southern Georgia and Kingdom of Imereti in the Western Georgia. The latter consisted of three principalities: Principality of Mingrelia, Principality of Guria and Principality of Abkhazia. Eventually Kingdom of Imereti declined due to power struggle within its ruling elites and constant Ottoman invasions, leading to these principalities gaining semi-independent status as they frequently acted independently and at times titled themselves as kings. In the 1570s, the Ottoman navy occupied the fort of Tskhumi on the Abkhazian coastline, turning it into the Turkish fortress of Suhum-Kale (hence, the modern name of the city of Sukhumi). In 1555, Georgia and the whole South Caucasus became divided between the Ottoman and SafavidPersian empires per the Peace of Amasya, with Abkhazia, along with all of western Georgia, remaining in the hands of the Ottomans. As a result, Abkhazia came under the increasing influence of Turkey and Islam, gradually losing its cultural and religious ties with the rest of Georgia. According to the Soviet historical science, Turkey, after the conquest has aimed at obliterating the material and spiritual culture of Abkhazia and forcibly convert the population to Islam.[17]
Following the Russian Revolutions, Georgia initially joined the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic and subsequently became independent as the Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG) governed by Georgian Mensheviks, while Abkhazia fell under control of a group of local Bolsheviks and the Red Army of Russia following a Bolshevik-led rebellion against the local Abkhazian self-government, Abkhaz People's Council (APC). This forced the APC to request aid from the Democratic Republic of Georgia, which ousted the Bolshevik rebels in Sokhumi with the National Guard of Georgia.[18] Abkhazia joined Democratic Republic of Georgia as an autonomous entity. This later led to the Sochi conflict between Georgia and Soviet Russia over ownership of Abkhazia and the territories of the former Black Sea Governorate. Georgia managed to repulse the Red Army from Abkhazia but conceded to Russian claims over Sochi and Tuapse. In 1920, Psou river was agreed as a new state border between Soviet Russia and Georgia. This corresponds to the modern internationally recognized Georgia–Russia border. In 1921, Abkhazia was granted the status of the autonomous republic within the Georgian Democratic Republic.
In 1921, the Red Army invaded Georgia and toppled the Menshvik government of the DRG. Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (GSSR) was established under Bolshevik government, which was later incorporated into the USSR. In exchange for support for Bolsheviks in Abkhazia, the Soviet government agreed to increase the autonomy of Abkhazia. In 1921, Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia was created. However, it was not separate from Georgia and its status was defined as a treaty republic of GSSR. In 1931, status of Abkhazia was again downgraded to the autonomous republic, with Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic being established.
Tensions between Abkhazians and Georgians began to escalate in 1980s as Georgians increasingly pushed for independence from the Soviet Union, while Abkhazians wanted to remain in the Soviet Union. On 18 March 1989, a group of Abkhazian intellectuals wrote letter to the Kremlin, expressing their desire to upgrade the status of Abkhazia to independent SSR within the Soviet Union or join Russia as an autonomous republic. This is known as Lykhny appeal. According to the 1979 Soviet Census, Georgians made up 45.7% of the population of Abkhazia, while Abkhazians were 17.8%. In response to the appeal, the Georgian anti-Soviet groups organized a series of unsanctioned meetings across Georgia, claiming that the Soviet government was using Abkhaz separatism in order to oppose the Georgia's pro-independence movement. The peaceful demonstration in Tbilisi was suppressed by the Soviet Army on 9 April 1989, which is known today as April 9 tragedy. In July 1989, the riots started in Abkhazia with the Abkhaz protest against an opening of a branch of Tbilisi State University in Sukhumi, and concluded with the looting of the Georgian school which was expected to house the new university on 16 July 1989. The ensuing violence quickly degenerated into a large-scale inter-ethnic confrontation. The first case of inter-ethnic violence in Georgia, it effectively marked the start of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.
The July events in Abkhazia left at least 18 dead and 448 injured, of whom, according to official accounts, 302 were Georgians.[19] Although the government managed to end the violence and maintain peace at that time, the conflict developed further and resulted in the next years in what is often referred as "war of laws". In 1991, Georgia refused to take part in referendum to preserve the Soviet Union as a renewed federation, opting to hold an independence referendum, which led to a declaration of independence. However, Abkhazia defied Tbilisi and took part in the Soviet referendum, which was boycotted by the Georgian population of Abkhazia.
In order to defuse tensions, newly elected Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia agreed on an arrangement to grant a wide over-representation to the Abkhazians in the local Supreme Council, with Abkhazians, while being only 18% of the population, getting the largest portion of seats.[20] According to this settlement, the 65 seats in the Supreme Soviet were allocated to different ethnic groups; 28 were reserved for Abkhazians, 26 for Georgians (46% of the total population) and 11 for the other ethnic groups.[21] The elections were held in September 1991 and resulted in Vladislav Ardzinba being appointed as Chairman of the Abkhazian Supreme Council. Ardzinba, who was a charismatic but excitable figure popular among the Abkhaz, was believed by Georgians to have helped to instigate the anti-Georgian violence of July 1989. Ardzinba exploited the Georgian Civil War which began in December 1991 to consolidate his power and launched a practice of replacing ethnic Georgians in leading positions with the Abkhaz. Ardzinba created the Abkhazian National Guard that was mono-ethnically Abkhaz, and on 24 June 1992, attacked the building of the Abkhazian Interior Ministry, a last stronghold of Georgian authority in Abkhazia, severely beating the ethnic Georgian minister Givi Lominadze and installing Abkhaz Alexander Ankvab. These events led to a split in the Supreme Council between Georgian and Abkhazian factions and forced the Georgian faction to boycott the sessions. In turn, On 23 July 1992, the Abkhazian faction of the Supreme Council, without a quorum, passed a resolution on restoring the 1925 Abkhazian constitution, declaring a "sovereign state" from Georgia. On 25 July 1992, State Council of the Republic of Georgia, a governing body of Georgia at that time, responded with a special resolution, which nullified this declaration, with Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze pointing out that the separatist decision contradicted the opinion of the majority of Abkhazian population.[22] Meanwhile, the Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba intensified his ties with hard-line Russian politicians and military elite and declared he was ready for a war with Georgia.[23]
The conflict eventually devolved into a war, which lasted for 13 months, beginning in August, 1992, with Georgian government forces and a militia composed of ethnic Georgians who lived in Abkhazia and separatist forces consisting of ethnic Abkhazians and Armenians who also lived in Abkhazia. The separatists were supported by the North Caucasian and Cossack militants and (unofficially) by Russian forces stationed in Gudauta. The conflict resulted in the ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia. The agreement in Moscow ended hostilities in 1994, however, this would not last.
In April–May 1998, the conflict escalated once again in the Gali District when several hundred Abkhaz forces entered the villages still populated by Georgians to support the separatist-held parliamentary elections. Despite criticism from the opposition, Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia, refused to deploy troops against Abkhazia. A ceasefire was negotiated on May 20. The hostilities resulted in hundreds of casualties from both sides and an additional 20,000 Georgian refugees.
In September 2001, around 400 Chechen fighters and 80 Georgian guerrillas appeared in the Kodori Valley. The Chechen-Georgian paramilitaries advanced as far as Sukhumi, but finally were repelled by the Abkhazian forces.
Saakashvili era
The new Georgian government of President Mikheil Saakashvili promised not to use force and to resolve the problem only by diplomacy and political talks.[24]
While at a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit it was decided not to carry out contacts with separatists, the trans-border economic cooperation and transport between Abkhazia and Russia grew in scale, with Russia claiming that all this is a matter of private business, rather than state.[citation needed] Georgia also decried the unlimited issuing of Russian passports in Abkhazia with subsequent payment of retirement pensions and other monetary benefits by Russia, which Georgia considers to be economic support of separatists by the Russian government.[24]
On May 15, 2008 United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution recognising the right of all refugees to return to Abkhazia and reclaim their property rights. It regretted the attempts to alter pre-war demographic composition and called for the "rapid development of a timetable to ensure the prompt voluntary return of all refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes."[27]
On August 10, 2008, the Russo-Georgian War spread to Abkhazia, where separatist rebels and the Russian air force launched an all-out attack on Georgian forces. Abkhazia's pro-Moscow separatist President Sergei Bagapsh said that his troops had launched a major "military operation" to force Georgian troops out of the Kodori Gorge, which they still controlled.[28] As a result of this attack, Georgian troops were driven out of Abkhazia entirely.
On August 26, 2008, the Russian Federation officially recognized both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.[29]
In response to Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Georgian government announced that the country cut all diplomatic relations with Russia and that it left the Commonwealth of Independent States.[30]
After the 2008 war
Relations between Georgia and Abkhazia have remained tense after the war. Georgia has moved to increase Abkhazia's isolation by imposing a sea blockade of Abkhazia. During the opening ceremony of a new building of the Georgian Embassy in Kyiv (Ukraine) in November 2009, Georgian PresidentMikheil Saakashvili stated that residents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia could also use its facilities. "I would like to assure you, my dear friends, that this is your home, as well, and here you will always be able to find support and understanding", he said.[31]
On July 9, 2012, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly passed a resolution at its annual session in Monaco, underlining Georgia's territorial integrity and referring to breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied territories. The resolution "urges the Government and the Parliament of the Russian Federation, as well as the de facto authorities of Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgia, to allow the European Union Monitoring Mission unimpeded access to the occupied territories." It also said that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was "concerned about the humanitarian situation of the displaced persons both in Georgia and in the occupied territories of Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgia, as well as the denial of the right of return to their places of living."[32]
In 2016, murder of ethnic Georgian Giga Otkhozoria by Abkhaz border guards caused international resonance and raised question about human rights situation of ethnic Georgians remaining in Abkhazia, particularly Gali district, where 98% is ethnic Georgian and is often subject to ethnic discrimination, denial of political and civil rights and police misconduct.[33][34][35]
↑ Olga Oliker, Thomas S. Szayna. Faultlines of Conflict in Central Asia and the South Caucasus: Implications for the U.S. Army. Rand Corporation, 2003, ISBN978-0-8330-3260-7.
↑ Bruno Coppieters; Alekseĭ Zverev; Dmitriĭ Trenin (1998). Commonwealth and Independence in Post-Soviet Eurasia Commonwealth and Independence in Post-Soviet Eurasia. Portland, OR: F. Cass. p.61. ISBN0714648817.
↑ Rapp Jr., Stephen H. (October–December 2000). "Sumbat Davitis-dze and the Vocabulary of Political Authority in the Era of Georgian Unification". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 120 (4 (October – December, 2000)): 570–576. doi:10.2307/606617. JSTOR606617.
↑ Toumanoff C., "Chronology of the Kings of Abasgia and other Problems". Le Muséon 69 (1956), pp. 73-90.
↑ Kaufman 2001, p.238: "Citation 111, which references Elizabeth Fuller, "The South Ossetian Campaign or Unification," p. 18 Report on the USSR, 1, No. 30 (July 28, 1989)."
Chervonnaya, Svetlana (1994), Conflict in the Caucasus: Georgia, Abkhazia and the Russian Shadow, translated by Ariane Chanturia, Glastonbury, United Kingdom: Gothic Image Publications, ISBN978-0-90-636230-3
Hewitt, George (2013), Discordant Neighbours: A Reassessment of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian Conflicts, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, ISBN978-9-00-424892-2
Kaufman, Stuart J. (2001), Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, ISBN0-8014-8736-6
Saparov, Arsène (2015), From Conflict to Autonomy in the Caucasus: The Soviet Union and the making of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, New York City: Routledge, ISBN978-0-41-565802-7
Welt, Cory (2012), "A Fateful Moment: Ethnic Autonomy and Revolutionary violence in the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918–1921)", in Jones, Stephen F. (ed.), The Making of Modern Georgia, 1918 – 2012: The first Georgian Republic and its successors, New York City: Routledge, pp.205–231, ISBN978-0-41-559238-3
Zürcher, Christoph (2007), The Post-Soviet Wars: Rebellion, Ethnic Conflict, and Nationhood in the Caucasus, New York City: New York University Press, ISBN978-0-81-479709-9
Goltz, Thomas. "Georgia Diary: A Chronicle of War and Political Chaos in the Post-Soviet Caucasus".M.E. Sharpe (2006). ISBN0-7656-1710-2
Lynch, Dov. The Conflict in Abkhazia: Dilemmas in Russian 'Peacekeeping' Policy. Royal Institute of International Affairs, February 1998.
MacFarlane, S., N., “On the front lines in the near abroad: the CIS and the OSCE in Georgia’ s civil wars", Third World Quarterly, Vol 18, No 3, pp 509– 525, 1997.
Vladislav Ardzinba was the first de facto president of Abkhazia. A historian by education, Ardzinba led Abkhazia to de facto independence in the 1992–1993 War with Georgia, but its de jure independence from Georgia remained internationally unrecognised during Ardzinba's two terms as President from 1994 to 2005.
Politics in Abkhazia is dominated by its conflict with Georgia. Abkhazia became de facto independent from Georgia after the 1992–1993 war, but its de jure independence has only been recognised by a few other countries. Abkhazia is a presidential representative democratic republic with a multi-party system, wherein the President is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government of the Republic of Abkhazia. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the People's Assembly of Abkhazia.
The Kodori Valley, also known as the Kodori Gorge, is a river valley in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway autonomous republic. The valley's upper part, populated by Svans, was the only corner of the post-1993 Abkhazia directly controlled by the central Georgian government, which since 2006 officially styles the area as Upper Abkhazia. On August 12, 2008, Russo–Abkhazian forces gained control of the Upper Kodori Valley, previously controlled by Georgia.
The ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, also known in Georgia as the genocide of Georgians in Abkhazia, refers to the ethnic cleansing, massacres, and forced mass expulsion of thousands of ethnic Georgians living in Abkhazia during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict of 1992–1993 and 1998 at the hands of Abkhaz separatists and their allies. Armenians, Greeks, Russians, and opposing Abkhazians were also killed.
The Sukhumi massacre took place on 27 September 1993, during and after the fall of Sukhumi into separatist hands in the course of the War in Abkhazia. It was perpetrated against Georgian civilians of Sukhumi, mainly by militia forces of Abkhaz separatists and North Caucasian allies. It became part of a violent ethnic cleansing campaign carried out by the separatists.
The Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia is an administration established by Georgia as the legal and only government of Abkhazia. Abkhazia has been de facto independent of Georgia – though with limited international recognition – since the early 1990s. Ruslan Abashidze, elected in May 2019, is the current head of the government-in-exile.
Upper Abkhazia, commonly known by its current name, Azhara Municipality is a geographical term and municipality of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia. The term was first introduced in 2006, to denote the northeastern part of the disputed territory of Abkhazia, that had remained under Georgian control after the 1992 War in Abkhazia. From September 2006 to August 2008 its main village, Chkhalta, hosted the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and was the seat of the Azhara municipal community. This situation came to an end in the Battle of the Kodori Valley in August 2008, when Upper Abkhazia was conquered by the Russo-Abkhazia armies, which had already controlled the rest of Abkhazia. Even though the area was no longer controlled by Georgia, the Georgian Government kept its municipal status as a sign of not recognizing any changes to the Abkhazian administrative divisions made by the breakaway republic. The current seat of the municipal government-in-exile is Tbilisi.
The history of Abkhazia, a region in the South Caucasus, spans more than 5,000 years from its settlement by the lower-paleolithic hunter-gatherers to its present status as a partially recognized state.
The Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as Abkhaz ASSR, was an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union within the Georgian SSR. It came into existence in February 1931, when the Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia, originally created in March 1921, was transformed to the status of Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Georgian SSR.
The War in Abkhazia was fought between Georgian government forces for the most part and Abkhaz separatist forces, Russian government armed forces and North Caucasian militants between 1992 and 1993. Ethnic Georgians who lived in Abkhazia fought largely on the side of Georgian government forces. Ethnic Armenians and Russians within Abkhazia's population largely supported the Abkhazians and many fought on their side. The separatists received support from thousands of North Caucasus and Cossack militants and from the Russian Federation forces stationed in and near Abkhazia.
The Sukhumi riot was a riot in Sukhumi, Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, in July 1989, triggered by an increasing inter-ethnic tensions between the Abkhaz and Georgian communities and followed by several days of street fighting and civil unrest in Sukhumi and throughout Abkhazia.
The demographics of Abkhazia include population density, ethnicity, education level, health, socioeconomic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
An international diplomatic crisis between Georgia and Russia began in 2008, when Russia announced that it would no longer participate in the Commonwealth of Independent States economic sanctions imposed on Abkhazia in 1996 and established direct relations with the separatist authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The crisis was linked to the push for Georgia to receive a NATO Membership Action Plan and, indirectly, the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.
This article describes the background of the Russo-Georgian War.
Abkhazia is a disputed territory between Georgia and Russian-backed Republic of Abkhazia, in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It covers 8,665 square kilometres (3,346 sq mi) and has a population of around 245,000. Its capital and largest city is Sukhumi.
Gali District is one of the districts of Abkhazia, Georgia. Its capital is Gali, the town by the same name. The district is smaller than the eponymous one in the de jure subdivision of Georgia, as some of its former territory is now part of Tkvarcheli District, formed by de facto Abkhaz authorities in 1995.
Human rights in Abkhazia are granted by Chapter II of its Constitution which makes reference to adherence of Abkhazia to UDHR, ICCPR and ICESCR. However, Abkhazia is not a UN member state and is not a party of UN human rights treaties, unlike Georgia, whose sovereignty over Abkhazia is recognized by a bigger part of the international community.
The War in Abkhazia from 1992 to 1993 was waged chiefly between Georgian government forces on one side, Russian military forces on other side supporting separatist forces demanding independence of Abkhazia from Georgia. http://www.historyorb.com/russia/georgia.php Ethnic Georgians, who lived in Abkhazia fought largely on the side of Georgian government forces. Ethnic Armenians and Russians within Abkhazia's population, largely supported Abkhazians and many fought on their side. The separatists were supported by thousands of the North Caucasus and Cossack militants and by the Russian Federation forces stationed in and near Abkhazia.
The Abkhazia–Georgia separation line is a de facto boundary set up in aftermath of the War in Abkhazia and Russo-Georgian War, which separates the self-declared Republic of Abkhazia from the territory controlled by the Government of Georgia. Republic of Abkhazia, and those states that recognise its independence, view the line as an international border separating two sovereign states, whereas the Georgian government and most other countries refer to it as an 'Administrative Border Line' within Georgian territory. The Georgian government views Abkhazia as a Russian-occupied Georgian territory and designates the de facto boundary as an occupation line in accordance with the Georgian "Law on Occupied Territories of Georgia". The Constitution of Georgia recognizes Abkhazia as autonomous within Georgia, therefore the line corresponds to the 'Administrative Border' of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia within Georgian territory.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Abkhaz ASSR (before 1992)
Abkhazia (after 1992)
CMPC (1992–1993) 
/ 
Russia 
Georgian SSR (before 1990)
/ 
Georgia (after 1990)
Shamil Basayev 
