Proposed Russian annexation of Abkhazia

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Map showing all Russian-occupied territories in Europe before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia is shown in light red while the dark red territories are, from left to right, Transnistria, Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Abkhazia (number 2) and South Ossetia. One of them, Crimea, was annexed in 2014. Russian-occupied territories.svg
Map showing all Russian-occupied territories in Europe before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia is shown in light red while the dark red territories are, from left to right, Transnistria, Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Abkhazia (number 2) and South Ossetia. One of them, Crimea, was annexed in 2014.

Russian-backed self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia emerged as a result of the War in Abkhazia and ethnic cleansing of Georgians in 1993. Being internationally recognized as part of Georgia, it is regarded as a Russian-occupied territory. Following the Russo-Georgian War of 2008, Republic of Abkhazia gained control of all of its claimed territory. It was subsequently recognized by five countries, which includes Russia, Venezuela, Syria, Nauru, and Nicaragua, although all other states consider Abkhazia a sovereign territory of Georgia. Since the war, Russia maintains significant presence in Abkhazia, which remains heavily dependent on Russia. [1] Abkhazia relies entirely on Russia for financial support and much of its state structure is highly integrated with Russia; it uses the Russian ruble, its foreign policy is coordinated with Russia, and a majority of its citizens have Russian passports. [2] There have been several discussions about possible Russian annexation of the region.

Contents

Historically, Abkhazia was annexed by Russian Empire in 1864, which led to a series of revolts. Before Russian annexation, Abkhazia was part of historical Georgian kingdoms from 13th century BC such as Kingdom of Colchis, Kingdom of Lazica and Kingdom of Georgia. Within the Soviet Union, Abkhazia was part of Georgian SSR. Since the onset of the Abkhazia conflict, there were many proposals to integrate Abkhazia into Russian Federation. The conflict itself began in 1989 with the Lykhny Declaration, a proposal to establish a separate Abkhaz republic within the Soviet Union or integrate Abkhazia with the Russian SFSR.

The growing Russian presence in the region has been criticized as Russian imperialism against Georgia. [3] Georgia alleges that Russian military occupation of the region already constitutes a de facto annexation of Georgian territory. [4] [5]

Background

Abkhazia was part of the Georgian kingdoms throughout its history in the antiquity, namely Colchis and Lazica. It served as an important center for Georgian culture and in the 10th century, Abkhazia played a principal role in the unification of Georgian realm into a single kingdom. [6] Abkhazians are believed to be proto-Georgian people. However, in the 17th century, the mixing occurred with the Adyghe people, the northern Caucasian tribe. As a result, Abkhazians lost their Georgian-oriented culture. [7] In 1555, Georgia and the whole South Caucasus became divided between the Ottoman and Safavid Persian empires per the Peace of Amasya, with Abkhazia 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. [8]

Russification

Within the Russian Empire in the 19th century, a significant Russification occurred in the region. [9] The campaign led to a gradual Russification of Abkhazs with many becoming Russophones and pro-Russian. As such, in 2023, de facto Secretary of the Security Council of Abkhazia Sergei Shamba described the region as "part of the Russian world", while Zurab Smir has called de facto Abkhazian state "the most pro-Russian country in the world". [10]

Late Soviet period

According to 1989 Soviet census, Georgians were 45.7% of the population in Abkhazia, while Abkhazians were 17.8%. In July 1992, the Abkhazian faction of the legislature of Abkhaz ASSR voted to declare the "sovereign state" from Georgia. However, the Georgia's governing body annulled this decision, saying that the declaration contradicted the opinion of the majority of Abkhazia's population. [11] The conflict eventually resulted in the War in Abkhazia, which led to the ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia.

History of proposals

1978 proposal

In 1978, the Georgian dissident groups organized mass demonstrations throughout Georgia to protest against the Soviet plan to remove the status of Georgian language as a state language in Georgian SSR, replacing it with Russian as a sole state language in the republic. The protests resulted in the Soviet government backing down from its proposal. [12] However, the Abkhaz Communist officials organized a meeting in the village of Lykhny, suggesting to cut Abkhazia from Georgia and make it part of the Russian SFSR. The Soviet government proceeded to grant the Abkhaz ethnic privilages disproportionate to their minority status in the autonomous republic. [13]

1989 Lykhny Declaration

In March 1989, a gathering was organized in the village of Lykhny. During this meeting, a declaration was signed to appeal to the Soviet government to make Abkhazia part of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. This aggravated the internal political situation in Georgia and led to the 9 April tragedy. [14]

1993 proposal

On 18 November 1993, a month after the War in Abkhazia and ethnic cleansing of Georgian majority, the leader of Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba proposed to hold a referendum to join the Russian Federation. [15]

2001 proposal

In 2001, Abkhazian de facto Prime Minister Anri Jergenia said that Abkhazia was preparing to join Russia and that it was going to hold a referendum on this issue. [16]

2022 proposal to join the Union State

In October 2022, in an interview to the Russian TV, de facto President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania declared Abkhazia's readiness to host a Russian navy and join the Russia-Belarus Union State. However, the proposal has been criticized as impractical since Belarus does not recognizes Abkhazia as a sovereign state and considers it to be part of Georgia. [17]

2023 statement by Dmitry Medvedev

In August 2023, Deputy Chair of Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev in his article titled "Unlearned Lessons", accused Georgia of escalating tensions by its potential membership in NATO, threatening to annex Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia. [18] [19] [20]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Abkhazia: Deepening Dependence". Crisis Group. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Tkemaladze, Tamar (14 February 2021). "Abkhazia Is Not Crimea but Everything Is Set to Become It". Modern Diplomacy. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  3. ↑ "Leading article: Russia is acting like a colonial bully". The Independent . 2 May 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "Georgia calls Russia-Abkhazia treaty a "de-facto annexation" of its territory". Agenda.ge. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Georgia condemns adoption of program on creation of common socio-economic space between Russia, occupied Abkhazia". Agenda. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  6. ↑ Beradze, T.; Topuria, K.; Khorava, B. (eds.). A Historical-Geographic Review of Modern Abkhazia. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. pp. 10, 40.
  7. ↑ Michael Spilling; Winnie Wong (2009). "Abkhazians". Georgia. Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. p. 65. ISBN   9780761430339.
  8. ↑ History of Abkhazia Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine in the online edition of Bolshaya Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya
  9. ↑ "Some of the issues of Russian imperial language policy in Abkhazia and its results (part II)". Experts' Club. 28 July 2010. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Sergei Shamba: "Abkhazia is part of the Russian World"". Civil Georgia. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "New ethnic dispute in Georgia". UPI. 25 July 1992. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition, pp. 309.Indiana University Press, ISBN   0-253-20915-3
  13. ↑ "Commemorating the Fall of Sokhumi". Georgia Today. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Discussants deal with role of 1989 Tbilisi events in USSR collapse". Ekho Kavkaz. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "Chronology for Abkhazians in Georgia". Refworld. 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  16. ↑ "Abkhaz PM: Sukhumi to join Russia". United Press International. 18 October 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  17. ↑ "Bzhania Readies to Host the Russian Navy, Wants to Join the Union State". Civil Georgia. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Russia threatens to annex Georgia's breakaway regions". Politico. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "Medvedev Floats Annexing Break-Away Georgian Republics". The European Conservative. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  20. ↑ "Medvedev on the possible incorporation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia into Russia". Jam News. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
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