Photo:1
Photo:2
Photo:3
Photo:4
Photo:1 Photo:2 Photo:3 Photo:4 |
| Naming | |
| 2>
The Abkhazians call their state Аҧсны (Apsny), which means “the land of the Apsians” (-ny is a locative suffixe). The Russian Абхазия (Abkhazia) is borrowed from the Georgian აფხაზეთი (Apkhazeti). In Mingrelian, Abkhazia is known as აბჟუა (Abzhua)[17] or სააფხაზო (saapkhazo).[18] The Armenian name of Abkhazia is Աբխազիա (Abxazia).
[edit] Tags:Abkhaz,Russian,Georgian,Georgia,Russia, | |
| Early history | |
| 3>
Between the 9th and 6th centuries BC, the territory of modern Abkhazia was part of the ancient Georgian[19][20][21] kingdom of Colchis ("Kolkha").[22] This kingdom was subsequently absorbed in 63 BC into the Kingdom of Egrisi, known to Byzantine authors as "Lazica" and to the Persians as "Lazistan", named after the Laz tribe.[23][24]
Between 1000 and 550 BC, Greeks established trade colonies along the coast of the Black Sea, in particular at Pitiunt and Dioscurias, which was to become the capital of modern day Abkhazia. They encountered local warlike tribes who they called Heniochi.[citation needed] Classical authors described various peoples living in the region and the great multitude of languages they spoke.[citation needed] Arrian, Pliny and Strabo have given accounts of the Abasgoi[25] (generally considered ancestors of the modern Abkhazians) and Moschoi[26] (generally considered as ancestors of Meskhetians) peoples somewhere in modern Abkhazia on the eastern shore of the Black Sea.
The Roman Empire conquered Egrisi in the 1st century AD and ruled it until the 4th century, following which it regained a measure of independence, but remained within the Byzantine Empire's sphere of influence. Although the exact time when the population of Abkhazia was converted to Christianity has not been determined, it is known that the Metropolitan of Pitius participated in the First Ecumenical Council in 325 in Nicaea.[citation needed]
Abkhazia, or Abasgia in classic sources,[citation needed] formerly part of Colchis and later of Egrisi (Lazica) until the late 690s, was a princedom under Byzantine authority. Anacopia was the princedom's capital. The country was mostly Christian with the archbishop's seat in Pityus.[22] An Arab incursion into Abkhazia was repelled by Leon I jointly with his Egrisian and Kartlian allies in 736.
After acquiring Egrisi via a dynastic union in the 780s[27] Abkhazia became the dominant power in the region and the Kingdom of Abkhazia, also known as the Kingdom of Egrisi or the Kingdom of the Abkhaz, was established. During this period the Georgian language replaced Greek as the language of literacy and culture.[28] The kingdom flourished between 850 and 950 when it annexed significant parts of Eastern Georgia including Tbilisi. A period of unrest ensued, which ended as Abkhazia and eastern Georgian states were unified under a single Georgian monarchy, ruled by King Bagrat III (who was buried in the Monastery of Bedia in the Tkvarcheli district of Abkhazia) at the end of the 10th century and the beginning of the 11th century.
In the 16th century, after the break-up of the Georgian Kingdom, an autonomous Principality of Abkhazia emerged, ruled by the Shervashidze dynasty (also known as Sharvashidze, or Chachba).[citation needed] Since the 1570s, when the Ottoman navy occupied the fort of Tskhumi, Abkhazia came under the influence of the Ottoman Empire and Islam. Under Ottoman rule, the majority of Abkhazians were converted to Islam. The principality retained a degree of autonomy under the Ottomans, and then Russian rule, but it was eventually absorbed into the Russian Empire in 1864.[22]
[edit] Tags:Black Sea,Colchis,Kingdom Of Egrisi,Byzantine,Persians,Laz Tribe,Pitiunt,Heniochi,Arrian,Pliny,Strabo,Abasgoi,Roman Empire,Christianity,Nicaea,Egrisi,Princedom,Anacopia,Kartlian,Unified,Georgian Monarchy,King Bagrat Iii,Shervashidze,Ottoman Navy,Ottoman Empire,Islam,Ottoman,Russian Empire, | |
| Abkhazia within the Russian Empire and Soviet Union | |
| 3>
Abkhazia in 1899
In the beginning of the 19th century while the Russians and Ottomans were vying for control of the region, the rulers of Abkhazia shifted back and forth across the religious divide.[citation needed] The first attempt to enter into relations with Russia was made by Keilash Bey in 1803, shortly after the incorporation of eastern Georgia into the expanding Tsarist empire (1801). However, the pro-Ottoman orientation prevailed for a short time after his assassination by his son Aslan-Bey on 2 May 1808.[citation needed] On 2 July 1810, the Russian Marines stormed Suhum-Kale and had Aslan-Bey replaced with his rival brother, Sefer-Bey (1810–1821), who had converted to Christianity and assumed the name of George. Abkhazia joined the Russian Empire as an autonomous principality. However, George’s rule, as well as that of his successors, was limited to the neighbourhood of Suhum-Kale and the Bzyb area.[citation needed] The next Russo-Turkish war strongly enhanced the Russian positions, leading to a further split in the Abkhaz elite, mainly along religious divisions. During the Crimean War (1853–1856), Russian forces had to evacuate Abkhazia and Prince Michael (1822–1864) seemingly switched to the Ottomans.[citation needed]
Later on, the Russian presence strengthened and the highlanders of Western Caucasia were finally subjugated by Russia in 1864.[citation needed] The autonomy of Abkhazia, which had functioned as a pro-Russian "buffer zone" in this troublesome region, was no longer needed by the Tsarist government and the rule of the Shervashidze came to an end; in November 1864, Prince Michael was forced to renounce his rights and resettle in Voronezh.[citation needed] Abkhazia was incorporated into the Russian Empire as a special military province of Suhum-Kalem which was transformed, in 1883, into an okrug as part of the Kutais Guberniya. Large numbers of Muslim Abkhazians, said to have constituted as much as 40% of the Abkhazian population, emigrated to the Ottoman Empire between 1864 and 1878 with other Muslim population of Caucasus, a process known as Muhajirism.
Large areas of the region were left uninhabited and many Armenians, Georgians, Russians and others subsequently migrated to Abkhazia, resettling much of the vacated territory.[29] According to Georgian historians, Georgian tribes (namely the Mingrelians and Svans) had populated Abkhazia since the time of the Colchis kingdom.[30]
Soviet Caucasus 1957–1991 political divisions and subdivisions showing the Abkhaz ASSR (Abkhazskaya ASSR in Russian) within the Georgian SSR
Flag of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia (SSR Abkhazia) in 1925
Flag of the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Abkhaz ASSR) in 1978
The Russian Revolution of 1917 led to the creation of an independent Georgia (which included Abkhazia) in 1918. Georgia's Menshevik government had problems with the area through most of its existence despite a limited autonomy being granted to the region. In 1921, the Bolshevik Red Army invaded Georgia and ended its short-lived independence. Abkhazia was made a Socialist Soviet Republic (SSR Abkhazia) with the ambiguous status of a treaty republic associated with the Georgian SSR.[31][32] In 1931, Stalin made it an autonomous republic (Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic or in short Abkhaz ASSR) within the Georgian SSR.[22] Despite its nominal autonomy, it was subjected to strong direct rule from central Soviet authorities. Under the rule of Stalin and Beria Abkhaz schools were closed.[33][34][35] Russians also moved into Abkhazia in great numbers. Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, Vazgen I and the Armenian church encouraged and funded the migration of Armenians to Abkhazia.[citation needed] Currently, Armenians are the second largest minority group in Abkhazia (closely matching the Georgians), although their numbers decreased dramatically from 77,000 in the 1989 census to 45,000 in the 2003 census (see the Demographics).
The oppression of the Abkhaz was ended after Stalin's death[22] and Beria's execution, and the Abkhaz were given a greater role in the governance of the republic.[22] As in most of the smaller autonomous republics, the Soviet government encouraged the development of culture and particularly of literature.
[edit] Tags:Georgians,Aslan-bey,Russian Marines,Stormed Suhum-kale,Sefer-bey,Next Russo-turkish War,Highlanders Of Western Caucasia Were Finally Subjugated,Voronezh,Okrug,Kutais,Muhajirism, | |
| Abkhazia in post-Soviet Georgia | |
| 3>
Flag of the SSR Abkhazia in 1989
Main article: Georgian–Abkhaz conflict
As the Soviet Union began to disintegrate at the end of the 1980s, ethnic tensions grew between the Abkhaz and Georgians over Georgia's moves towards independence. Many Abkhaz opposed this, fearing that an independent Georgia would lead to the elimination of their autonomy, and argued instead for the establishment of Abkhazia as a separate Soviet republic in its own right. The dispute turned violent on 16 July 1989 in Sukhumi. Sixteen Georgians are said to have been killed and another 137 injured when they tried to enroll in a Georgian University instead of an Abkhaz one. After several days of violence, Soviet troops restored order in the city and blamed rival nationalist paramilitaries for provoking confrontations.
In March 1990, Georgia declared sovereignty, unilaterally nullifying treaties concluded by the Soviet government since 1921 and thereby moving closer to independence. The Republic of Georgia boycotted the 17 March 1991 all-Union referendum on the renewal of the Soviet Union called by Mikhail Gorbachev; however, 52.3% of Abkhazia's population (almost all of the ethnic non-Georgian population) took part in the referendum and voted by an overwhelming majority (98.6%) to preserve the Union.[36][37] Most ethnic non-Georgians in Abkhazia later boycotted a 31 March referendum on Georgia’s independence, which was supported by a huge majority of Georgia's population. Within weeks, Georgia declared independence on 9 April 1991, under former Soviet dissident Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Under Gamsakhurdia, the situation was relatively calm in Abkhazia and a power-sharing agreement was soon reached between the Abkhaz and Georgian factions, granting to the Abkhaz a certain over-representation in the local legislature.[38]
Gamsakhurdia's rule was soon challenged by armed opposition groups, under the command of Tengiz Kitovani, that forced him to flee the country in a military coup in January 1992. Former Soviet foreign minister and architect of the disintegration of the USSR Eduard Shevardnadze replaced Gamsakhurdia as president, inheriting a government dominated by hard-line Georgian nationalists. He was not an ethnic nationalist but did little to avoid being seen as supporting his administration's dominant figures and the leaders of the coup that swept him to power.[citation needed]
On 21 February 1992, Georgia's ruling Military Council announced that it was abolishing the Soviet-era constitution and restoring the 1921 Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Many Abkhaz interpreted this as an abolition of their autonomous status, although the 1921 constitution contained a provision for the region's autonomy.[39] On 23 July 1992, the Abkhaz faction in the republic's Supreme Council declared effective independence from Georgia, although the session was boycotted by ethnic Georgian deputies and the gesture went unrecognised by any other country. The Abkhaz leadership launched a campaign of ousting Georgian officials from their offices, a process which was accompanied by violence. In the meantime, the Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba intensified his ties with hardline Russian politicians and military elite and declared he was ready for a war with Georgia.[40]
[edit] Tags:Soviet Union, | |
| The Abkhazian War | |
| 3>
Main article: War in Abkhazia
In August 1992, the Georgian government accused Gamsakhurdia's supporters of kidnapping Georgia's Interior Minister and holding him captive in Abkhazia. The Georgian government dispatched 3,000 troops to the region, ostensibly to restore order. The Abkhaz were relatively unarmed at this time and the Georgian troops were able to march into Sukhumi with relatively little resistance[41] and subsequently engaged in ethnically based pillage, looting, assault, and murder.[42] The Abkhaz units were forced to retreat to Gudauta and Tkvarcheli.
The Abkhaz military defeat was met with a hostile response by the self-styled Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus, an umbrella group uniting a number of movements in the North Caucasus, including elements of Circassians, Abazins, Chechens, Cossacks, Ossetians and hundreds of volunteer paramilitaries and mercenaries from Russia, including the then little-known Shamil Basayev, later a leader of the anti-Moscow Chechen secessionists. They sided with the Abkhaz separatists to fight against the Georgian government. In the case of Basayev, it has been suggested that when he and the members of his battalion came to Abkhazia, they received training by the Russian Army (though others dispute this), presenting another possible motive.[43] Regular Russian forces also reportedly sided with the secessionists.[citation needed] In September, the Abkhaz and Russian paramilitaries mounted a major offensive against Gagra after breaking a cease-fire, which drove the Georgian forces out of large swathes of the republic. Shevardnadze's government accused Russia of giving covert military support to the rebels with the aim of "detaching from Georgia its native territory and the Georgia-Russian frontier land". 1992 ended with the rebels in control of much of Abkhazia northwest of Sukhumi.
The conflict was in stalemate until July 1993, when Abkhaz separatist militias launched an abortive attack on Georgian-held Sukhumi. They surrounded and heavily shelled the capital, where Shevardnadze was trapped. The warring sides agreed to a Russian-brokered truce in Sochi at the end of July, but it collapsed in mid-September 1993 after a renewed Abkhaz attack. After ten days of heavy fighting, Sukhumi was taken by Abkhazian forces on 27 September 1993. Shevardnadze narrowly escaped death, after vowing to stay in the city no matter what. He was forced to flee when separatist snipers fired on the hotel where he was staying. Abkhaz, North Caucasian militants, and their allies committed numerous atrocities[44] against the city's remaining ethnic Georgians, in what has been dubbed the Sukhumi Massacre. The mass killings and destruction continued for two weeks, leaving thousands dead and missing.
The Abkhaz forces quickly overran the rest of Abkhazia as the Georgian government faced a second threat: an uprising by the supporters of the deposed Zviad Gamsakhurdia in the region of Mingrelia (Samegrelo). Only a small region of eastern Abkhazia, the upper Kodori gorge, remained under Georgian control (until 2008). In the chaotic aftermath of defeat almost all ethnic Georgians fled the region, escaping an ethnic cleansing initiated by the victors. Many thousands died; it is estimated that on each side there were about 4,000 casualties, both military and civilian.[44]
During the war, gross human rights violations were reported on both sides (see Human Rights Watch report).[44] Georgian troops have been accused of having committed looting[41] and murders "for the purpose of terrorising, robbing and driving the Abkhaz population out of their homes"[44] in the first phase of the war (according to Human Rights Watch), while Georgia blames the Abkhaz forces and their allies for the ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, which has also been recognised by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Summits in Budapest (1994),[45] Lisbon (1996)[46] and Istanbul (1999).[47]
Of about 200,000–240,000 Georgian refugees, some 60,000 Georgian refugees subsequently returned to Abkhazia's Gali district between 1994 and 1998, but tens of thousands were displaced again when fighting resumed in the Gali district in 1998. Nevertheless, between 40,000 and 60,000 refugees have returned to the Gali district since 1998, including persons commuting daily across the ceasefire line and those migrating seasonally in accordance with agricultural cycles.[48] The human rights situation remained precarious for a while in the Georgian-populated areas of the Gali district. The United Nations and other international organisations have been fruitlessly urging the Abkhaz de facto authorities "to refrain from adopting measures incompatible with the right to return and with international human rights standards, such as discriminatory legislation... [and] to cooperate in the establishment of a permanent international human rights office in Gali and to admit United Nations civilian police without further delay."[49] Key officials of the Gali district are virtually all ethnic Abkhaz, though their support staff are ethnic Georgian.[50]
[edit] Tags: | |
| Post-war Abkhazia | |
| 3>
Main article: Georgian–Abkhaz conflict
On 3 October 2004 presidential elections were held in Abkhazia. In the elections, Russia evidently supported Raul Khadjimba, the prime minister backed by the ailing outgoing separatist President Vladislav Ardzinba. Posters of Russia's President Vladimir Putin together with Khadjimba, who, like Putin, had worked as a KGB official, were everywhere in Sukhumi.[citation needed] Deputies of Russia's parliament and Russian singers, led by Joseph Kobzon, a deputy and a popular singer, came to Abkhazia campaigning for Khadjimba.
However Raul Khadjimba lost the elections to Sergei Bagapsh. The tense situation in the republic led to the cancellation of the election results by the Supreme Court. After that a deal was struck between former rivals to run jointly — Bagapsh as a presidential candidate and Khadjimba as a vice presidential candidate. They received more than 90% of the votes in the new election.[citation needed]
In July 2006, Georgian forces launched a successful police operation against the rebelled administrator of the Georgian populated Kodori Gorge, Emzar Kvitsiani. Kvitsiani had been appointed by the previous president of Georgia Edvard Shevardnadze and refused to recognise the authority of president Mikheil Saakashvili, who succeeded Shevardnadze after the Rose Revolution. Although Kvitsiani escaped capture by Georgian police, the Kodori Gorge was brought back under the control of the central government in Tbilisi.
Sporadic acts of violence continued throughout the postwar years. Despite the peacekeeping status of the Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia, Georgian officials routinely claimed that Russian peacekeepers were inciting violence by supplying Abkhaz rebels with arms and financial support. Russian support of Abkhazia became pronounced when the Russian ruble became the de facto currency and Russia began issuing passports to the population of Abkhazia.[51] Georgia has also accused Russia of violating its airspace by sending helicopters to attack Georgian-controlled towns in the Kodori Gorge. In April 2008, a Russian MiG — prohibited from Georgian airspace, including Abkhazia — shot down a Georgian UAV.[52][53]
On 9 August 2008, Abkhazian forces fired on Georgian forces in Kodori Gorge. This coincided with the Tags:Russian Ruble,Rub, | |
zote monety click here click here click here click here |