Abkhazia is a region in Caucasus. It is a de facto independent
republic, with no international recognition. It is located
within the internationally recognized borders of Georgia.
Abkhazia is located on the eastern coast of the Black
Sea, bordering the Russian Federation to the north. Within
Georgia, it borders the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
to the east.
Abkhazia’s independence is not recognized by any international
organization or country and it is recognized as an autonomous
republic of Georgia , with Sukhumi as its capital.
A secessionist movement of Abkhaz ethnic minority in
the region led to the declaration of independence from
Georgia in 1992 and the Georgian-Abkhaz armed conflict
from 1992 to 1993 which resulted in the Georgian military
defeat and the mass exodus and ethnic cleansing of Georgian
population from Abkhazia. In spite of the 1994 ceasefire
accord and the ongoing UN-monitored and Russian-dominated
CIS peacekeeping operation, the sovereignty dispute has
not yet been resolved and the region remains divided between
the two rival authorities, with over 83 percent of its
territory controlled by the Russian-backed Sukhumi-based
separatist government and about 17 percent governed by
the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia,
recognized by Georgia as the legal authority of Abkhazia,
located in the Kodori Valley, part of Georgian-controlled
Upper Abkhazia.
Political status
The international organizations such as United Nations
(32 Security Council Resolutions), EC, OSCE, NATO, WTO,
Council of the European Union, CIS as well as most sovereign
states recognize Abkhazia as an integral part of Georgia
and support its territorial integrity according to the
principles of international law. The United Nations is
urging both sides to settle the dispute through diplomatic
dialogue and ratifying the final status of Abkhazia in
the Georgian Constitution. However, the Abkhaz de-facto
government considers Abkhazia a sovereign country, even
though it is not recognized by any party in the world
and is still populated with ethnic Georgians (who live
in the Gali District and the Kodori Gorge). In 2005, the
Georgian government offered Abkhazia a high degree of
autonomy and possible federal structure within the borders
and jurisdiction of Georgia.
Meanwhile the Russian State Duma is urging to take into
consideration the appeal made by Abkhaz de facto authorities
which calls for recognition of its independence,[9] while
Russian state media produce numerous materials in support
of the separatist regime.[10] During the Georgian-Abkhaz
conflict, Russian authorities and military supplied logistical
and military aid to the separatist side. Today, Russia
still maintains a strong political and military influence
over separatist rule in Abkhazia. Russia has also issued
passports for the citizens of Abkhazia since 2000 (as
the Abkhazian passports cannot be used for international
travel) and subsequently paid retirement pensions and
other monetary benefits. More than 80% of the Abkhazian
population received Russian citizenship by 2006; however,
Abkhazians do not pay Russian taxes, vote in presidential
elections or serve in the Russian Army. About 53,000 Abkhazian
passports have been issued as of May 2007. President Bagapsh
hopes that by the end of 2007 up to 90% of Abkhaz citizens
will possess the "national" passports.
On October 18, 2006, the People's Assembly of Abkhazia
passed a resolution, calling upon Russia, international
organizations, and the rest of the international community
to recognize Abkhaz independence on the basis that Abkhazia
possesses all the properties of an independent state.
However, international organizations have confirmed their
support for Georgian territorial integrity and outlined
the basic principles of conflict resolution which call
for immediate return of all expelled ethnic Georgian refugees
(approximately 250,000) and the involvement of International
Police to monitor the safety of all ethnic groups living
in Abkhazia. About 60,000 Georgian refugees have spontaneously
returned to Abkhazia's Gali district since 1994, but tens
of thousands were displaced again when fighting resumed
in the Gali district in 1998. Nevertheless from 40,000
to 60,000 refugees have returned to Gali district since
1998, including persons commuting daily across the ceasefire
line and those migrating seasonally in accordance with
agricultural cycles. The human rights situation remains
precarious in the Georgian-populated areas of the Gali
district. The United Nations and other international organizations
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." Key officials
of the Gali district are virtually all ethnic Abkhaz,
though their support staff are ethnic Georgian.
Georgia accuses the Abkhaz secessionists of having conducted
a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing, a claim supported
by the OSCE and many Western governments. The UN Security
Council has, however, avoided use of the term "ethnic
cleansing", but has affirmed "the unacceptability
of the demographic changes resulting from the conflict".
Geography and climate of Abkhazia
Abkhazia covers an area of about 8,600 km² at the
western end of Georgia. The Caucasus Mountains to the
north and the northeast divide Abkhazia from the Russian
Federation. To the east and southeast, Abkhazia is bounded
by the Georgian region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti; and
on the south and southwest by the Black Sea.
Abkhazia is extremely mountainous. The Greater Caucasus
Mountain Range runs along the region's northern border,
with its spurs – the Gagra, Bzyb and Kodori ranges – dividing
the area into a number of deep, well-watered valleys.
The highest peaks of Abkhazia are in the northeast and
east and several exceed 4,000 meters (13,120 feet) above
sea level. The landscapes of Abkhazia range from coastal
forests and citrus plantations, to eternal snows and glaciers
to the north of the region. Although Abkhazia's complex
topographic setting have spared most of the territory
from significant human development, its cultivated fertile
lands produce tea, tobacco, wine and fruits, a mainstay
of local agricultural sector.
Abkhazia is richly irrigated by small rivers originating
in the Caucasus Mountains. Chief of these are: Kodori,
Bzyb, Ghalidzga, and Gumista. The Psou River separates
the region from Russia, and the Inguri serves as a boundary
between Abkhazia and Georgia proper. There are several
periglacial and crater lakes in mountainous Abkhazia.
Lake Ritsa is the most important of them.
Because of Abkhazia's proximity to the Black Sea and
the shield of the Caucasus Mountains, the region's climate
is very mild. The coastal areas of the republic have a
subtropical climate, where the average annual temperature
in most regions is around 15 degrees Celsius. The climate
at higher elevations varies from maritime mountainous
to cold and summerless. Abkhazia receives high amounts
of precipitation, but its unique micro-climate (transitional
from subtropical to mountain) along most of its coast
causes lower levels of humidity. The annual precipitation
vacillates from 1,100-1,500 mm (43-59 inches) along the
coast to 1,700-3,500 mm (67-138 in.) in the higher mountainous
areas. The mountains of Abkhazia receive significant amounts
of snow.
There are two border crossings into Abkhazia. The southern
border crossing is at the Inguri bridge, a short distance
from the Georgian city of Zugdidi. The northern crossing
("Psou") is in the town of Gyachrypsh. Owing
to the ongoing security situation, many foreign governments
advise their citizens against travelling to Abkhazia.[20]
Administrative divisions of Abkhazia
In Soviet times Abkhaz ASSR was divided into 6 raions
named after their centres: Gagra, Gudauta, Sukhumi, Ochamchire,
Gulripsh and Gali. The de jure division of Abkhazian Autonomous
Republic of Georgia remained the same (see here).
The administrative division of the unrecognised Republic
of Abkhazia is the same with one exception - a new Tkvarcheli
raion was carved from the Ochamchire and Gali raions in
1995.
Economy
The economy of Abkhazia is heavily integrated with Russia
and uses the Russian ruble as its currency. Tourism is
a key industry and the Abkhaz de facto authorities claim
that the organized tourists (mainly from Russia) numbered
more than 100,000 in recent years, compared to about 200,000
in the 1990 before the war. The number of visitors in
2006 was estimated by Abkhazian authorities to have been
approximately 1.5 million. Although the CIS economic sanctions
imposed on Abkhazia in 1994 are still formally in force
and Russia has established a visa regime with Georgia,
Russian passport-holders do not require a visa to enter
Abkhazia. Holders of European Union passports require
a Entry Permit Letter issued by the de facto Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in Sukhumi, against which a visa will
be issued upon presentation of the Letter to the MFA.
Abkhazia's fertile land and abundance of agricultural
products, including tea, tobacco, wine and fruits (especially
tangerines), have secured a relative stability in the
sector. Electricity is largely supplied by the Inguri
hydroelectric power station located on the Inguri river
between Abkhazia and Georgia proper and operated jointly
by Abkhaz and Georgians.
Many Russian entrepreneurs, including the Mayor of Moscow,
Yury Luzhkov, have invested or plan to do so in Abkhazia.
Both Abkhaz and Russian officials have announced their
intentions to exploit Abkhazia's facilities and resources
for the Olympic construction projects in Sochi, as the
city will host the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Government
of Georgia has warned against such actions, however, and
has threatened to ask foreign banks to close accounts
of Russian companies and individuals that buy assets in
Abkhazia.
The region continues to suffer considerable economic
problems owing to widespread corruption, the control by
criminal organizations of large segments of the economy,
and the continuing effects of the war.
Demographics
According to the Family Lists compiled in 1886 (published
1893 in Tbilisi) the Sukhumi District's population was
68,773, of which 30,640 were Samurzaq'anoans, 28,323 Abkhaz,
3,558 Mingrelians, 2,149 Greeks, 1,090 Armenians, 1,090
Russians and 608 Georgians[citation needed] (including
Imeretians and Gurians). Samurzaq'ano is a present-day
Gali district of Abkhazia. Most of the Samurzaq'anians
must be thought to have been Mingrelians, and a minority
Abkhaz.
According to the 1897 census there were 58,697 people
in Abkhazia who listed Abkhaz as their mother tongue.
The population of the Sukhumi district (Abkhazia) was
about 100,000 at that time. Greeks, Russians and Armenians
composed 3.5%, 2% and 1.5% of the district's population.
According to the 1917 agricultural census organized by
the Russian Provisional Government, Georgians and Abkhaz
composed 41.7% (54,760) and 30,4% (39,915) of the rural
population of Abkhazia respectively. At that time Gagra
and its vicinity weren't part of Abkhazia.
History of Abkhazia
Early history
In the 9th–6th centuries BC, the territory of modern
Abkhazia became a part of the ancient Georgian kingdom
of Colchis (Kolkha), which was absorbed in 63 BC into
the Kingdom of Egrisi. Greek traders established ports
along the Black Sea shoreline. One of those ports, Dioscurias,
eventually developed into modern Sukhumi, Abkhazia's traditional
capital.
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 is not determined, it is known that the
Metropolitan of Pitius participated in the First Œcumenical
Council in 325 in Nicea. Abkhazia was made an autonomous
principality of the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century
— a status it retained until the 9th century, when it
was united with the province of Imereti and became known
as the Abkhazian Kingdom. In 9th–10th centuries the Georgian
kings tried to unify all the Georgian provinces and in
1001 King Bagrat III Bagrationi became the first king
of the unified Georgian Kingdom.
In the 16th century, after the break-up of the united
Georgian Kingdom, the area was conquered by the Ottoman
Empire, during this time some Abkhazians converted to
Islam. The Ottomans were pushed out by the Georgians,
who established an autonomous Principality of Abkhazia
(abxazetis samtavro in Georgian), ruled by the Shervashidze
dynasty (aka Sharvashidze, or Chachba).
Abkhazia within the Russian Empire and Soviet Union
The expansion of the Russian Empire into the Caucasus
region led to small-scale but regular conflicts between
Russian colonists and the indigenous Caucasian tribes.
Eventually the Caucasian War erupted, which ended with
Russian conquest of the North and Western Caucasus. Various
Georgian principalities were annexed to the empire between
1801 and 1864. The Russians acquired possession of Abhkazia
in a piecemeal fashion between 1829 and 1842; but their
power was not firmly established until 1864, when they
managed to abolish the local principality which was still
under Shervashidze rule. Large numbers of Muslim Abkhazians
— said to have constituted as much as 60% of the Abkhazian
population, although contemporary census reports were
not very trustworthy — emigrated to the Ottoman Empire
between 1864 and 1878 together with other Muslim population
of Caucasus in the process known as Muhajirism.
Modern Abkhazian historians maintain that large areas
of the region were left uninhabited, and that many Armenians,
Georgians and Russians (all Christians) subsequently migrated
to Abkhazia, resettling much of the vacated territory.
This version of events is strongly contested by some Georgian
historians[36] who argue that Georgian tribes (Mingrelians
and Svans) had populated Abkhazia since the time of the
Colchis kingdom. According to these scholars, the Abkhaz
are the descendants of North Caucasian tribes (Adygey,
Apsua), who migrated to Abkhazia from the north of the
Caucasus Mountains and merged there with the existing
Georgian population. This theory has little support though
among Georgian academics.
Soviet Caucasus 1989 political divisions and subdivisons
showing the Abkhazian ASSR (Abkhazskaya ASSR in Russian)
of Georgian SSR
Soviet Caucasus 1989 political divisions and subdivisons
showing the Abkhazian ASSR (Abkhazskaya ASSR in Russian)
of Georgian SSR
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 Soviet republic with the ambiguous
status of Union Republic associated with the Georgian
SSR, In 1931, Stalin made it an autonomous republic within
Soviet Georgia. Despite its nominal autonomy, it was subjected
to strong central rule from central Soviet authorities.
Georgian became the official language. Purportedly, Lavrenty
Beria encouraged Georgian migration to Abkhazia, and many
took up the offer and resettled there. 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. Currently,
Armenians are the largest minority group in Abkhazia.
The repression of the Abkhaz was ended after Stalin's
death and Beria's execution, and Abkhaz were given a greater
role in the governance of the republic. As in most of
the smaller autonomous republics, the Soviet government
encouraged the development of culture and particularly
of literature. Ethnic quotas were established for certain
bureaucratic posts, giving the Abkhaz a degree of political
power that was disproportionate to their minority status
in the republic. This was interpreted by some as a "divide
and rule" policy whereby local elites were given
a share in power in exchange for support for the Soviet
regime. In Abkhazia as elsewhere, it led to other ethnic
groups - in this case, the Georgians - resenting what
they saw as unfair discrimination, thereby stoking ethnic
discord in the republic.
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 July 16, 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.
The Soviet republic of Georgia boycotted March 17, 1991's
all-Union referendum on the renewal of the Soviet Union
called by Mikhail Gorbachev - but 52.3% of the Abkhazia's
population (virtually all the ethnic non-Georgians) took
part in the referendum and voted by an overwhelming majority
(98.6%) to preserve the Union. Most ethnic non-Georgians
later boycotted a March 31 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.
Gamsakhurdia's rule soon became unpopular, and that December
the Georgian National Guard, under the command of Tengiz
Kitovani, laid siege to his government's offices in Tbilisi.
After weeks of stalemate, he was forced to resign 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 hardline 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.
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. On 23 July 1992,
the scessionist Abkhazian regime declared effective independence
from Georgia, although this gesture went unrecognised
by any other country. 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. Heavy fighting between Tiblisi's forces
and Abkhazian militia broke out in and around Sukhumi.
The Abkhazian authorities rejected the legal government's
claims, claiming that it was merely a pretext for an invasion.
After about a week's fighting and many casualties on both
sides, Georgian government forces took control of most
of Abkhazia, and closed down the region's assembly.
The Abkhazians' 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 pro-Russian movements in the North Caucasus, including
Circassians, Abazas, Chechens, Cossacks, Ossetians and
hundreds of volunteer paramilitaries from Russia, including
the little-known Shamil Basayev, later a leader of the
anti-Moscow Chechen secession, sided with the Abkhaz separatists
to fight the Georgian government. Regular Russian forces
also reportedly sided with the secessionsts. 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". The year
1992 ended with the rebels in control of much of Abkhazia
northwest of Sukhumi. The conflict remained stalemated
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 declared a truce at the end
of July, but it collapsed in mid-September 1993 after
a renewed Abkhaz attack. After ten days of heavy fighting,
Sukhumi fell 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
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). 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 between 10,000-30,000
ethnic Georgians and 3,000 ethnic Abkhaz may have perished
— and some 250,000 people (mostly Georgians) were forced
into exile.
During the war, gross human rights violations were reported
on the both sides (see Human Rights Watch report), and
the ethnic cleansing committed by the Abkhaz forces and
their allies is recognized by the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Summits in Budapest (1994),
Lisbon (1996) and Istanbul (1999).
Politics of Abkhazia
Much of the politics in Abkhazia is dominated by the
territorial dispute with Georgia, from which the territory
seceded, and by the fight over the presidency in 2004/2005.
On 3 October 2004 presidential elections were held in
Abkhazia. In the elections, Russia evidently supported
Raul Khajimba, the prime minister backed by the ailing
outgoing separatist President Vladislav Ardzinba. Posters
of Russia's President Vladimir Putin together with Khajimba,
who like Putin had worked as a KGB official, were everywhere
in Sukhumi. Deputies of Russia's parliament and Russian
singers, led by Joseph Kobzon, a deputy and a popular
singer, came to Abkhazia campaigning for Khajimba.
However Raul Khajimba lost the elections to Sergey 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 Khajimba as
a vice presidential candidate. They received more than
90% of the votes in the new election.
The President appoints districts' heads from those elected
to the districts assemblies. There are elected village
assemblies whose heads are appointed by the districts
heads.
The People's Assembly, consisting of 35 elected members,
is vested with legislative powers. The last parliamentary
elections were held on March 4, 2007. The ethnicities
other than Abkhaz (Armenians, Russians and Georgians)
are believed to be under-represented in the Assembly as
the number of the parliamentarians of these ethnicities
is less than their share in the republic population.
About 250,000 ethnic Georgian residents of Abkhazia are
restricted from settling in the region by the Abkhazian
separatist regime and cannot participate in the elections.
Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia
The Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia,
formerly known as The Council of Ministers of the Abkhazian
Autonomous Republic, is the only government that Georgia
recognizes as the legal government of Abkhazia, which
has been largely out of Georgia's control since 1993 due
to the War in Abkhazia.After the Kodori crisis of 2006,
the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia,
along with its ministers, relocated to the north-eastern
part of Abkhazia (known as Upper Abkhazia) in Chkhalta.
The Council of Ministers of the autonomous republic was
created during the Soviet period which included the Presidium
where representatives (elected) from all regions in Abkhazia
governed the affairs of the republic. The members of the
Cabinet of Ministers and the Presidium included ethnic
Georgians, Abkhaz and Armenians.
Zhiuli Shartava was elected as the Chairman of the Council
of Ministers just before the outbreak of the war. When
the hostilities reached their climax in 1992, the separatist
wing of the government left the Presidium and moved to
Gudauta. From Gudauta they started to arm militia groups
(allegedly supplied by the Russian military base in Gudauta)
which were used during the conflict.
The Council of Ministers remaining in Sukhumi still maintained
its ethnic Abkhaz representatives, who rejected the separatist
call for secession. Two of them, leading Abkhaz politician
Raul Eshba and Sumbat Saakian, a representative of the
ethnic Armenian Diaspora, refused to leave Sukhumi and
stayed along with Zhiuli Shartava, Guram Gabiskiria and
other members of the government in Sukhumi until the tragic
events of September 27th 1993, when Shartava, Eshba, Gabiskiria,
Saakian and other members of the government were tortured
and killed by the separatists and their allies (see Sukhumi
massacre). The remaining survivors of the government fled
to the capital Tbilisi where they organized the headquarters
of the Abkhaz government in exile headed by Tamaz Nadareishvili
(great grandson of Abkhaz Prince Shervashidze). In 1998,
Georgians in the Gali district (populated mainly by ethnic
Georgians) of Abkhazia launched partisan activities against
the de facto authorities in Sukhumi. The Abkhaz government
in exile allegedly supported the rebel movement known
as The White Legion. However, as a result of this insurrection,
the Abkhaz separatist authorities launched a full scale
attack on the Gali region, killing and expelling its ethnic
Georgian inhabitants. In 2004, Nadareishvili died leaving
the government in a disorganized state. After the Rose
Revolution and Kodori events of 2006, the de jure Abkhaz
government was revived and reorganized. Malkhaz Akishbaia,
a Western-educated Abkhaz politician was elected in April
2006 and is the current head of the de jure Government
of Abkhazia. Akishbaia appointed ethnic Abkhaz ministers
Temur Mzhavia and Ada Marshania to key positions and included
former members of Council of Ministers in his government.
The government moved to Upper Abkhazia (within the administrative
borders of the autonomous republic) with its headquarters
in Chkhalta.
On September 27, 2006 President Mikheil Saakashvili,
Nino Burjanadze, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia
II and others members of the central government visited
Kodori Valley and officially changed the name and designated
the area as "Upper Abkhazia". President Saakashvili
addressed the nation during the opening of de jure Government
headquarters in Chkhalta, Upper Abkhazia:
"We are here – Upper Abkhazia, very close to Sokhumi
- and we are not going to leave this place. We will return
to Abkhazia very soon, but only through peaceful means...We
have told every foreign ambassador in Georgia that Abkhazia
and Tbilisi are not separate entities...From now on the
protocol of each foreign diplomat [visiting Abkhazia],
apart from trips to Sokhumi, will also include the route
to Abkhazia’s administrative center in the village of
Chkhalta where the chairman of the Abkhaz government is
Malkhaz Akishbaia."
International involvement
The UN has played various roles during the conflict and
peace process: a military role through its observer mission
(UNOMIG); dual diplomatic roles through the Security Council
and the appointment of a Special Envoy, succeeded by a
Special Representative to the Secretary-General; a humanitarian
role (UNHCR and UNOCHA); a development role (UNDP); a
human rights role (UNCHR); and a low-key capacity and
confidence-building role (UNV). The UN’s position has
been that there will be no forcible change in international
borders. Any settlement must be freely negotiated and
based on autonomy for Abkhazia legitimized by referendum
under international observation once the multi-ethnic
population has returned. According to Western interpretations
the intervention did not contravene international law
since Georgia, as a sovereign state, had the right to
secure order on its territory and protect its territorial
integrity.
OSCE has increasingly engaged in dialogue with officials
and civil society representatives in Abkhazia, especially
from NGOs and the media, regarding human dimension standards
and is considering a presence in Gali. OSCE expressed
concern and condemnation over ethnic cleansing of Georgians
in Abkhazia during the 1994 Budapest Summit Decision and
later at the Lisbon Summit Declaration in 1996.
The USA rejects the unilateral secession of Abkhazia
and urges its integration into Georgia as an autonomous
unit. In 1998 the USA announced its readiness to allocate
up to $15 million for rehabilitation of infrastructure
in the Gali region if substantial progress is made in
the peace process. USAID has already funded some humanitarian
initiatives for Abkhazia. The USA has in recent years
significantly increased its military support to the Georgian
armed forces but has stated that it would not condone
any moves towards peace enforcement in Abkhazia.
On August 22, 2006, Senator Richard Lugar, then visiting
Georgia's capital Tbilisi, joined the Georgian politicians
in criticism of the Russian peacekeeping mission, stating
that "the U.S. administration supports the Georgian
government’s insistence on the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers
from the conflict zones in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali
district."
On October 5, 2006, Javier Solana, the High Representative
for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European
Union, ruled out the possibility of replacing the Russian
peacekeepers with the EU force." On October 10, 2006,
EU South Caucasus envoy Peter Semneby noted that "Russia's
actions in the Georgia spy row have damaged its credibility
as a neutral peacekeeper in the EU's Black Sea neighbourhood."
On October 13, 2006, the UN Security Council unanimously
adopted a resolution, based on a Group of Friends of the
Secretary-General draft, extending the UNOMIG mission
until April 15, 2007. Acknowledging that the "new
and tense situation" resulted, at least in part,
from the Georgian special forces operation in the upper
Kodori Valley, urged the country to ensure that no troops
unauthorized by the Moscow ceasefire agreement were present
in that area. It urged the leadership of the Abkhaz side
to address seriously the need for a dignified, secure
return of refugees and internally displaced persons and
to reassure the local population in the Gali district
that their residency rights and identity will be respected.
The Georgian side is "once again urged to address
seriously legitimate Abkhaz security concerns, to avoid
steps which could be seen as threatening and to refrain
from militant rhetoric and provocative actions, especially
in upper Kodori Valley". Calling on both parties
to follow up on dialogue initiatives, it further urged
them to comply fully with all previous agreements regarding
non-violence and confidence-building, in particular those
concerning the separation of forces. Regarding the disputed
role of the peacekeepers from the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS), the Council stressed the importance of close,
effective cooperation between UNOMIG and that force and
looked to all sides to continue to extend the necessary
cooperation to them. At the same time, the document reaffirmed
the "commitment of all Member States to the sovereignty,
independence and territorial integrity of Georgia within
its internationally recognized borders."
The HALO Trust, an international non-profit organisation
that specialises in the removal of the debris of war,
has been active in Abkhazia for a long time and has completed
the removal of land-mines in Sukhumi and Gali districts.
It plans to finish its operations in 2007/2008 and to
declare Abkhazia a "mine impact free" territory.
Religion in Abkhazia
The population (including all ethnic groups) of Abkhazia
are majority Orthodox Christians (appx 75%) and Sunni
Muslims (appx 10%). Most of the ethnic Armenians living
in Abkhazia belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church. However,
most of the people who declare themselves Christian or
Muslim do not attend religious services. There is also
a very small number of Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses and the
followers of new religions. The Jehovah's Witnesses organization
have officially been banned since 1995, though the decree
is not currently enforced.
According to the constitutions of Georgia, Autonomous
Republic of Abkhazia and de facto Republic of Abkhazia
the adherents of all religions (as well as atheists) have
equal rights before the law.
Abkhazia is recognized by the Eastern Orthodox world
as a canonical territory of the Georgian Orthodox Church,
which has been unable to operate in the region since the
War in Abkhazia. Currently, the religious affairs of local
Orthodox Christian community is run by the self-imposed
"Eparchy of Abkhazia" under significant influence
of the Russian Orthodox Church.
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