The Abkhazia conflict is a territorial dispute over Abkhazia, a region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea in the South Caucasus, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The conflict involves Georgia, the Russian Federation and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia, which is internationally recognised only by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Syria; Georgia and all other United Nations members consider Abkhazia a sovereign territory of Georgia. However, Georgia lacks de facto control over the territory.
The beginning of the conflict dates back to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991; however, the dispute can be traced to 1918–1919 Abkhazia conflict over Sukhumi okrug (which corresponds to the Abkhazia region) between the Georgian Democratic Republic, White Russia and the Russian SFSR. Since 1989, the conflict has involved several wars: the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia, the 1998 War in Abkhazia and the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.
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. 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 and in the killing of more than 5,000 ethnic Georgians. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) conventions of Lisbon, Budapest and Istanbul have officially recognized the ethnic cleansing of Georgians, which UN General Assembly Resolution GA/10708 also mentions. The UN Security Council has passed a series of resolutions in which it appeals for a cease-fire.
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 in the consolidation of local population into a 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. 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 Orthodox patriarchate of Mtskheta.
In the 10th century, Kingdom of Abkhazia played an important role in the 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 a 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 Safavid Persian 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 aimed at obliterating the material and spiritual culture of Abkhazia and forcibly converting the population to Islam.
Conflict in 1918–1920
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. Abkhazia joined Democratic Republic of Georgia as an autonomous entity. This later led to the conflict between Georgia and Soviet Russia over ownership of Abkhazia and the territories of the former Black Sea Governorate (Sochi conflict). 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 autonomy within the Georgian Democratic Republic.
In 1921, the Red Army invaded Georgia and toppled the Menshevik 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.
The late Soviet era conflict
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. The local Abkhaz authorities endeavored to regulate the flow of information by censoring newspaper articles and television programs deemed to threaten the peace of multiethnic autonomy. On August 15, 1990, the Georgian section of Abkhazian radio appealed to the chairman of the Ministerial Council to safeguard the rights and freedoms of expression. In response to this appeal, the Abkhaz authorities imposed a ban on radio broadcasts concerning the Georgian language and interfered with the editorial policies of journalists. 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. 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. 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. 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. Russia used Abkhaz and also South Ossetian separatists as its ethnically based proxies to inflame ethnic conflicts in Georgia, undermine Georgian independence and assert Russia's control over the strategically important South Caucasus.
War in Abkhazia
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.
Resumption of hostilities
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.