Regions and territories: Abkhazia

Overview

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Once part of the ancient Greek and Roman empires, Abkhazia adopted Christianity in the sixth century. With the rise of the Ottoman empire 500 years later, Islam gained increasing influence.

At-A-GLANCE

• Broke away from Georgia in 1992-1993 war
• De-facto independence recognised by Moscow but not internationally
• Ceasefire in force, Russian peacekeepers in place
• Georgia says Russian troops propping up separatist state
• Georgian offer of autonomy within federal state rejected by Abkhazia

The ethnic Abkhaz people have close historical, linguistic and cultural ties with the peoples of the Russian North Caucasus which put up fierce resistance to Moscow's expansionism in the first half of the 19th century.

Abkhazia was incorporated into the Russian empire in 1810 as a protectorate and finally annexed in 1864. Many Abkhaz fled and many Russians and Georgians arrived in the years which followed.

After the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, Abkhazia gained a measure of autonomy until Stalin, who liked to holiday there, incorporated it into Georgia in 1931.

It was still called an autonomous republic but there was very little sign of genuine autonomy while Stalin was alive. Georgian became the official language and the Abkhaz language and cultural rights were repressed. Many Georgians were resettled there. The repression eased substantially after Khrushchev came to power in the Kremlin.

KEY DATES

• 1810 - Russia declares Abkhazia a protectorate
• 1864 - Russia annexes Abkhazia
• 1931 - Soviet authorities incorporate Abkhazia into Georgia
• 1991 - Georgia declares independence
• 1992 - Georgia sends troops to stop Abkhazia breaking away
• 1993 - Fierce fighting ends with Georgian forces being expelled from Abkhazia
• 1994 - Ceasefire agreed, peacekeepers arrive, nearly all Russian
• 1999 - Abkhazia declares independence
• 2004 - New Georgian president Saakashvili vows to restore Georgia's territorial integrity and return Abkhazia, South Ossetia to the fold
• 2008 - In wake of August war with Georgia over South Ossetia, Moscow formally recognises the independence of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

At the time of the collapse of the USSR in 1991, less than a fifth of the people of Abkhazia were ethnic Abkhaz while the rest of the population was made up largely of Georgians.

When Georgia became independent, supporters of a break with Tbilisi in favour of independence and closer ties with Russia became more vociferous. Tension rose and in 1992 Georgia sent troops to enforce the status quo.

In late 1993, they were driven out amidst fierce fighting. Several thousand people were killed. Thousands became refugees.

Abkhazia adopted a new constitution in 1994 and formally declared independence in 1999. It has never been recognised by a single country and the price has been high indeed. An economic embargo remains in force and Abkhazia is isolated in just about every sense of the word except from Russia which maintains a border crossing and has re-opened the railway line to Sukhumi.

Moscow has infuriated Tbilisi by making it easy for people in Abkhazia to gain Russian citizenship. Most now hold Russian passports.

The situation was further complicated in August 2008 when, in the wake of the war between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia, Moscow declared that it would formally recognise the independence of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russian role

Georgia insists, and many observers tend not to disagree, that Russia supported the campaign to expel Georgian forces in 1993. Incongruously, the Abkhaz forces also had help from Chechen fighters, their traditional Caucasus allies and at the same time the sworn enemies of Moscow.

The rivalries became still more complex in 2001 when the Kremlin accused Tbilisi of allowing Chechen fighters to take refuge from Russian forces in the Pankisi Gorge, home of their kinspeople, the Kists. Anyone criticised by Russia is likely to rise in Chechen estimation. The accusation forged a new Chechen bond with Georgia.

Moscow agreed in 1999 to the closure of its base at Gudauta in the conflict zone, pledging that henceforth it would be for the sole use of peacekeepers. Georgia still alleges that it is used to offer military support to pro-independence forces and, because it says it has been unable to gain access to inspect it, still expresses doubts about whether the base is genuinely used purely for peacekeeping purposes.

The fragile peace is maintained by UN military observers and CIS, in effect Russian, peacekeepers. The UN patrols the buffer zone which keeps the Abkhaz and Georgian sides apart. There are sporadic shootings and kidnappings with the potential for violent explosion never far beneath the surface.

The strategic Kodori gorge is the only part of Abkhazia over which Georgia retains partial control. Tbilisi sent forces there in summer 2006 to disarm a rebel group. There was fury in Sukhumi when it also announced plans to set up what it described as a "legitimate government" of Abkhazia there.

UN efforts to mediate have got nowhere. Abkhazia, turning increasingly towards Moscow, insists there can be no settlement until Georgia recognises its independence, something which Tbilisi has sworn it will never do.

Facts

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Leaders

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President: Sergei Bagapsh

Sergei Bagapsh was elected president in January 2005.

The vote was a rerun of the previous October's election which was surrounded by controversy, with allegations of widespread irregularities.

At that time, a divided Abkhaz electoral commission declared Mr Bagapsh the winner over the Kremlin-backed candidate, Raul Khadzhimba. This brought turmoil, with the Supreme Court first upholding Mr Bagapsh but changing its mind after supporters of Mr Khadzhimba rampaged through the court building.

In the end, Mr Bagapsh and Mr Khadzhimba, both strong supporters of Abkhaz independence, agreed to campaign on a joint ticket in the January 2005 rerun, with Mr Bagapsh standing as president and Mr Khadzhimba as vice president.

Mr Bagapsh has said that relations with Tbilisi must be sorted out through negotiations between "two sovereign states". He pledges to build integration with Russia and rules out compromise with the Georgian authorities on sovereignty.

Mr Bagapsh was Abkhaz prime minister between 1997 and 2001. He has a Georgian wife.

Vice President Khadzhimba was prime minister until immediately after the October 2004 elections.

Media

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Russian TV and Abkhazian state TV are the main sources of news and information. The Abkhaz authorities operate AGTRK, a TV and radio network, and publish newspapers in both Abkhaz and Russian.

Georgian TV and radio stations can be received across much of Abkhazia and the main Russian TV networks are rebroadcast in the territory.

Newspaper and magazine publishing is hindered by a lack of money and the scarcity of paper and printing facilities.

The press

• Respublika Abkhazia - official Russian-language paper, thrice weekly
• Apsny - official Abkhaz-language weekly
• Ekho Abkhazii - private Russian-language weekly
• Nuzhnaya Gazeta - private Russian-language weekly
• Chegemskaya Pravda - private Russian-language weekly
• Forum - opposition-backed

Television

• Abkhaz State TV and Radio Company (AGTRK) - Abkhaz government-run
• Abaza TV - private

Radio

• Abkhaz State TV and Radio Company (AGTRK) - Abkhaz government-run, operates Apsua Radio
• Radio Soma - private FM station (with English-language pages)

News agency

• Apsnypress - official

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Radio Soma
Apsnypress news agency
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