A series of explosions in three towns in the Georgian separatist region of Abkhazia—Gagra, Sukhumi, and Gali—and a skirmish between Georgian and separatist forces in the Georgian-controlled Upper Kodori Gorge topped the agenda as Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice July 9-10. The Abkhaz separatist government in Sukhumi blames Tbilisi for the violence; Tbilisi, of course, blames Moscow. Sukhumi alleges the attacks are aimed at scaring Russians away from Abkhazia’s Black Sea resorts, just as the summer tourist season gets under way.
Tension is also heightened by reports of a Russian military plane violating Georgian airspace in the South Ossetia conflict. At a joint press briefing with Rice, Saakashvili described Russia as the “elephant in the room” that is disrupting the peace process. “This is a very worrisome development,” Saakashvili said. “The main point is that Russia no longer acknowledges jurisdiction of Georgia in an essential part of its territory.” Rice told reporters she came to Georgia “to make very clear” Washington’s commitment to Georgia’s territorial integrity. She said Moscow needs to “be a part of solving the problem, and not contributing to it.” (EurasiaNet, July 10; IWPR, July 8)
Ruslan Kishmariya, an Abkhaz envoy, made flat accusations that the Georgian Interior Ministry was behind the deadly July 7 café blast in Gali. “We even know the actual names of the organizers,” he said. Among the four dead were the local Abkhaz security chief, Maj. Dzhansukh Muratia. (Press TV, Iran, July 12)
Georgia has asked for an extraordinary session of the UN Security Council to discuss the Russian violation of its air space. Tbilisi withdrew its ambassador from Moscow after Russian fighter jets circled over South Ossetia July 9. Moscow says the flights were ordered to head off an invasion by Georgia. (Russia Today, July 12)
See our last posts on Abkhazia and the Caucasus.
Georgian provocation behind Abkhazia terror???
This author must be out of his mind saying that, I wonder how come such journalists are allowed to publish stories, probably hired from Kremlin russia for big money. pathetic.
Damn, the Kremlin is late with my check again
Journalists shouldn’t be “allowed” to air controversial claims? Nice to see that you emulate Soviet standards of press freedom.
Ei you Bill Weinberg, you
Ei you Bill Weinberg, you might hate USA foreign policy, but enfortunatly your knowledge of Caucasian issues are less than mediocre. There are enough detractors already try not to be one: your article about Georgia is too tendentious.
Ei you, Anonymous, you
I am just objectively reporting facts which have already appeared elsewhere. If you think Georgia is being maligned, I suggest you argue with the Abkhaz leadership, not me. Or do you think their claims shouldn’t even be aired? Do you think willful ignorance will help the situation?
Georgia can’t be aggressor
Russian invaders must leave south of Caucasus. Without Russian Empire this world would be and will be better. Russians want Caucasus without Caucasians.
Georgia can`t be aggressor, they are trying desperatly to kick out those rats. Putin is dreaming about restauration of Soviet Empire, while Georgians strive to live by themselves as during 3 000 years: they resisted Persians, Romans, Mongols, Turks and we will get rid of those descendents of Mongols too.
Indeed
It is evident that Georgia is starting to become desperate to reattach the Abkhaz and South Ossetian nations to it again. It makes a lot of sense that they would be behind such attacks. Who else would have anything to really gain from such crimes, the Abkhaz, the Russians, other foreign groups?
I am also disappointed by the bias shown in the media towards this issue. Abkhazia is a nation that has indeed enjoyed freedom in the past, only to time and again be forced to align with Georgia, whether through Russian or Georgian (Stalin) interference. It is high time that Georgia realizes that it has lost all the chances it had in the past to do good by these two groups and leave them be to realize their own destinies. It is rather ironic that Georgia, itself an oppressed state under the Soviet regime, is now itself the oppressor.
We all wish for freedom for Abkhazia and South Ossetia in one form or another. Ultimately, however, these three nations, in particular Abkhazia and Georgia, have little say in what will occur, as foreign interest in the form of multinational corporations will determine whether there is peace in the region or not. Surely Russia understands this and wants a piece of pie as well. This factor is the real reason why the Caucasus has never enjoyed ultimate peace: interference from the outside.
Useful news
Maybe you should check this;
Documentary Gives Alternative Version of Polling Day Shooting – Civil.ge http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=18611
The Georgian president accused of manipulation, Le Figaro http://circassianworld.blogspot.com/2008/05/georgian-president-accused-of.html
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Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia concerning terrorist acts in Gal district of Abkhazia on the 6th of July 2008
Against the backdrop of heightened preparation by Georgia for a militaryaggression against Abkhazia, a series of terrorist acts in the cities ofAbkhazia were directed against peaceful population and caused injuries ofinnocent people. Recent blasts in Gal town on the 6th of July 2008 killedfour people and seriously injured many others. For the past 15 post-conflict years, Georgian leadership has been suspectedof supporting terrorism. The UN Joint Fact Finding Mission asserted in itsreport of 20 – 24 November, 2000, that: “. armed groups, consisting ofGeorgians were carrying out aimed attacks in Gal district. Their immediatetask was to create an atmosphere of fear and instability among returnees toGal district in order to show that it is impossible to stay in the territorycontrolled by the Abkhaz side. They used ambushes, kidnappings and aimedmining “. The destiny of those kidnapped by the Georgian secret services -Chairman of the Election Committee of the Gal district Mr. David Sigua – isstill unclear. Similarly, the international community, has also been accused of failing togive objective assessment of Georgian authorities, and condemning violationsof human rights in Georgian policy in Abkhazia and South Ossertia. Considering the above, Abkhazia appeals to the G8 countries, the UN SecurityCouncil, the OSCE and the Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General totake adequate measures to suppress the threat of terrorism arising from Georgia, as neglecting such provocations will lead to irreversibleescalation of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. Sukhum 07.07.2008
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For some 60 years Abkhazia was forced to accept the unwelcome status of being a mere autonomous republic with Soviet Georgia (thanks to the ruling of the Georgian dictator Stalin – ‘Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili’). For daring to defend our interests in the face of Georgian nationalist aggression, we were subjected to 14 months of savagery. In alliance with our allies from the Abkhazian diaspora or Abkhazians’ cousins in the North Caucasus, we succeeded in ejecting the invader and winning the war. All that Georgia under its various leaders/governments has been willing to offer us by way of a settlement is a return to the ‘status quo ante’— the sudden offer by Misha Saakashvili of asymmetric federation produced on the eve of the recent NATO summit in Bucharest was clearly aimed more at impressing the Western alliance than at appealing to Sukhum. How many examples are there in history where a people after being invaded, losing 4% of their population, and yet finally winning the war have meekly resigned themselves to accepting the selfsame subordinate status they had before the tragedy of a war inflicted upon them? This is something that the Georgian side and their international backers (who have no interest in the fate of minorities but think solely of the ‘big picture’ of preserving territorial integrity, of finding allies in an unstable part of the world, and of securing the flow of oil) would do well to remember. The Georgians lost Abkhazia in 1993. They should be told by their EU, NATO and US ‘friends’ to accept this fact, find a ‘modus vivendi’ with their neighbours (big and small alike), and then contribute to the creation of stability and prosperity for the Caucasus region as whole. We can all then get on with our lives in the peace that we all deserve.
Today some people say that Abkhazia is Russia, others that it is Georgia, while the fact is that Abkhazia is Abkhazia. And at the end of the 20th and start of the 21st century we want to preserve our own identity and keep our own face for the simple reason that it is ours, even if somebody else may not find it to their liking.
abkhazia
Maybe a bit late for this but didn’t abkhazia have a georgian majority prior to the war? It was certainly ethnically cleansed of 200000 georgians. You must be naive to think Russia intervenes in the Caucusus for humanitarian reasons. Alas Russia says its foreign policy is altruitic, believes it it is self interested and is in fact self-destructive, as usual. (eg think of all the past idiotic Russian adventures, Finland, Afganistan, chechnya etc.
I’m all for countries putting their own interests first, it mystefies me why Russia thinks that trashing neighbouring states advances Russian interests, still less why useful idiots in West think so too.