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CONTENTS i Discordant Neighbours ii CONTENTS Eurasian Studies Library Editors-in-Chief Sergei Bogatyrev School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London Dittmar Schorkowitz Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany Board Members ildikó bellér-hann – paul bushkovitch – peter finke geoffrey hosking – mikhail khodarkovsky marlène laruelle – virginia martin david schimmelpenninck van der oye – willard sunderland VOLUME 3 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/esl CONTENTS iii Discordant Neighbours A Reassessment of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian Conflicts By George Hewitt LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 Coveriv illustration: Whilst the map on the front-coverCONTENTS delineates the frontiers of the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, the areas in green represent the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as recognised by Russia (26 August 2008) and five other UN member-states; red indicates the territory subject to the writ of the Georgian government and thus the reduced frontiers of today’s Republic of Georgia. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hewitt, B. G. Discordant neighbours : a reassessment of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South- Ossetian conflicts / by George Hewitt. pages cm. -- (Eurasian studies library, ISSN 1877-9484 ; volume 3) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-24892-2 (hardback : acid-free paper) -- ISBN 978-90-04-24893-9 (e-book) 1. Georgia (Republic)--Relations--Georgia--Abkhazia. 2. Georgia (Republic)--Relations--Georgia-- South Ossetia. 3. Abkhazia (Georgia)--Relations--Georgia (Republic) 4. South Ossetia (Georgia)-- Relations--Georgia (Republic) 5. Ethnic conflict--Georgia. 6. Georgia (Republic)--Ethnic relations. 7. Georgia (Republic)--History--1991- 8. Georgia (Republic)--Politics and government--1991- 9. Abkhazia (Georgia)--Politics and government. 10. South Ossetia (Georgia)--Politics and government. I. Title. DK678.18.H49 2013 947.58086--dc23 2013001249 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 1877-9484 ISBN 978-90-04-24892-2 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-24893-9 (e-book) Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. CONTENTS v This book is dedicated to Zaira, Aza, Alec and Zhana Strange as it may seem, for they are amongst the wildest mountains on earth, the one thing you feel most about the lonely places of the Caucasus is a deep personal tenderness, a brotherhood; and the aching wish, vain as you know it to be, that you could guard their rare beauty. They “possess” you. Once you have felt the spell of the Caucasus you will never get over it. (Negley Farson, Caucasian Journey, London: Evans Brothers Ltd., 1952, pp. 13-14) vi CONTENTS Contents List Of Abbreviations xiii List Of Illustrations xV PREfACE xvii Plan Of ThE Book xxiii note On Transcription xxiii Acknowledgements xxvii Introduction 1 Peoples and their Languages 1 Non-Caucasian Peoples and Languages of the Caucasus 1 Caucasian Peoples and Languages 2 North West Caucasian 2 South Caucasian/Kartvelian 4 Nakh-Daghestanian 6 States 7 Georgia (in Georgian /sakartvelo/) 7 Abkhazia (in Abkhaz /Apsny/) 9 South Ossetia (in Ossetic /xussar Iryston/) 11 History 15 Greeks Colonise the Eastern Black Sea Coast 15 The Abkhazian Kingdom and Dynastic Union with Georgian-speaking Lands 19 Breakup of the Mediæval Georgian Kingdom 21 Post-Mongol Abkhazia 22 Mediæval Ossetians 22 Turkish and Persian Encroachment 23 Russia’s Encroachment and Tsarist Rule 25 Georgia’s Attention Turns towards Abkhazia 27 Beginnings of Mingrelianisation 29 Post-Revolutionary Abkhazia and Independent (Menshevik) Georgia 32 South Ossetians under the Mensheviks 38 Georgia’s 1921 Menshevik Constitution and Loss of Independence 39 Abkhazia’s Status 1921–1931 39 Creation of the South Ossetian Autonomous Region (1922) 41 Death of Nestor Lakoba and Implementation of Stalin’s Nationality Policy 42 Deportations: Actual or Threatened 45 Genesis of the ‘Ingoroq’va Hypothesis’ 47 Abkhazians Start to Voice their Grievances 48 Summation of the Period 1953–1979 50 Perestrojka, Glasnost′ and ThE Road to War in Georgia 51 Georgian Dissidents Take Advantage of Glasnost′ 52 Results of Glasnost′ in Abkhazia and South Ossetia 55 The ‘Abkhazian Letter’ 56 Georgia’s Draft Language-Law 57 Reason for Ingoroq’va’s Non-election to the Georgian Academy 58 Tit-for-tat Exchanges Begin in the Press 59 The ‘Lykhny Declaration’ (Abkhazia) and the Reaction 61 The 9th-April Tragedy (Tbilisi) 63 Anti-Abkhazian Agitation Intensifies 66 Revival of the ‘Ingoroq’va Hypothesis’ (and Variants) 67 The ‘War of Linguists and Historians’ 71 Moves to Open a Branch of Tbilisi State University in Sukhum 74 Georgia Experiences its First Fatal Inter-ethnic Clashes 76 Tensions Rise Even Further After the July Deaths 77 Andrej Sakharov’s ‘Mini-empires’ and the Inevitable Backlash 81 Viktor Popkov’s Corrective 83 The Assembly (Later Confederation) of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus 84 Death of K’ost’ava. Attention Shifts to South Ossetia 85 New Leadership for Abkhazia’s National Movement 87 Tbilisi Sets Out Towards Independence and the Reaction in Abkhazia and South Ossetia 88 Restoration of Abkhazia’s Republican Status of the 1920s and Tbilisi’s Reaction 91 South Ossetia Moves to Raise its Status 92 New Union Treaty Proposed in Moscow 93 Gamsakhurdia Becomes Supreme Soviet Chairman. Moscow’s Reaction and 1st War in South Ossetia 94 Gorbachev’s 17th-March 1991 Referendum for Reshaping the Union 98 Gamsakhurdia and Yeltsin Gain their Respective Presidencies, and Gorbachev’s Fall 103 South Ossetia Rescinds Its Compromise-offer 105 New Electoral Law in Abkhazia 105 USSR Disintegrates and USA Recognises Georgia 106 South Ossetia Declares Independence 107 Gamsakhurdia Overthrown and Civil War in Mingrelia 108 Relations between Tbilisi’s Military Council and Abkhazia/South Ossetia 109 Postscript 111 Summation 114 Relations with Post-COmmunist Georgia under EDuard Shevardnadze 117 Upsurge Followed by Ceasefire in South Ossetia 119 Attention Shifts to Mingrelia and Abkhazia 121 Georgia’s International Profile Rises Under Shevardnadze 124 War in Abkhazia 125 First Ceasefire 131 The Battle for Gagra 133 Never-to-be-forgotten Incidents in Sukhum and above Lat’a 135 Second Ceasefire 138 Third Ceasefire 139 Abkhazians Victorious in the War 143 ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ or ‘Ethnic Flight’? 144 Georgia on the Brink 149 Reality Dawns on the Abkhazians 152 Start of Formal Peace-talks 155 Periodisation of the Negotiations 159 Abkhazia’s 1994 Constitution 162 Shevardnadze Elected President 166 Terrorism in Abkhazia 166 The Squeeze on Abkhazia Tightens 169 Tbilisi-Baku Rapprochement and Growth of US Interest 170 Further Georgian Assault Repulsed (May 1998) 173 Georgia Strengthens Ties to Europe 173 Shevardnadze’s Star no Longer in the Ascendant 175 Abkhazia Finally Declares Independence 175 Attempts at Confidence-building Continue 177 Fall of Shevardnadze 180 Developments in South Ossetia under Shevardnadze 180 APPENDIx 1 184 Treaty 184 APPENDIx 2 187 On the Historical Symbolism of the State Flag of the Republic of Abkhazia (designed by Valerij Gamgia in 1992) 187 Description of the National Coat-of-Arms of the Republic of Abkhazia 188 On the Symbolism of the State Flag of the Republic of South Ossetia 189 Description of the Coat-of-Arms of the Republic of South Ossetia 189 Flags of Post-Communist Georgia 190 APPENDIx 3 191 APPENDIx 4 193 APPENDIx 5 198 APPENDIx 6 199 Relations with Georgia under Mikheil Saak’ashvili 201 The ‘Rose Revolution’ 202 Saak’ashvili Vows to Restore Georgia’s Territorial Integrity 203 Ach’ara Reintegrated 203 Saak’ashvili Moves against South Ossetia 205 Kokoiti’s Initiatives 208 Political Developments in Abkhazia 210 Georgia and the Ukraine Voice NATO Aspirations 213 ‘The Key to the Future’ 217 Tensions Rise over the K’odor Valley 218 Russo-Georgian Relations Deteriorate Further 219 Abkhazia Withdraws from the Peace-talks 220 Saak’ashvili Re-elected President 222 Aftermath of Kosovo’s Recognition 222 War in South Ossetia (August 2008) 230 Abkhazia Opens a Second Front 234 Recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia 246 Who Began the War? 249 Georgia Examines Georgian Actions 252 The Tagliavini Commission’s Findings 253 Self-Deception as Possible Explanation for Tbilisi’s Actions? 254 The Days are Numbered for the UN and OSCE Presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia 259 Abkhazia and South Ossetia Strengthen International Ties 263 Abkhazia’s 2009 Presidential Election 264 Post-Recognition Existence 268 Tbilisi Resumes its Belligerent Stance 270 ‘State Strategy