Discordant Neighbours: A Reassessment of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian Conflicts

B. George Hewitt, Ph.D. (1982) in Linguistics, University of Cambridge, FBA, is Professor of Caucasian Languages at SOAS (London University). He has published widely on Georgian and other Caucasian languages (notably Abkhaz) and has written extensively on the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict.

• ForewordPrefacePlan of the BookNote on TranscriptionAcknowledgementsAbbreviationsMapsChapter One: IntroductionPeoples and their Languages; Non-Caucasian Peoples and Languages of the Caucasus;Caucasian Peoples and Languages; North West Caucasian; South Caucasian/Kartvelian; Nakh-Daghestanian; States; Georgia (in Georgian sakartvelo); Abkhazia(in Abkhaz Apsny); South Ossetia (in Ossetic Xussar Iryston).Chapter Two: HistoryGreeks Colonise the Eastern Black Sea Coast; The Roman Period; The AbkhazianKingdom and Dynastic Union with Georgian-speaking Lands; Breakup of theMediaeval Georgian Kingdom; Post-Mongol Abkhazia; Mediaeval Ossetians;Turkish and Persian Encroachment; Russia’s Encroachment and Tsarist Rule;Georgia’s Attention Turns towards Abkhazia; Beginnings of Mingrelianisation;Post-Revolutionary Abkhazia and Independent (Menshevik) Georgia; South Ossetiansunder the Mensheviks Georgia’s 1921 Menshevik Constitution and Loss ofIndependence; Abkhazia’s Status 1921-1931; Creation of the South OssetianAutonomous Region (1922); Death of Nestor Lakoba and Implementation of Stalin’sNationality Policy; Deportations: Actual or Threatened; Genesis of the ‘Ingoroq’vaHypothesis’; Abkhazians Start to Voice their Grievances; Summation of the Period1953-1979.Chapter Three: Perestrojka, Glasnost' and the Road to War in GeorgiaGeorgian Dissidents Take Advantage of Glasnost'; Results of Glasnost' in Abkhaziaand South Ossetia; The ‘Abkhazian Letter’; Georgia’s Draft Language-Law;Reason for Ingoroq’va’s Non-election to the Georgian Academy; Tit-for-tatExchanges Begin in the Press; The ‘Lykhny Declaration’ (Abkhazia) and theReaction; The 9th-April Tragedy (Tbilisi); Anti-Abkhazian Agitation Intensifies;Revival of the ‘Ingoroq’va Hypothesis’ (and Variants); The ‘War of Linguists andHistorians’; Moves to Open a Branch of Tbilisi State University in Sukhum;Georgia Experiences its First Fatal Inter-ethnic Clashes; Tensions Rise EvenFurther After the July Deaths; Andrej Sakharov’s ‘Mini-empires’ and InevitableBacklash; Viktor Popkov’s Corrective; Death of K’ost’ava. Attention Shifts to SouthOssetia; New Leadership for Abkhazia’s National Movement; Tbilisi Sets OutTowards Independence and the Reaction in Abkhazia and South Ossetia;Restoration of Abkhazia’s Republican Status of the 1920s and Tbilisi’s Reaction;South Ossetia Moves to Raise its Status; New Union Treaty Proposed in Moscow;Gamsakhurdia Becomes Supreme Soviet Chairman. Moscow’s Reaction and 1st Warin South Ossetia; Gorbachëv’s 17th-March 1991 Referendum for Reshaping the Union;Gamsakhurdia and Yeltsin Gain their Respective Presidencies, and Gorbachëv’s Fall;South Ossetia Rescinds its Compromise Offer; New Electoral Law in Abkhazia;USSR Disintegrates and USA Recognises Georgia; Gamsakhurdia Overthrown andCivil War in Mingrelia; Relations Between Tbilisi’s Military Council andAbkhazia/South Ossetia; Postscript; Summation.Chapter Four: Relations with Post-Communist Georgia under Eduard ShevardnadzeUpsurge Followed by Ceasefire in South Ossetia; Attention Shifts to Mingrelia andAbkhazia; Georgia’s International Profile Rises Under Shevardnadze; War inAbkhazia; First Ceasefire; The Battle for Gagra; Never-to-be-forgotten Incidents inSukhum and above Lat’a; Second Ceasefire; Third Ceasefire; Abkhazians Victoriousin the War; ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ or ‘Ethnic Flight’?; Georgia on the Brink; RealityDawns on the Abkhazians; Start of Formal Peace-Talks; Periodisation of theNegotiations; Abkhazia’s 1994 Constitution; Shevardnadze Elected President;Terrorism in Abkhazia; The Squeeze on Abkhazia Tightens; Further Georgian AssaultRepulsed (May 1998); Georgia Strengthens Ties to Europe; Shevardnadze’s Star NoLonger in the Ascendant; Abkhazia Finally Declares Independence; Attempts atConfidence-Building Continue; Fall of Shevardnadze; Developments in South OssetiaUnder ShevardnadzeAPPENDIX 1Treaty on the Principles for Mutual Relations between the Republic ofAbkhazia and the Republic of Georgia (Proposal for the Project)APPENDIX 2The State Flag of Abkhazia (designed in 1992 by Valerij Gamgia); Coatof Arms; The State Flag of South Ossetia; Coat of Arms; Flags of Post-CommunistGeorgiaAPPENDIX 3Declaration on measures for a political settlement of the Georgian/AbkhazconflictAPPENDIX 4Quadripartite Agreement on Voluntary Return of Refugees and DisplacedPersons (Annex II)APPENDIX 5Basic Principles for the Distribution of Competences between Tbilisi andSukhum (The So-called ‘Boden Document’)APPENDIX 6Measures to Ensure Security and Strengthen Mutual Trust between theSides in the Georgian-Ossetian ConflictChapter Five: Relations with Georgia under Mikheil Saak’ashviliThe ‘Rose Revolution’; Saak’ashvili Vows to Restore Georgia’s Territorial Integrity;Ach’ara Reintegrated; Saak’ashvili Moves Against South Ossetia; Kokoiti’sInitiatives; Political Developments in Abkhazia; Georgia and the Ukraine VoiceNATO Aspirations; ‘The Key to the Future’; Tensions Rise over the K’odor Valley;Russo-Georgian Relations Deteriorate Further; Abkhazia Withdraws from the Peace-Talks; Saak’ashvili Re-elected President; Aftermath of Kosovo’s Recognition; Warin South Ossetia (2008); Abkhazia Opens Second Front; Recognition of South Ossetiaand Abkhazia; Who Began the War?; Georgia Examines Georgian Actions; TheTagliavini’s Commission’s Findings; Self-Deception as Possible Explanation forTbilisi’s Actions?; The Days are Numbered for the UN and OSCE Presence inAbkhazia and South Ossetia; The Geneva Process Begins; Abkhazia and SouthOssetia Strengthen International Ties; Abkhazia’s 2009 Presidential Election;Post-Recognition Existence; Tbilisi Resumes its Belligerent Stance; ‘State Strategy on[the] Occupied Territories’; Further Anti-Russian Moves in Georgia: Tbilisi Cultivatesthe North Caucasus; Georgian Launches a New TV-channel; Abkhazia’s Census(2011); Unanticipated Developments in Abkhazia (2011); Problems Within theAbkhazian Church; Abkhazia’s President Ankvab Survives Assassination-attempt;South Ossetia Gains New President; A New Figure in Georgian Politics; Onward to2013Chapter Six: Foreign InvolvementA Centuries-old Attraction; Early Missions by The Unrepresented Nations andPeoples’ Organisation and International Alert; Paul Henze’s Later ‘Contributions’;Double Standards; The Role of the UN and OSCE (earlier CSCE); (International)NGOs; NGOs in South Ossetia; The Georgian Economy; Turkey; Europe; The USA;The Commonwealth of Independent States; RussiaAppendixUS Assistance to Georgia 1992 to 2009 (in 3 parts)Chapter Seven: Conclusions and Lessons Learnt — or Not!Georgia; Abkhazia; South Ossetia; International Community; PostscriptBibliographyIndex