Abkhazia - The Black Sea Region's Best Kept Secret

There have been unforeseen consequences of Georgia's invasion of South Ossetia in 2008.  Since the war and conflicts of the 1990's there has been no Georgian police, governmental, customs or military presence in Abkhazia except a small garrison in the remote Kodor Valley.  While the conflict was being fought in South Ossetia, Abkhaz forces chased the Georgian military out of Kodor.  So, the Georgians are gone.

It is apparent to a visitor in Abkhazia that the Georgians are not coming back.  In the aftermath of the Ossetian conflict, Russia formally recognized Abkhazia's independence.  Nicaragua and Venezuela have followed suit.  Other nations, including Belarus and Ecuador are considering recognition.  In August of this year, Russia announced that they would spend $500 million on infrastructure and security in Abkhazia. Turkish merchant shipping has returned and the Russian Coast Guard is protecting it from Georgian harassment.

In September, I asked tourists from Estonia and Russia how they felt about the Russian army base in Abkhazia.  They told me that they had been coming for years, but that their party was larger in size because their friends now felt safe there.  They were clearly grateful to Russian soldiers for the protection.  I believe that Abkhazia's cause is just and that Russia is correct to offer protection from Georgian threats and aggression.  But the issue with tourists is safety.

An Abkhaz government source told me that tourism is up about 100% since 2008.  The increase in tourism was the first thing I noticed on my visits this year.  There are more new construction projects and hotels being rebuilt.  I had conversations with Abkhaz people who can feel that there are big changes coming after years of impoverished isolation.  

Most tourists in Abkhazia come from Russia.  Russia is the largest, closest neighbor. The only other one that shares a border is Georgia.  Abkhazia sits on the Black Sea with the Caucasus Mountains so close in places that it seems they will tumble into the sea.  Within just a few miles of the coast, elevations reach 16,000 feet.  So, it is possible on a hot summer day to sit on the beach and look through palm trees at snow-capped mountains. In addition to the mountains and beaches, there are spectacular lakes, caves and an important monastery for Orthodox Christians. Because of its mild climate and beauty, Abkhazia was regarded during the Soviet era as the premier vacation destination in the entire country. Stalin had 5 homes there, Khrushchev 4 and Gorbachev had 1.  Foreign dignitaries and heads of state were often guests at the resort at Pitsunda.

Because of the war with Georgia in 1992-93 there was a great deal of damage to the infrastructure and tourist facilities.  The borders with Russia were closed until 1999 as Russia tried to mediate the conflict, but Abkhazia had no interest in being reintegrated into Georgia.  However, the war damage and years of decay due to isolation have taken a toll.  There is a need for investment to rebuild tourist facilities and infrastructure. Despite the fact that most of the accommodations are of aged Soviet vintage or very modest guest houses, they are almost completely occupied during the tourist season.  Abkhazia has a bright future as a tourist destination for millions of Russians , Ukrainians and others.  With widespread international recognition of Abkhazia's independence, money would flow more easily for all manner of projects including hotels, resorts, shopping and entertainment.  To date, the investment capital has been almost exclusively Russian.

The airport in Sukhum is closed, but Abkhaz authorities are hopeful that flights from Russia will start in 2010. This will be a boon to tourism.  Now, tourists come great distances by airplane, bus or train from all over Russia to cross the border into Abkhazia.  Trains operate in Abkhazia, but almost exclusively for freight. Passenger train service is expected to increase quickly. Every week huge rail shipments of construction materials, including gravel, are sent to Russia from Abkhazia for a massive construction project.  The Russian government has committed billions for infrastructure and venue construction at Sochi, which will host the 2014 Winter Olympiad.  Sochi is about 20 miles north of the border with Abkhazia.  

In Abkhazia the major resorts and population centers are very close to Russia and the Winter Olympic sites. The resort town of Gagra is only about 15 miles from the border.  Pitsunda is about 5 miles further down the beach and the capital, Sukhum, is only about 70 miles from Russia.  This makes them attractive for Russian vacationers.  An acquaintance with business ties in Krasnodar, Russia told me recently "there is no way that Russia will allow Georgia to disrupt the Olympic Games by invading Abkhazia."  He feels that Abkhazia is secure from Georgian aggression.  There has not been a World Cup or Olympic Games held on Russian soil since the boycotted 1980 Summer Games in Moscow. For Russia, the Olympics are a very important and prestigious event that they plan to impress the world with.  

Clearly Russia has a vested interest in Abkhazia's future.  The Russian Federation spent years attempting to mediate the conflict with Georgia and when that failed to produce security for Abkhazia from Georgian aggression, they acted to protect Abkhazia.  This has made Abkhazia a safe place for tourism and a stable neighbor for the Winter Games to be held in Sochi in 2014.

Georgia's (Mis)Treatment of the Meskhetians

It is important that readers know that I am not anti-Georgian.  However, I am opposed to Georgia's use of violence to force reintegration of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  I am also against Georgia's leadership inflaming nationalism and mistreatment of ethnic minorities.

Georgian leaders have claimed that the Abkhaz people were not native to Abkhazia and had been moved there during the Soviet period.  If it were not so threatening, such a falsehood would almost sound comical.  The truth was that the Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin (an ethnic Georgian), moved thousands of Georgians into Abkhazia.  In the period after the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Georgian nationalists spoke darkly of limiting the number of "non-Georgians" in the country to 5%.  After Georgia was admitted to the United Nations in 1992, it attacked Abkhazia.  Little wonder that the Abkhaz people resisted.

Recently a report (http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4b1e0df41a.html) was released by the United Nations Refugee Agency criticizing Georgia's treatment of another ethnic group, the Meskhetians, native to Georgia proper.  The Meskhetians were deported during Stalin's era. The report states that:

"The Georgian government is coming under fire for its handling of requests for resettlement from Meskhetians, an ethnic group deported by Stalin in 1944.

The Turkish-speaking Meskhetians were among a group of nations exiled from the Caucasus in 1943-4 on charges of treachery, but - unlike the Chechens, Karachais and others - have never been allowed to return home."

The Meskhetians were originally exiled to Uzbekistan, but conflict in the late Soviet period drove them to Russia's Krasnodar Region and to Azerbaijan.  Most are very poor.  Spending 65 years on the move does not help a community to thrive.  They have the legal right to return to their ancestral homeland in Georgia. However, poverty, conflict with Georgians and the Georgian government have all made it very difficult.  

The report continues:

"In the first place, it is necessary to increase the number of people working on their repatriation. It is necessary to set up a more or less independent service, which will control this process. It is necessary to solve the questions of housing, language and many others," said Temur Lomsadze, deputy chairman of the Fund for Assistance of Repatriation.

Iulon Gagoshidze, the state minister for diaspora matters, said Meskhetians could receive Georgian surnames, and a fast-track route to citizenship if they provided all the correct documents to the state commission. But activists say it is very hard for them to produce documents, considering the regular disruptions they have suffered since their deportation.

They need to collect 13 different documents, printed either in Georgian or English, which is difficult since most of them speak Russian. The Meskhetian organisation Vatan said it costs 100 to 120 US dollars to collect the documents, which is a huge sum for many would-be repatriants and a problem that the government says it is working on.

I have met Meskhetians living in Azerbaijan. They live very poorly, and all the necessary certificates - birth, marriage, health conditions, place of residence - must be paid for and are not cheap. But it is hardest of all to find archive materials to confirm their deportation in the 1940s," Gagoshidze said."

In many cases even those who fulfill the requirements are refused permission by the government to return to Georgia.  

Georgia receives a large share of its budget in aid from the United States.  But until Georgia renounces violence in its efforts to reintegrate South Ossetia and Abkhazia, all but humanitarian aid should be withheld.  Further, the American taxpayers should not be paying for Georgia's incompetent leadership to build its military while preventing the Meskhetians from returning to their homeland.  

Ecuador to consider recognizing Abkhazia

The Deputy Foreign Minister, Maxim Gvindzhia, of the Republic of Abkhazia is currently visiting Ecuador to seek Ecuador's recognition of Abkhazia as an independent nation.  The trip follows that of Ecuador's President Rafael Correa to Moscow in October of this year.  President Correa stated at the time that Ecuador is ready to consider recognizing Abkhazia.  

After leaving Ecuador, Abkhazia's delegation will travel to Venezuela to meet the Secretary General of the Bolivarian Alliance.  The Alliance includes the following nations: Antigua and Barbuda. Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela.  Since Venezuela and Nicaragua have already recognized Abkhazia and it appears likely that Ecuador will also, there is considerable hope in Sukhum that more nations in Latin America will soon formally recognize the Republic of Abkhazia.  

Is Pat Buchanon Right on Abkhazia and South Ossetia?

Anyone who has read my entries on this site knows that I disagree with Georgia's goals of reintegrating Soutn Ossetia and Abkhazia.  I also do not believe that it is a realistic goal or one that the United States should support Georgia on.

I am very often in disagreement also with Pat Buchanon, sometimes vehemently so. But as he writes on the situation in the Caucasus on the website antiwar.com :

"Not backing down, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili – who launched and lost a war for South Ossetia in 48 hours in August 2008 – has declared the blockade of Abkhazia, which he claims as Georgian national territory, will remain in force. And he has just appointed as defense minister a 29-year-old ex-penitentiary boss with a questionable record on human rights who wants to tighten ties to NATO.

We have here the makings of a naval clash that Georgia, given Russian air, naval, and land forces in the eastern Black Sea, will lose.

What is Saakashvili up to? He seems intent on provoking a new crisis to force NATO to stand with him and bring the United States in on his side – against Russia. Ultimate goal: Return the issue of his lost provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia back onto the world’s front burner.

While such a crisis may be in the interests of Saakashvili and his Russophobic U.S neoconservative retainers, it is the furthest thing from U.S. national interests."

Mr. Buchanon clearly understands that President Saakshavili has been using lobbyists in the U.S. to shape American policy in the Caucasus and opinion about Russia.  He also sees that this is not in America's best interest.  I hope more commentators like Mr. Buchanon will take a closer look at the region.  It is clear already that the Obama Administration does not want to repeat the errors of the Bush Administration with regards to Russia.  Mr. Buchanon goes on to say:

"With his cancellation of the U.S. missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic – a shield designed to defend against a nonexistent Iranian ICBM – Obama sent two messages to Moscow.

First, Obama believes entente with Russia is a surer guarantee of the peace and security of Eastern Europe than any U.S. weapons system. Second, Obama puts Washington-Moscow ties before any U.S. military ties to NATO allies in Eastern Europe."

This was a wise move on the part of the Administration.  It is much better to be working in tandem with Russia than against it.  While some American policy makers have accused the Russian government of a Cold War mentality, they have pursued policies that can only be interpreted in that light by the Russian government. The Bush Administration's proposed enlargement of NATO to Ukraine and Georgia had to be viewed as aimed at Russia and very threatening given that both were members of the Soviet Union.  Also, if Georgia were to be allowed into the Alliance, the U.S. could be forced due to treaty obligations to fight Russia over the Kodor Gorge in Abkhazia.  That is unimaginably bad.  So, hopefully the U.S. will see that 1) Georgia's loose cannon leadership and poor democratic record make it a bad partner and 2) NATO expansion to former integral parts of the Soviet Union will lead the Russian government to conclude that the goal of NATO is Russian encirclement.

Georgia's Foreign Affairs Minister in Le Monde on the sale of the Mistral warship by France to Russia

I follow events in the Caucasus region closely and especially the comments and actions of Georgia's leadership.  Recently, Le Monde interviewed Georgia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Grigol Vashadze. One of the subjects discussed in the interview was the proposed sale of the Mistral warship by France to the Russian Federation. Mr. Vashadze says of the ships usage  "Where would such a ship go? Neither in the Baltic against Finland, nor in the Pacific against Japan or China. Everyone knows that it would be in the Black Sea, against Ukraine and Georgia."

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world and has thousands of kilometers of coastline as well as other naval vessels and merchant shipping to protect.  It is clear that there are many potential uses of the ship, especially by a navy that has many modernization needs.  But it seems that every Russian move is claimed to be a sign of hostile intent by Georgia.  The media is complicit in this by not asking Georgian officials the difficult questions about its role in starting the conflict in South Ossetia in 2008.  Little mention is made also of the large sums of money that the Georgian government was given by the U.S. that subsequently went into military spending.  I don't recall reports of officials from South Ossetia, Abkhazia or Russia asking how that money would be spent and if it would be used for aggressive military action.  However, in August 2008, Georgia attacked South Ossetia, killing hundreds of South Ossetians and Russian peacekeepers.  So, apparently it is all right for Georgia to use foreign aid for aggressive purposes against its neighbors, but not for the geographically largest nation in the world to modernize its outdated navy.  

The Georgian minister goes on to claim that Russia is already occupying 20% of the territory of Georgia.  A casual reader is left with the false impression that the Russian Federation has absorbed provinces of unwilling Georgians.  Mr. Vashadze conveniently does not mention the following:

1) Georgia attacked Abkhazia in 1992, despite the fact that Abkhazia did not declare independence from the Republic of Georgia until years later.  

2) Russia mediated the conflict and, with U.N. approval, was appointed peacekeeper in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, keeping about 1,500 peacekeeping troops in the region and assuring a demilitarized zone between the parties.

3) Russia agreed to help Georgia modernize its army and also attempted to get South Ossetia and Abkhazia to agree to a federative structure within Georgia.  Abkhazia and South Ossetia refused, fearing Georgian hostility and ethnic cleansing.

4) Abkhazia did not declare its independence from the Republic of Georgia until 1999.

5) After years of threats, Georgia attacked South Ossetia in August 2008 as the Olympic Games in Beijing opened.  An E. U. commission report in September of 2009 blamed Georgia for attacking without provocation. 

6) Russian recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia did not come until after the 2008 conflict, 15 years after the original Georgian invasion.

Russia's role in the region has been first as mediator of the conflict and then to maintain the peace. Finally, after years of Georgia's threats and its attack on South Ossetia, Russia has offered to protect the two nations from Georgian aggression.  In August of 2009, Russia promised $500 million for the security and infrastructure of Abkhazia. This move should be applauded because it is clear that Georgia represents a threat to the safety of the citizens of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  

Also, Mr. Vashadze does not mention that Georgia has repeatedly threatened commercial shipping bound for Abkhazia and that it has seized several Turkish merchant ships.  In August of this year, Georgia sentenced the captain of a seized Turkish vessel to 24 years in prison. Only a trip to Tbilisi by Turkey's foreign minister secured his release.  If the Mistral is bought by Russia and if it is deployed in the Black Sea region, a likely use would be to protect peaceful commercial shipping vessels from Georgian seizure.  I cannot help but wonder if this is what really is bothering the Georgian government.  

Russia is not "occupying" parts of Georgia, but protecting two nations that have no interest in being absorbed by a hostile Georgia.  If Russia truly wanted to absorb Georgia it would have happened years ago. Georgia is attempting to use propaganda to distort Russia's rule in keeping the peace in the Caucasus.

I am quite familiar with the Caucasus region and I know Abkhazia well. Neither Abkhazians nor South Ossetians regard themselves as Georgians.  Both have their own languages, cultures and customs that predate Georgian occupation and integration during the Soviet period. If Russia were to disappear from the scene, Georgia would still be regarded as a hostile and threatening neighbor.  Judging by its actions and rhetoric, Georgia would quickly attack and attempt to occupy both Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  Both nations would resist and there would be a bloody conflict. Russia is not an occupier, but a protector of the two nations from Georgian aggression.