Georgia And Abkhazia As One United Country And People

By: Zak Miller
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:25:24
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Georgia and Abkhazia were two Soviet Republics that shared the eastern subtropical coast line of the Black Sea. The high snow capped Caucasus Mountains in the north divide these two republics from Russia. During the Soviet times, the whole Caucasus region was diverse with many ethnic backgrounds, including Abkhazians and Georgians. Many were native to the region. Abkhazians primarily lived in the Abkhazian territory and many had mixed ethnic backgrounds.

When the Soviet Union fell apart in the early nineties, Georgia became an independent Republic. At that time, Georgia assumed Abkhazia would automatically be integrated in to Georgia. Unfortunately the new Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia blinded the Georgian people during this critical time. He was biased to only help the Georgian people. His goal was to place the Georgian people, customs and language as dominant in the region. This raised fear and a red flag among other ethnic groups such as Abkhazians and Ossetians who also lived in the region. These ethnic groups immediately began to see that their rights and freedom were at risk.

The Georgian population was the majority in the region, and Gamsakhurdia being Georgian himself, needed their support. On the other side, the Abkhazian people quickly got together and created a leadership and announced to Georgia that Abkhazia is on its way to become independent of Georgia. Gamsakhurdia fired up the Georgian people to take over Abkhazia and soon enough sent in tanks and troops in to the Abkhazian territory in 1992.

The result was two bloody years of full on conflict between the Georgian and Abkhazian people. The year 1993 was the worst year, a lot of blood was shed on both sides. Abkhazians although outnumbered were able to take control of the region in their favor with the help of Russia. Over 250,000 Georgians were forced to leave Abkhazia, most went south to Georgia. This was an ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, and now the Abkhazian people became the majority in this territory.

Sukhumi Abkhazia is my birth place and now I live in the United States. After doing a great deal of research, I really believe the war between them should have never happened. The people that suffered the most in this war were the Abkhazian people and the Georgian people. They were like puppets in the hands of the Russian interest and Ghamsakhurdia's (Georgian leader at the time) misguidance.

It is sad when I listen to those interviews where Georgians blame Abkhazians and vise versa. I know it is hard, a lot of blood was shed in this very personal war. But please don't forget that the ultimate fault is not yours, you the Georgians and Abkhazians were led in to a trap. And now twelve years have gone by and the two sides have had barely any progress to unite. It will be impossible to unite, until we see that both sides, Georgia and Abkhazia were led in to this trap. Now we got to climb of out of this trap and start looking for solutions, we have very little time because so many people are suffering with poverty on both sides.

Abkhazia, ask yourself this question. If Russia is so called "helping" you, are they doing this in their own interest? Russia hands out passports to Abkhazians to make them feel like they are helping them. Abkhazia be careful, be on the look out. Ask yourself, is Russia doing because they are truly generous, or after all that bloodshed will Abkhazia become another Russian territory? If Russia tricks Abkhazia to become a part of it's territory, then there goes Abkhazia's independence.

Millions of people want to see Abkhazia and Georgia united. They lived together before with no conflict and they can do it again with forgiveness. It will take much time to bandage the wounds, but why not start now? No it’s not easy with the dark history, but do you want to live with that big wall in between till you die? What about your kids, if you don’t want to do it for yourself then do it for them. Go for a united Georgia - Abkhazia.

I don't hate Russia. Actually I have more Russian blood in me than Georgian or Abkhazian. And I hope to see the day when all three governments will put their self serving interests aside and build strong relationships in the Caucasus territory. Unfortunately that is almost unrealistic for governments to do that, because governments are often very selfish. So you the people of Georgia and Abkhazia, take the stand and accept your neighbor no matter what their ethnic background. It's about time we do this, too much time was already wasted and too much blood was already shed. Too much hatred was spilled, that should not have been spilled in the first place.

I cannot wait till I can visit my homeland again in Sukhumi and see peace, prosperity, ethnic diversity including Russians, Georgians, Abkhazians and the rest of the world. Sukhumi was a beautiful place, let’s build it back together and make it even more beautiful than it was during the Soviet times. The sea, beaches, palm trees, beautiful historic buildings, lush green mountains. Sukhumi has it all. But I remember the most beautiful part of that city was the many people with different backgrounds who got together on a daily basis to share life in this beautiful land. I remember the times when in Sukhumi it did not matter if you were Russian, Georgian or Abkhazian, I saw them all celebrating together. Those were the good times and we can get them back. The only way to do it together is to put the past behind and work in unity with those who live around us, neighboring countries and also with the International community.

I love Abkhazia, I love Georgia and I love your people. I wish to see this land with my eyes soon, living in peace, unity and prosperity!

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