Twenty-five years pass since war in Abkhazia
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, August 15
Twenty-five years have passed since the war in Georgia’s western Abkhazia region, a civil war which ended with the territory becoming a breakaway region of Georgia.
The confrontation started on August 14 1992, and lasted for 403 days.
It was one of many conflicts caused by the breakup of the Soviet Union and was one of the bloodiest.
During the 1992-93 conflict, tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers lost their lives, and roughly 300,000 people were displaced.
“August 14 is a tragic day in the history of our country. Twenty-five years ago we were unable to avoid a war between our brothers. The massacre between Georgians and Abkhazia ended in terrible results. The results are obvious today for Georgians as well as Abkhazians.
“The history of us living together is exemplary and it is a gross injustice that we live in today’s reality. There must not be any divisive factor between us as it is harmful for Georgians, Abkhazians and future of our children,” Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili stated.
He stressed that he was very hopeful that Georgians and Abkhazians would improve on their “biggest mistake”.
“There will be a time when we will start building a strong and peaceful state together with Abkhazians and Ossetians,” President Giorgi Margvelashvili said in a statement.
The President stated that the Russian policy played an important role in terms of launching the war.
“Territorial conflicts and their results still remain the main challenges for our state and the public. We can respond to the challenges only by keeping the peace and restoring cooperation and confidence with our brothers, as well as the comprehensive and general development of the country.
“I strongly believe there will be the times when we will start building a strong, developed, democratic and peaceful state together with Abkhazians and Ossetians, where the protection of political rights, all citizens’ security and economic wellbeing, maintenance of ethnic, religious and cultural identity will be the precondition of our progress,” Margvelashvili said.
After the Russia-Georgia 2008, war Russia recognized two regions of Georgia-Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent republics, together with Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru.
The rest of the international community considers the two regions as integral parts of Georgia occupied by Russia.
