Taklama

Shortly after President Sergei Bagapsh's death on May the 29th, Foreign Minister Maksim Gvinjia announced that Abkhazia and Vanuatu had established diplomatic relations on the 23rd and that by extension, Abkhazia had been recognised as an independent state by Vanuatu. The news was slowly taken up by various media while …

For the first week or so after the unexpected death of President Sergei Bagapsh this morning, following surgery in Moscow, Abkhazia will predominantly be mourning. But then the question of his succession will inevitably come up. In line with the constitution, Vice President Alexander Ankvab is now acting President, but …

After previous deliberations, Georgia's parliament has now on 20 May formally recognised the Circassian Genocide which took place towards the end of the Russian Empire's conquest of the region, culminating in 1864.

In itself, it is a good thing that these events have been recognised for what they are. However …

In April 2010, the 'retirement' of no less than 5 Abkhazian Deputy Ministers of Defence, including Chief of the General Staff Anatoli Zaitsev, sparked speculation that this was in fact a purge-in-process. The question was, if so, then what kind of purge? If Zaitsev (despatched from the Russian Army) had …

Abkhazian democracy has many weaknesses, but presidential and parliamentary elections during the last 10 years stood out for their high level of competitiveness. The recent local elections, held on February the 12th, illustrate how uneven Abkhazia's development has been.

Voters elected the fifth convocations of the local assemblies of Abkhazia's …

Empty land Promised land Forbidden land Rob Hornstra and Arnold van Bruggen
The Sochi Project
November 2010
272 pages

This is an unusual book. It is a book about Abkhazia, which in itself is rare enough. What is more, it is not academic conflict literature. Still more remarkable, it attempts …

On Tuesday the 8th, Vladimir Emin-ipa Nachach passed away. He had been one of the most valuable members of the People's Assembly since he was first elected in 2002. A trained Lawyer and a veteran from the 1992-1993 war with Georgia, Nachach had headed the Committee on Legislation, Judicial and …

Last May Albert Hovsepyan resigned as Vice Speaker of the People’s Assembly of Abkhazia. At the time, he was the highest ranking Armenian in Abkhazia, and I posited that it represented a setback to Armenian integration into the Abkhazian state. All the more so since he had not been …

After the death of People's Assembly member Yuri Kereselidze on November the 1st, the resulting by-election for the Chuburxinji constituency was held Sunday the 9th of January. It was won by Ruslan Kishmaria, the President's special representative for the Gali district. Kishmaria has long been seen as a moderate figure …

Under Siege: Inter-Ethnic Relations in Abkhazia

Tom Trier, Hedvig Lohm, and David Szakonyi

Hurst & Company, London
September 2010
160 pages
ISBN: 978-1-84904-020-4

(co-published by Columbia University Press, ISBN: 978-0-231-70130-3)

The casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that after the exodus of much of Abkhazia's Georgian community in September 1993 …