Taklama

In the ongoing row over whether local authorities in Abkhazia's Gali, Ochamchira and Tquarchal Districts have been handing out passports to Georgian residents too liberally, Stanislav Lakoba has been fired as Secretary of the Security Council on 28 October. His replacement is veteran politician Nugzar Ashuba, who was Speaker of …

Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) and the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) are spearheading a petition that calls on the Georgian government to boycott the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. This not on account of the corruption and rights violations during their preparation, but because TI Georgia …

During the final days of World War II, a few hundred Georgian soldiers, who had been coerced to fight with the German army after having been taken prisoner, rose up on the Dutch island of Texel. After initial success, however, the uprising was suppressed with the aid of German reinforcements …

I have written a commentary for AbkhazWorld.com on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the end of the 1992–1993 war between Georgia and Abkhazia.

It can be read here.

On 12 July, Georgia's Foreign Ministry announced that diplomatic relations had been established with Vanuatu. The news comes as no surprise as the intention to do so was already expressed by Vanuatu's former Minister for Foreign Affairs Alfred Carlot in March, and by Vanuatu's new government in April. Furthermore, with …

Abkhazia's Prosecutor's Office has at long last finalised indictments in the investigation of several attempts on the life of President Alexander Ankvab (and Pitsunda Mayor Beslan Ardzinba). The investigation took shape and several people were arrested after the most recent attack in February 2012, that killed two of Ankvab's guards …

Last Sunday's by-election in constituency no. 1 in Sukhum has been won by opposition leader Daur Arshba, who will compete with former Vice Speaker Irina Agrba in a run-off on 13 July.

The by-election became necessary after the appointment of MP (and businessman) Beslan Eshba to the post of Vice …

Ever since the 2011 Presidential election, it was unclear whether United Abkhazia was still a government party. Unlike former President Bagapsh, Alexander Ankvab had never been a member, and its Chairman Daur Tarba did not return as Vice Premier in the new government. Moreover, United Abkhazia did not perform particularly …

Kleine landjes — Berichten uit de Kaukasus

Jelle Brandt Corstius

Prometheus, Amsterdam
February 2009
170 pages
ISBN: 978-90-446-1311-7

Kleine landjes is an account of a series of trips made by the Dutch journalist Jelle Brandt Corstius, generally stationed in Moscow, to Chechnya, Kalmykia, Abkhazia, Karachay-Cherkessia and Ossetia. It is not really …

After opposition protests that citizenship law was being flaunted on a grand scale, the Government of Abkhazia has now suspended the issuing of passports to Georgian residents of the Gali, Ochamchira and Tquarchal Districts, while a commission — made up in part by opposition members — has to report on the issue …