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Tarih : 01 Eylül 2008
Sayı : 2008/127
Konu : Duyuru
On 7 August 2008, the eruption of armed conflicts in
South Ossetia following the Georgian attack to the capital
Tskhinval and a few other cities around, with the purpose
of preserving the so-called Georgian territorial integrity
points to the inauguration of a new era in the Caucasus.
The first sign of this new era is the Russian recognition
of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia
has recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, mindful of its responsibility for ensuring survival
of their fraternal peoples in the face of aggressive,
chauvinistic policy pursued by Tbilisi. The upcoming
period will be a turning point not only for South Ossetia
and Abkhazia but also for the whole Caucasus.
The extremely nationalist President of the Republic
of Georgia, Mikhael Saakashvili had essentially promised
the Georgian public during the electoral campaigns of
2004 and 2008 that he would re-establish the Georgian
control over the secessionist areas and had drawn the
vision of strengthening the unity and solidarity in Georgia.
As Saakashvili employed a radical discourse vis-à-vis
the issues related to “autonomous republics in Georgia”,
the recent war was, in fact, an anticipated development
for a long period of time. Nevertheless, the international
community, especially the US and the EU, has not done
anything to prevent the eruption of conflicts though
it is well-known for along period that Saakashvili would
attack to both South Ossetia and Abkhazia in accordance
with his earlier promises. In 2006, when Saakashvili
sent Georgian troops to Kodor Valley in Abkhazia with
disregard of the Georgian commitments to the Moscow Ceasefire
Treaty of 1994 and the related UN resolutions, he made
it apparent that he would not hesitate to resort to force
in order to solve Tbilisi’s problems with the autonomous
republics. The spying activities of Georgian air forces,
kidnapping of Abkhazians and use of force against civilians
had also been widespread occurrences in the region.
After the eruption of conflicts on 7 August, the declaration
of mobilization by Saakashvili on the following day with
the purpose of annexing South Ossetia to Georgian territories
and the bombing of the Ossetian cities by the Georgian
air forces and tanks were disregarded by the Western
world. Rather than pressuring over Georgia to give an
end to the Georgian attacks, the western world delineated
the intervention of Russia, which has acted so far as
if it were a peace-keeper, as an imperial move and attempted
to do nothing but concealing the real aggressor.
Nevertheless, it was not a secrecy that Saakashvili
was intending to get control over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
In the face of the facts that the war started with the
Georgian attack and it was the Georgian administration
that attempted to solve the problems with the resort
to force, we, as the Caucasian Diaspora living in Turkey,
would like to underline one more time the following facts
about Abkhazia.
- The Abkhazian community, the history of which goes
back to thousands years ago, is one of the ancient
communities in the Caucasus and Abkhazia is the home
to the Abkhazian community.
- Abkhazia, which had established different kingdoms
throughout history, was annexed by the Soviet Russian
dictator Joseph Stalin to Georgia as an autonomous
province with disregard of the will of the Abkhazian
community. The Abkhazian community has never accepted
this unfair move and cried out their demand for independence
through mass demonstrations nearly once a decade so
far.
- Following the dissolution of the USSR, Tbilisi abrogated
the Soviet Constitution and removed the Abkhazian autonomy
with a unilateral decision. In this vein, Abkhazia
expressed its wish to be independent under the right
of self-determination.
- As an attempt to preserve the status of Abkhazian
autonomy, the Soviet forces entered into the Abkhazian
land in 1992. At the end of the 13-month war, the Georgian
forces had a decisive defeat and withdrew from Abkhazia.
- Even though it was Abkhazia that was attacked, it
faced an unfair embargo by the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS). Its economic losses today exceed the
amount of nearly 12 billion dollars.
- The peace negotiations having been proceeded under
the framework of the Moscow Cease-fire Treaty of 1994
could not reach to any substantial and fruitful consequence
so far because of the Georgian obsession with its so-called
“territorial integrity”.
- At the end of the day, Abkhazia declared its independence
in 1999 following the referenda through which 97 per
cent of the Abkhazian community expressed their will
to be independent.
- In the eve of the war in 1992, Abkhazia had already
turned its face to the West. In this regard, it had
tried to develop its ties with Turkey, viewed in the
Caucasus as an important ally of the Western world.
As a matter of fact, the first official visit of the
Abkhazian administration was paid to Turkey. Nevertheless,
even though the Abkhazians frequently expressed that
they were in need of Turkey’s extending its helping
hand, their calls did not find widespread reception
in Turkey. At present, Abkhazia continues to express
its intention to establish firm relations with Turkey
as well as other European countries. Abkhazia also
desired to establish peaceful and good neighborly relations
with Georgia and stated that it would like Georgia
to be the first country to recognize its independence.
Nonetheless, the Western world chose the option to
support the embargo of the CIS, which in turn established
the ground for the Russian-Abkhazian convergence towards
partnership.
In this process, Abkhazia, as a country with long experience
of statehood, has continued its efforts to establish
a democratic and independent republic and took the necessary
legal, political, economic and social steps. Even though
Abkhazia used its inherent right of self-determination
in accordance with the UN Charter, it could not overcome
the double-standards of the international community.
This arbitrariness of the western world vis-à-vis the
countries in Abkhazia’s conditions can clearly be seen
in the case of Kosovo, which declared unilaterally its
independence in February 2008 and took the widespread
support of the western world. Abkhazia has no doubt a
deeper tradition of statehood in legal and historical
terms, which is even not possible to compare with that
of Kosovo. Nevertheless, the international community
continues its unacceptable attitude vis-à-vis Abkhazia
in a way away from the principle of equity.
The atmosphere created by the Georgian attack on Abkhazia
and, Russian recognition of Abkhazian independence creates
an opportunity for the international community to revise
its position towards the independence of Abkhazia. What
is the most apparent in the present circumstances is
that Georgia, with its own actions, has thrown away its
groundless argument of territorial integrity, which remained
only on paper by now away from the realities on the ground.
After this moment, it is possible for neither Abkhazia
nor South Ossetia to return back into this artificial
statehood. Unfortunately, Georgia is also deprived of
its chance of negotiation as the party to the conflict
that started the aggression. Nobody can expect from the
Abkhazian and South Ossetian administrations to sit on
the same table with Georgia, which attempted to destroy
their countries and exterminate their peoples, to negotiate
over their independence.
Under these conditions, we, as the Caucasian Diaspora
living in Turkey, are calling that; you, the members
of the international community;
- Give an end to the historical injustices and recognize
both Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.
There is no other way to reach a peaceful resolution
in Caucasus than recognizing the independence of these
countries.
- Be aware of the fact that the key to the stability
and peace in Caucasus is that these two countries should
be integrated into the international system as the
newly independent countries recognized by the whole
international community and given equal status with
them.
- Stop taking into account solely the arguments of
Georgia and to make arbitrary and selective decisions,
which does not help in the peoples who legitimately
expect to acquire their own statehood. Stop pursuing
policies fuelling the conflicts in Caucasus and rewarding
the wrong sides!
- Hear off the voices of the Abkhazian and South Ossetian
peoples as well.
Having in mind the prospect that the historical injustices
towards the Abkhazian and South Ossetian communities
will come to an end, we extend our full respect to all
members of the international community.
For the Caucasian-Abkhazian Solidarity Committee,
İrfan ARGUN
Head of the Committee
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