Is Moscow’s Proposal to Link Abkhazia to the Circassian Parts of North Caucasus a Step Toward Annexation?

Is Moscow’s Proposal to Link Abkhazia to the Circassian Parts of North Caucasus a Step Toward Annexation?

Is Moscow’s Proposal to Link Abkhazia to the Circassian Parts of North Caucasus a Step Toward Annexation?

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 11 Issue: 187
October 22, 2014
Military-Sukhumi Road (Source: dangerousroads.org)
Military-Sukhumi Road (Source: dangerousroads.org)
On October 9, the well-known Russian-Abkhaz journalist Anton Krivenyuk published an article stating the Russian government may be interested in building a highway connecting Abkhazia to the North Caucasus. Krivenyuk hailed the idea, saying it would potentially help Abkhazia overcome its isolation and integrate itself with the Russian North Caucasus, while also helping the North Caucasus to obtain easy access to the Black Sea. He said the road would restore the fraternal relations between the Abkhaz and the Circassians that were damaged by the clever policies of the Georgian leadership that split the Abkhaz and the Circassian nations. The journalist also pointed out that the plans to build this road were related to the recent change of government in Sukhumi, since the former president of Abkhazia, Alexander Ankvab, did not support closer ties with the Circassians. In contrast to his predecessor, the new president of the breakaway Georgian region, Raul Khadzhimba, reportedly regards the Circassians much more favorably. Indeed, Karachaevo-Cherkessia recently announced it would hold a tender to build the road, which would pass through the republic right up to the border with Abkhazia and make Karachaevo-Cherkessia the region connecting Abkhazia to the North Caucasus. The Russian government reportedly plans to go ahead with building the road without even waiting for the Abkhazian government’s approval (regnum.ru, October 9).

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Exclusive: Dissident Says He was Tortured for Challenging Vladimir Putin

Exclusive: Dissident Says He was Tortured for Challenging Vladimir Putin

Exclusive: Dissident Says He was Tortured for Challenging Vladimir Putin putinagents6

On a warm morning in early August, a 68-year-old Chechen man named Said-Emin Ibragimov packed up his fishing gear and walked to his favorite spot on the west bank of the river that runs through Strasbourg, the city of his exile in eastern France. Ibragimov, who was a minister in the breakaway Chechen government in the 1990s, needed to calm his nerves, and his favorite way to relax was to watch the Ill River, a tributary of the Rhine, flow by as he waited for a fish to bite. Read more

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Former Georgian President Launches New Diatribe Against Current Leadership

Former Georgian President Launches New Diatribe Against Current Leadership

Former Georgian President Launches New Diatribe Against Current Leadership

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is not happy with the state of Georgia. (file photo)
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is not happy with the state of Georgia. (file photo)

October 29, 2014 Read more

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مسعى موسكو ضم أبخازيا يعتبر درساً مريراً لأصدقاء روسيا ومعارضيها

مسعى موسكو ضم أبخازيا يعتبر درساً مريراً لأصدقاء روسيا ومعارضيها 

الناشر: اوراسيا ديلي مونيتور

29 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول 2014

الكاتب: فاسيلي روخادزي (Vasili Rukhadze)

ترجمة: عادل بشقوي

31 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول 2014

زعيم أبخازيا راؤول خاجيمبا  يجتمع مع الرئيس الروسي فلاديمير بوتين  المصدر: سيفيل جورجيا
زعيم أبخازيا راؤول خاجيمبا يجتمع مع الرئيس الروسي فلاديمير بوتين
المصدر: سيفيل جورجيا

في يوم 13 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول، كشف الكرملين ما يسمى بِ”اتفاق التحالف والتكامل” بين روسيا وأبخازيا الانفصالية (see EDM, October 23). ومن أجل تلخيص هذا النص الطويل والمسهب، فإن المعاهدة الجديدة تتوخّى اندماج تدريجي ولكن كامل في نهاية المطاف للإقليم الانفصالي، في شؤون الدفاع وإنفاذ القانون والجمارك والحدود والهيئات الاقتصادية والرعاية الصحية مع تلك الموجودة في الفيدرالية الروسية في غضون فترة زمنية مدّتها ثلاث سنوات (apsnypress.info, October 13). وبعبارة أخرى، فإن لغة الاتفاق ترسم محاولة سافرة لضم أبخازيا إداريا إلى روسيا بشكل ملائم. وقد مُنِح “البرلمان” الأبخازي الإنفصالي أسبوعين لمناقشة المعاهدة. ومع ذلك، فإن موسكو لا تتوقع أي ردود فعل سلبية من سوخومي حول هذا الاتفاق (vedomosti.ru, October 13). وبالفعل، من الصعب تصور ما يمكن لتبليسي القيام به لتجنب هذا الضم لأبخازيا الذي يلوح في الأفق — وهو الإقليم الّذي يتمركز فيه الآلاف من قوات الاحتلال الّروسية. Read more

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Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 11 Issue: 192

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 11 Issue: 192

Moscow’s Attempt to Annex Abkhazia Serves as a Bitter Lesson to Russia’s Friends and Opponents

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 11 Issue: 192
October 29, 2014
Abkhazia's leader Raul Khajimba meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin (Source: Civil Georgia)
Abkhazia’s leader Raul Khajimba meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin (Source: Civil Georgia)

On October 13, the Kremlin unveiled the so called “Agreement on Alliance and Integration” between Russia and breakaway Abkhazia (see EDM, October 23). To summarize this long and verbose text, the new treaty envisages a gradual but ultimately complete merger of the separatist region’s defense, law enforcement, customs, border, economic and healthcare agencies with those of the Russian Federation’s within a three-year time period (apsnypress.info, October 13). In other words, the agreement’s language lays out a blatant attempt to administratively annex Abkhazia into Russia proper. The Abkhazian separatist “parliament” was given two weeks to discuss the treaty. However, Moscow does not expect any negative reactions from Sukhumi about this agreement (vedomosti.ru, October 13). And indeed, it is difficult to imagine what Tbilisi can do to avert this looming annexation of Abkhazia—a region where thousands of Russian occupation troops are stationed. Read more

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