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“I AM NOT SURE THERE IS A PEACEFUL SOLUTION TO THE ABKHAZIAN ISSUE”
Tamaz Nadareishvili, Chairman, Supreme Soviet of the Abkhazian Autonomous Republic, answers questions of Central Asia and the Caucasus Journal.
Interview by Japava Hatuna, correspondent of Ahali shvidi dge weekly (The New Seven Days).
Central Asia and the Caucasus: Your name is often mentioned in relation to the conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia. You are even accused of fanning it and of war-mongering. Why do your support the war and when did you realize that all peaceful means have been exhausted and time has come to move to resolute actions?
Tamaz Nadareishvili: In Abkhazia political tension regularly recurs every ten years or so. Abkhazia demanded separation from Georgia in 1913, 1937, 1965, 1971, 1977, and 1989. These Russia-manipulated peaks reached their utmost in the 1990s. Upon the Soviet Union’s disintegration the situation in Georgia became hard to control: the country was moving toward independence and was changing its political orientation and escaping Russia’s control. Abkhazia which remained within the sphere of Russia’s influence became an instrument of putting pressure on Georgia. In response to Georgia’s strive to independence Abkhazia responded with an active separatist movement which Russia encouraged.
I have been in politics since 1991 when I was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Abkhazian Autonomous Republic. It first met on 6 January, 1992. On that day Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia left the country, Tbilisi was ablaze with a war; there was no central power and the Georgian delegation of the Abkhazian Supreme Soviet was forced to shoulder some of the responsibilities for the developments in Abkhazia. When talking to me for the first time Ardzinba told me that he was not going to coexist with the Georgians and he had decided to draw up laws that would oppose the Georgian state. He wanted to sever all legal ties with Georgia. At first, the Abkhazian delegation prepared a draft law on moving the Ministry of the Interior, the prosecutor’s office, the KGB, banks and other departments out of Georgian jurisdiction; later it was decided to restore the 1925 Constitution. Aware of this I had to state at one of the sessions that what the Abkhazian delegation to the Supreme Soviet was doing would deal the final blow at Georgia’s state integrity; that Ardzinba was heading to a war. To register my disagreement I left the post of Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Abkhazian Autonomous Republic. Tension had become obvious across the entire territory: Abkhazians burst into the office of Lominadze, Minister of the Interior, beat him up and forced to leave the post. They made an Abkhazian the minister. Sukhumi was declared the capital of the Confederation of the Mountainous Peoples; militants entered Sukhumi, the war was close at hand and we have nobody to turn to.
CA&C: You left the Supreme Soviet in which you had organized a Georgian group at that very moment. You virtually relieved yourself of the responsibility to your voters. Do you believe that confrontation and the war resulted from an opposition inside the government? Can you justify what you did?
T.N.: Back in 1990 I was resolutely opposed to the just adopted election law. I am still convinced that it was wrong to divide the candidates according to their nationalities. Abkhazia was the home of 530 thousand, under the law 90 thousand Abkhazians got 28 seats in the Supreme Soviet while 280 thousand Georgians were left with 26 seats; the rest, Russians, 11 seats. By approving the law the Supreme Soviet of Georgia played into the hand of Abkhazians and made this inequality legal. As soon as a war started in Tbilisi Ardzinba announced that he was not interested in our views and positions yet he always tried, by hook or by crook, to make us stay in the parliament. This made us accomplices. If we stayed and endorsed anti-state laws we would have betrayed our voters. The Georgian delegation left the parliament while I announced that I would abandon my post and remain a rank-and-file deputy. We were forced to make this difficult decision.
CA&C: Do you believe that the crisis in the Abkhazian parliament caused the war and do you lay the blame for it at the Abkhazians’ door? It was before the political crisis that a Georgian national movement had been active in Abkhazia. It was Georgians who suggested to divide the Abkhazian State University according to nationalities. Was this wise? Did this added oil to the fire?
T.N.: At all times the Abkhazians were a privileged nation appeased by the Georgian central power. This created an illusion of immunity among them: crimes remained unpunished, any initiative was encouraged by Moscow and accepted by Tbilisi. For many years the Georgians have been accumulating a mute protest against injustices.
They were pushed to the background in their own country, everywhere they had to work under Abkhazian bosses.
We finally voiced our indignation and demanded equality—Abkhazians denied us even that. The Georgian intellectuals of Abkhazia turned to the central power and insisted on dividing the university into the Georgian and Abkhazian sectors. Very soon Abkhazians followed suite and wanted to divide all state departments. They behaved like spoiled children who have been never disciplined.
CA&C: Can you specify: what were the concessions and which privileges did the Abkhazians enjoy?
T.N.: Look at the Gudauta District populated by ethnic Abkhazians: it was a banned ground. Under Soviet power which was fond of checking everything and everybody the district was never checked. This was a free economic and political zone. The Abkhazians were privileged in the republic: it was Georgians who had to pay for everything and caught punishment even for street brawls if the other side was Abkhazian. The Abkhazians enjoyed other privileges like reserved places at higher educational establishments. It was Georgians who had created green-house conditions for them, helped them develop into a nation, create ethnic schools, the University, and the theater. By way of gratitude we were expelled from the republic.
CA&C: The conflict developed into a war and nobody profited from this. Yet you are still convinced that armed struggle is the only answer. Why?
T.N.: I’m no lover of wars but I myself and many of those who like me were born in Abkhazia and lived there found themselves at war. We were attacked by foreigners: Russians, Chechens, Cherkesses, Kabardins, Adighes who burned down our homes and murdered us. They left us no choice: we took up arms to……………
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