Abkhazia

about international alert international alert is a 25-year-old independent peacebuilding organisation. We work with people who are directly affected by violent conflict to improve their prospects of peace. We also seek to influence the policies and ways of working of governments, international organisations like the un and multinational companies, to reduce conflict risk and increase the prospects of peace.

В статье анализируются особенности формирования лазской общины Абхазии в XX в., даётся характеристика демографической ситуации и особенностей географической локализации лазского населения Абхазии в XX - начале XXI в. В работе также освещаются различия в культурной политике раннесоветского руководства Абхазии и Грузии в отношении лазов, характеризуются особенности культурной и политической ориентации немногочисленной лазской общины Абхазии на протяжении рассматриваемого периода.

The features of the formation of the Laz community of Abkhazia in the 20th century are analyzed in the article. Much attention is given to the demographic situation and features of the geographical localization of the Laz population of Abkhazia in the 20th - early 21st centuries. The article also highlights the differences in the cultural policy of the early Soviet leadership of Abkhazia and Georgia with regard to the Laz community. It is examined the cultural and political orientation of the small Laz community of Abkhazia during the specified period.

This article examines aspects of cultural exchange between the Middle East and the West in which Sufism, Christianity, the traditions of the Circassians and New Age concepts played a central role. It focuses on the teaching of Murat Yagan, of Abkhaz-Circassian origin who grew up in Turkey and immigrated to Canada in the 1960s, where he developed his philosophy, Ahmsta Kebzeh (“the knowledge of the art of living”). The Kebzeh way of life emphasizes modesty, mutual responsibility and compassion. Yagan linked these values to the ancient ethos of the Caucasus Mountains which he sought to revive as the basis of a universal vision. The nature of Kebzeh was influenced by the cosmopolitan environment in which Yagan was educated in Turkey; by his enrollment with Sufi circles in North America; and by the multicultural Canadian atmosphere. These diverse influences enabled him to devise an ecumenical model of dialogue between cultures. The article provides a first-time survey and analysis of Ke...

Bu çalışma, Rusya'nın Güney Kafkasya ile ilgili hedeflerini sağlama çerçevesinde bir uluslar arası hukuk kurumu olan UCM 2 'yi nasıl kullanmak istediğini incelemektedir. Bu çerçevede self-determinasyon ile ilgili mevcut uluslararası hukuk kurallarını temel alarak Güney Osetya'nın Gürcistan'dan ayrılmasının mümkün olmadığı açıklanmakta ve ancak Kosova örneği takip edilerek bağımsızlık ya da ilhakın gerçekleştirilebileceği gösterilmektedir.

This book explores the causes and dynamics of ethnic conflict and civil war, distinguishing between onset-based and process-based theories. He introduces a scheme of periodization which links the phase of low-scale inter-ethnic violence with the phase of sustainable organized violence, asserting the crucial importance of elites and their use of opportunity in power asymmetry as a key factor in instigating full-scale civil war.

This book also examines the relevance of major theoretical and methodological approaches currently dominating the field of ethnic conflict and civil war research, testing their efficacy by applying them to three major South Caucasus conflicts of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

As a merger of theoretical and empiricist approaches, this book focuses on the case-specific contextual richness of the local conflicts in Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia to draw solid theoretical conclusions as well as providing suggestions for the improvement of current theories.

Since the end of the Georgian-Abkhaz war, the often-precarious status of the Georgians displaced from Abkhazia has received significant academic attention. In contrast, the consequences of displacement from the reverse perspective—how it has affected the people who stayed behind—remains underanalyzed. Drawing on narratives collected during several months of ethnographic fieldwork, this article argues that although ethnic Abkhazians see themselves as victims of ethnic violence rather than perpetrators, the re-distribution of Georgian property nevertheless caused significant distress. Many condemned the practice of appropriation, suggesting that taking what is not one’s own is not only a violation of the property of the original owner, but also of the Abkhaz moral code and therefore shameful. To them, the trophy houses were a curse, both literally—as spaces haunted by former occupants—and metaphorically, as a source and reminder of a certain “moral corruption” within Abkhazian society. However, while the stories around the trophy houses reflect substantial intra-communal divisions, I suggest that they are also an expression of a shared postwar experience. Like the horror stories of Georgian violence, and the tales of Abkhaz heroism, they have become part of an intimate national repertoire constitutive of Abkhazia’s postwar community.

La opinión consultiva de la Corte Internacional de Justicia sobre el caso Kosovo (2010) determinó que las declaraciones de independencia unilaterales no son contrarias al derecho internacional. El fallo resultó  restrictivo y no indagó en los límites de la libre determinación de los pueblos, abriendo el debate a cuándo y cómo puede independizarse un territorio.

სტატია „საქართველოს ოკუპირებული ტერიტორიების სამართლებრივი საფუძვლები და დეოკუპაციის პერსპექტივები“ წარმოადგენს 2018 წელს საქართველოს ტექნიკურ უნივერსიტეტში გამართულ საერთაშორისო კონფერენციაზე გაკეთებული მოხსენების გაფართოებულ ვერსიას და ეძღვნება საქართველოს ყველაზე დიდ პრობლემას - ოკუპირებულ ტერიტორიებს. სტატია იწყება ცალკეულ ტერმინთა განხილვით. მასში ნათქვამია, რომ ისეთი ტერმინები, როგორებიცაა „ქართულ-აფხაზური“ ან „აფხაზურ-ქართული კონფლიქტი“, აგრეთვე „განდგომილი რეგიონები“ მცდარი ტერმინებია, რომლებიც გაუმართლებელია, როგორც სამართლებრივი, ისე აზრობრივი თვალსაზრისით. სტატიაში გაკრიტიკებულია საქართველოს ფედერალიზაცია, როგორც საქართველოს ტერიტორიული მთლიანობის აღდგენის საშუალება. თუ საუბარია ორსუბიექტიან ფედერაციაზე, მაშინ ეს სახიფათოა, რადგან, როგორც სამეცნიერო ლიტერატურაში სამართლიანად აღინიშნება, ბიპოლარული ფედერაციები არამდგრადია და ხშირად იშლება. რაც შეეხება ასიმეტრიულ ფედერაციას, ასეთ შემთხვევაში საქართველოში შესაძლოა სეპარატიზმისა და კონფლიქტების ახალი კერები გაჩნდეს. სტატიაში მთავარი აქცენტი გაკეთებულია საქართველოს დეოკუპაციასა და აფხაზეთის ავტონომიის მომავალ სტატუსზე. აღნიშნულია, რომ დეოკუპაციის ერთადერთი გზა არის საერთაშორისო ინსტიტუტების და განსაკუთრებით საერთაშორისო სასამართლოების ყველა ბერკეტის გამოყენება. ამ მხრივ მიმოხლულია არსებული მდგომარეობა და გავლებულია გარკვეული პარალეები უკრაინა-რუსეთს შორის წარმოებულ სასამართლო დავებთან. ბოლოს სტატიაში მოცემულია ავტორის ხედვა აფხაზეთის ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკის მომავალ სტატუსთან და კომპეტენციებთან დაკავშირებით.
The paper “Legal Bases of the Occupied Territories of Georgia and Prospects of De-Occupation” is an extended version of the report delivered at the International Conference which was held at Georgian Technical University in 2018. It is dedicated to Georgia's huge problem - the occupied territories. The article starts with a discussion of some terms. It states that such terms as “Georgian-Abkhazian” or “Abkhaz-Georgian conflict” and “Breakaway Regions of Georgia” are mistaken terms in both legal and reasonable meaning. The article criticizes Georgia's federalization as a way of restoring Georgia's territorial integrity. If it concerns bipolar federation, then it is dangerous because, as it is fairly recognized in scientific literature,  bipolar federations are unsustainable and often collapse. As for asymmetric federation, in such cases, new seats of separatism and conflicts might emerge in Georgia. The article focuses on the de-occupation of Georgia and the future status of Abkhazia's autonomy. It is noted that the only way to de-occupation is to use all international institutions and especially international courts. In this regard, the current situation is discussed and some parallels are made based on judicial disputes between Ukraine and Russia. Finally, the article contains the author's vision regarding the status and competences of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia in the future.

The competing theories of state recognition and their failings actively demonstrate that recognition of a state does not have any normative content per se, but rather, that the rules of state recognition, although legal rules, are legal vehicles for political choices. We have the dilemma of concurrently wanting the right cases to result in independent states while prohibiting the wrong ones from becoming so, and so we sail between political choices, using the language of law. The state is neither truly free to recognize another entity nor entirely bound. Differing cases require different legal criteria and different legal results. This flexibility in state recognition theory though, while depriving the act of any inherent legal meaning, has value in its utility for establishing lawful relationships.

This paper will argue that the reason we find it difficult to resolve the controversy over state recognition theory is because the international legal system translates political controversies into legal questions that can then be addressed through legal means. Legal actors, by announcing preference for one side of the question, often reveal certain legal and moral choices they are making about the nature of the state and the legitimacy of the international legal system - law and politics. In the area of state recognition, no theory of recognition has extinguished competition because no political choice has gained universal acceptance. The predominant political choice is most frequently deliberate indeterminacy, a co-existence of mutually opposing arguments. This indeterminacy is most likely deliberate because it permits the underlying rationale for the legal actor’s policies to change and evolve to suit the situation.

This essay proposes the notion that there are many similarities between the 2008 war in Georgia and the 2014 conflict in Ukraine yet there are obviously cosmetic differences too. The Russian motivations for aggression remain constant, and both conflicts are similar in that Russia succeeds in annexing territory. The west's response to both conflicts have been different however, and the essay shall further examine the volatility that surrounds the west's decision making. The disputed territories of Crimea, Abkhazia and South Ossetia fall within Russia's supposed 'sphere of influence' which has diminished after the Rose Revolution of Georgia and the Orange Revolution of Ukraine. The pro-Western orientation of these two countries became a major issue for Russia yet for Georgia and the Ukraine, maintaining territorial integrity is the major issue.

В статье демонстрируется, что при сочинении романа «Сандро из Чегема» Фазиль Искандер не столько писал чегемский мир с натуры, сколько работал в разнообразных литературных канонах, в том числе созданных малыми народами. Показаны многочисленные параллели с произведениями русских и зарубежных писателей.

Статья опубликована в номере журнала «Вестник Литературного института имени А.М. Горького» (№ 4–2019), посвящённого жизни и творчеству Фазиля Абдуловича Искандера (по материалам международной научной конференции «Писатель на рубеже эпох: творческое наследие Фазиля Искандера»). Эл. адрес номера - http://litinstitut.ru/content/2019-no4 .

Фомин И. В. Когнитивные аспекты дискурса провозглашения независимости // Сборник материалов по итогам IV Всероссийской Ассамблеи молодых политологов (25-26 апреля 2011 года, Пермь). -Пермь: ООО «Издательский дом "Типография купца Тарасова"», 2012. -С. 21-24.

This chapter aims to highlight and problematise the boundaries of democratisation, with Georgia's troubled transition as empirical point of reference. The argument proceeds from the established idea that democratisation requires a demos, the presence of which provides the state undergoing transition with horizontal legitimacy. However, there are no good ways to decide where or how to draw the boundaries of democratisation in ethnopolitically contested states; transitions occurring under such circumstances tend to be short-circuited. No nation wishes to be subjugated to the will of another nation within a state owned by that other nation. Whether conflicts over the boundaries of democratisation are resolved to the satisfaction of the majority or minority depends to a significant degree -but not exclusively -on the vertical legitimacy of the host state. The host state will be either weak or strong, and thus have low or high ability to contain resentful minorities, depending on whether the relationship between the majority population and the state institutions is characterised by distrust or trust. The former situation, with low vertical legitimacy, prevailed in Georgia during 1991-2003; the latter situation, with higher vertical legitimacy, has prevailed in Georgia since 2004.

SINCE JULES VERNE WROTE HIS influential novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” the aim to discover the deepest place below the surface has sparked the imaginations of generations of explorers, adventurers and scientists. Those in search of the deepest known cave on the planet are always lead to Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia. Deep in the mountains of the Arabika Massif, these record-breaking caves can be found—the four deepest caves in the world, including Krubera Cave (also known as Voronya Cave, just to keep it interesting), second-deepest in the world, to nearby Veryovkina Cave.

The Arabika Massif in the Western Caucasus constitutes one of the largest karst massifs on Earth, but despite its enormous potential to scientists, the area, including Krubera Cave, has been woefully under-explored. One of the reasons is the remoteness of the area, which is only accessible for up to four months a year, but the main obstacles for scientists have been the numerous political conflicts in Abkhazia, which continue until today.

Krubera Cave was declared the world’s deepest cave in 2001 when Ukrainian speleogolists reached a depth of 1,710 meters, thereby exceeding the previous known reigning champion in the Austrian Alps. At a depth of 1,500 meters, a subterranean waterfall of near-freezing water has flooded a branch of the cave system, while the main branch continues to a depth of 2,140 meters, where a terminal siphon marks the end of the cave. In 2018, Veryovkina Cave took over the title, at 2,212 meters deep—more than 1.3 miles.

The Ukrainian speleogolists needed a staggering 14 days to reach the siphon at the end of the cave. A number of endemic fauna has been found at all levels of depth within the cave, including spiders, scorpions, beetles, as well as stygofauna like shrimps and amphipods.


Krubera Cave, also known as Voronya Cave, is the second-deepest-known cave on Earth after the Veryovkina Cave.
It is located in the Arabika Massif of the Gagra Range of the Western Caucasus, in the Gagra district of Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia.

The difference in elevation of the cave's entrance and its deepest explored point is 2,197 ± 20 metres (7,208 ± 66 ft).
It became the deepest-known cave in the world in 2001 when the expedition of the Ukrainian Speleological Association reached a depth of 1,710 m (5,610 ft) which exceeded the depth of the previous deepest-known cave, Lamprechtsofen, in the Austrian Alps, by 80 metres (260 ft). In 2004, for the first time in the history of speleology, the Ukrainian Speleological Association expedition reached a depth greater than 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), and explored the cave to −2,080 m (−6,824 ft).
Ukrainian diver Gennadiy Samokhin extended the cave by diving in the terminal sump to 46 metres' depth in 2007 and then to 52 m in 2012, setting successive world records of 2,191 m and 2,197 m, respectively.
Krubera is one of the two known caves on Earth deeper than 2,000 metres.

The original name "Krubera" had been assigned to the cave by Soviet speleologists who explored the entrance pit in 1960. This name was given after the noted Russian geographer Alexander Kruber. The name "Krubera Cave" thus has a priority. "Voronya Cave" means "Crows' Cave" in Russian. This name was used as a slang name by Kyiv speleologists during the 1980s due to a number of crows nesting in the entrance pit, and then remained in the literature and media as a second name for the cave.

The Arabika Massif, the home of Krubera (Voronya) Cave, is one of the largest high-mountain limestone karst massifs in the Western Caucasus. It is composed of Lower Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic limestones that dip continuously southwest to the Black Sea and plunge below the modern sea level.

To the northwest, north, northeast, and east, Arabika is bordered by the deeply incised canyons of Sandripsh, Kutushara, Gega and Bzyb rivers. The Bzyb River separates Arabika from the adjacent Bzybsky Massif, another outstanding karst area with many deep caves, including the Snezhnaja-Mezhonogo-Iljuzia System (−1,753 m or −5,751 ft) and Pantjukhina Cave (−1,508 m or −4,948 ft). To the southwest, Arabika borders the Black Sea.

The Arabika Massif has a prominent high central sector with elevations above the tree line at ~1,800–1,900 m (5,900–6,200 ft). This is an area of classical glaciokarstic landscape, with numerous glacial trough valleys and cirques, with ridges and peaks between them. The bottoms of trough valleys and karst fields lie at elevations of 2,000–2,350 m (6,560–7,710 ft), and ridges and peaks rise to 2,500–2,700 m (8,200–8,900 ft). The highest peak is the Peak of Speleologists (2,705 m (8,875 ft)) but the dominant summit is a typical pyramidal horn of the Arabika Mount (2,695 m (8,842 ft)). Some middle- to low-altitude ridges covered with forest lie between the central sector and the Black Sea. A plateau-like middle-altitude outlier of the massif in its south sector is Mamzdyshkha, with part of the plateau slightly emerging above the tree line.

Among several hundred caves known in the Arabika Massif, fifteen have been explored deeper than 400 m and five deeper than 1,000 m.

Krubera Cave is located at 2,256 m above sea level in the Ortobalagan Valley, a perfectly shaped, relatively shallow, glacial trough of the sub-Caucasian stretch, which holds the advanced position in the Arabika's central sector relative to the seashore. Since 1980, Ukrainian cavers have been undertaking systematic efforts in exploring deep caves in the Ortobalagan Valley, resulting in exploration of the Krubera Cave to its current depth and of the Arabikskaja System to depth of −1,110 m (−3,640 ft).
The latter consists of Kuybushevskaya Cave (also spelled as Kujbyshevskaja; −1,110 m) and Genrikhova Bezdna Cave (−965 m to the junction with Kujbyshevskaja). Another deep cave in the valley, located in its very upper part and explored by Moldavian and Ukrainian cavers is Berchilskaya Cave, 500 m (1,600 ft) deep. All large caves of the Ortobalagan Valley likely belong to a single hydrological system, connected to large springs at the Black Sea shore. The direct physical connection of Krubera Cave with the Arabikaskaja System is a sound possibility, although not yet physically realized.

Abkhazia during the Stalin era was at the same time a subtropical haven where the great leader and his lieutenants built grand dachas and took extended holidays away from Moscow, and also a key piece in the continuing chess match of Soviet politics. This paper will examine how and why this small, sunny autonomous republic on the Black Sea, and the political networks that developed there, played a prominent role in the politics of the south Caucasus region and in Soviet politics as a whole during the Stalin period.

Научная рецензия: доктор полт. наук, проф. Анджей Чайовски, Институт политологии, Вроцлавский университет доктор ист. наук, проф. Марьян С. Волянски, ректор Нижнесилезской высшей школы предпринимательства и техники в Польковице Rafał Czachor, Abchazja, Osetia Południowa, Górski Karabach: geneza i funkcjonowanie systemów politycznych, Instytut Polsko-Rosyjski, Wrocław 2014, ISBN: 978-83-935729-8-4 Рафал Чахор, Абхазия, Южная Осетия, Нагорный Карабах: становление и функционирование политических систем, Русско-польский институт, Вроцлав 2014, ISBN: 978-83-935729-8-4

National elections have remained, surprisingly, largely absent in most nation- building debates where focus has tended towards either the instrumentalism of political elites and/or much wider structural explanations (Gellner 1983, Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983, Anderson 1991). Whether fair and free or unfree, national elites depend upon elections for their legitimation, both domestic and international. In many parts of the post-Soviet space elections are rigged, with turnout and the distribution of votes decided in advance of election day. (Wilson 2005). Nevertheless, while elections in the post-Soviet space may not serve their typical function of translating policy preferences into political representation, it has been argued that electoral processes can play a central role in nation-state building processes as part of efforts to legitimise authoritarian regimes (Ó Beacháin and Kevlihan 2015). In an attempt to build on previous observations regarding the relationship between elections and nation-building efforts in the post-Soviet space, this chapter examines the role elections have played in nation-state formation efforts in the unrecognised state of Abkhazia.

Nationalism is one of the most powerful forces in the modern world –
but why some ethno-national groups mobilize for conflict, while
others remain quiescent, remains subject to significant
disagreement. This paper argues that domestic politics create the
incentives for secession, and international forces make conflict
feasible against a sometimes stronger military adversary – the
state. The proposed theory unpacks this interaction of domestic
and international factors, and posits that when regional elites
possess local control in an area that is contiguous with a potential
sponsor, external support is more feasible and more apt to lead to
mobilization and conflict. When regional elites lack local control,
external sponsors will be wary of supporting a potentially lost
cause and regional elites will exhibit more restraint, reducing the
chances of conflict – external support therefore often flows from
strong states to strong regions in weaker states. It is instrumental
and variable, rather than affective and constant, and thus kin
states will not always support their secessionist brethren in
neighbouring states. Using a sub-national research design from
post-Soviet Georgia, the results lend support to these conjectures.

Народ Абхазии обладает длительной историй государственности: Царство в VIII – X вв., Княжество в XIII – XIX вв., Советская Республика в 1921 - 1931 гг. на одном уровне с Грузией, независимая Республика с 1993 г., признанная в 2008 г. Россией и Никарагуа. Данная работа посвящена обоснованию международно-правовой легитимности Абхазского государства. Для большей доступности изложения текст дается в виде вопросов и ответов.

მონოგრაფიაში წარმოდგენილია კოსოვოს, აფხაზეთისა და ცხინვალის
რეგიონის ისტორიულ-შედარებითი ანალიზის კვლევის მცდელობა.
აღნიშნული საკითხი, დღეისათვის, რუსეთ-საქართველოს 2008 წლის
ომიდან 13 წლის შემდეგ კვლავაც აქტუალურია, როგორც ქართულ, ასევე უცხოურ სამეცნიერო ლიტერატურაში. ამასთან, თვალში საცემია საკვლევი თემის ირგვლივ ქართულენოვანი სამეცნიერო პუბლიკაციების დეფიციტი, უცხოური გამოცემების ხარვეზად კი, ქართული დოკუმენტური და სამეცნიერო მასალების წვდომის პრობლემურობა რჩება.
იმავე ტენდენცია იჩენს თავს კოსოვოს კონფლიქტთან მიმართებით ქართულ სამეცნიერო სივრცეში, სადაც კოსოვოს ისტორიული წარსულის შესახებ ძალზე მცირე რამაა ცნობილი კონფლიქტის შესახებ არსებული დოკუმენტური თუ სამეცნიერო მასალების მიმართ წვდომის ნაკლებობის გამო. მონოგრაფიის ერთ-ერთი მთავარი ამოცანა სწორედ ამ ხარვეზის ნაწილობრივი აღმოფხვრაა. წიგნი განკუთვნილია როგორც სპეციალისტებისთვის, ასევე საკითხით
დაინტერესებული, მკითხველთა ფართო წრისათვის.

The monograph presents an attempt to study the historical-comparative
analysis of Kosovo, Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region. This issue is still relevant
today - 13 years after the Russo-Georgian war of 2008 - in both Georgian and
foreign scholarship. There is a shortage of Georgian-language scholarly
publications on the research topic, as for the foreign publications, the lack of
access to Georgian materials remains to be the main limitation of these works.
The same issue is also evident in the Georgian scholarship in relation to the
Kosovo conflict, where very little is known about Kosovo's historical past due to
the lack of the access to the historical documents and scholarly material related
to the topic. One of the goals of the monograph is to deal with this issue to a
certain extent.
The book is intended for both specialists and a wide range of readers interested
in the subject.

The paper addresses Abkhaz-Georgian ethnopolitical conflict treating it as a complex case that consists of several consecutive self-sufficient conflicts or sub-conflicts during which different parties pursued various aims and escalated the situation trying to achieve miscellaneous goals. Although all of these sub-conflicts are looking like historical phases of one conflict, each of them has its own logic and must be analyzed separately. The first sub-conflict of 1991-1994 can be quite accurately explained from the structuralist perspective as an attempt of the Abkhaz to reconsider their status and break the discriminative social structures developed during imperial and Soviet rule. The second phase 1994-2008 was the period of nationalist mobilization and the new clashes and atrocities were the result of the Georgian and Abkhaz elites' intention to strengthen their legitimacy and power. Russia's role, in this case, fits well with the concept of 'humanitarian intervention' and does not correspond to Roger Brubaker's famous 'triadic nexus' (1996). Finally, the last phase of conflict lasting since 2008 can be hardly called an ethnopolitical conflict itself because peace and the military status quo were established after the war of 2008 which neither side can challenge. Therefore, after 2008, it is more appropriate to speak about the need for post-conflict reconciliation instead of Abkhaz-Georgian ethnopolitical conflict. However, none of the parties has taken steps towards this reconciliation yet because the settlement of the conflict is impossible while it continues to be used for nationalist mobilization.

აფხაზეთის ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკის განათლებისა და კულტურის სამინისტროს კვარტალური გაზეთის ,,ჩემი აფხაზეთის" 50-ე, აგვისტოს (2020 წ.)

შალვა ბერინიძე - ,,პუბლიკაციები"

1. ,,არ დავიწყება გმირისა" (გვ.3);
2. ,,დიმიტრი (დიმა) ჯაიანს 70 წელი შეუსრულდებოდა" (გვ.7);
3. ,,ახალი გამოწვევების წინაშე..." (გვ.10);
4. ,,სოხუმი ტკივილის ნაცვლად, სიყვარულთან უნდა ასოცირდებოდეს" (გვ.15);
5. ,,რაზე დაგვაფიქრა კორონავირუსმა?!" (გვ.16);

რედაქტორი: ნატო კორსანტია;
ნომერზე მუშაობდნენ: მაია შონია, შალვა ბერიანიძე.

This is the proceedings of the Regional Stability in the South Caucasus Study Group workshop that took place in Reichenau, Austria, 9-11 November 2017. It focuses on problems of media bias, information operations, psychological operations, etc. The aim of the workshop was to determine whether biasing news content was acceptable to build peaceful relations.

An overview of the main phonological, morphological amd lexical traits of the Tsabal dialect of Abkhaz. Before the period of Muhajirism, the mountain ethnographic group of Tsabals lived in the middle reaches of the Kodor River in the present-day Gulrypsch region of Abkhazia. The dialect has survived only in Turkey.

ავფაზეთის ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკის განათლებისა და კულტურის სამინისტროს კვარტალური გაზეთი - ,,ჩემი აფხაზეთი", N46, აპრილი, 2019 წელი

რედაქტორი: ნატო კორსანტია

შალვა ბერიანიძე - ,,პუბლიკაციები"

1. ზღვის დონიდან 3800 მეტრზე (კავაკასიონის ერთ-ერთ მწვერვალს ჟიული შარტავას სახელი ეწოდა);
2. სოხუმის თეატრს უკვე საკუთარი ჭერი აქვს;
3. თეატრი, მისიით - ახალგაზრდობას არ დაავიწყოს სოხუმი!

The monograph discusses Italo-Abkhazian relations during the period of dynamic trade-expansion of Italian city-states, primarily Genoa, on the Caucasian Black Sea coast, which is one of the important and still insufficiently studied topics in the history of mediaeval Abkhazia (13th–15th centuries). The essays address the issues related to: the relationship of the Italian maritime republics with Abkhazia in the 13th–15th centuries; the organisation of Italian trading activities in Abkhazia, primarily in the central city of the country – Savastopoli (Sukhum); the activities of the Roman Catholic Church in Abkhazia; the functioning of the consular and notarial services of Genoa in Savastopoli, as well as the large-scale export of slaves from the Black Sea basin, in particular from Abkhazia and Circassia. The work also
analyses the ethnonyms, toponyms and hydronyms of mediaeval Abkhazia and the coastal Circassia contained in various Italian documents, on sea-charts, atlases and portolans of the epoch, as well as the historical flags of Abkhazia as depicted on mediaeval maps.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introductory word
Foreword by V. Tomelleri
Chapter 1. Relations between the maritime republics of Italy and Abkhazia in the XIII–
                  XV centuries
Chapter 2. Savastopoli (Sukhum)
                    Cavo de Buxo (Bambora)
                    Nikofa (New Athos)
                    The Expansion of the Megrelian Principality
Chapter 3. The Catholic Church in mediaeval Abkhazia
Chapter 4. Genoese consulate and notary office in Abkhazia
Chapter 5. International trade in white slaves from the Black Sea basin
Chapter 6. Export of slaves from Abkhazia and Circassia in the 13th–15th centuries
Chapter 7. The Caucasian footprint in Italy. “A fair Circassian” in the “Orientalist” art
Chapter 8. Ethnic nomenclature of Abkhazia and Circassia in Italian documents and
                    nautical charts of the 13th–15th centuries
Chapter 9. Toponyms and hydronyms of Abkhazia and coastal Circassia on Italian
                    marine atlases and maps of the 14th–15th centuries
Chapter 10. Images of the flags of Abkhazia and Savastopoli on mediaeval maps and
                      marine atlases of the 14th–16th centuries
Conclusions
List of used maps
List of illustrations.
Bibliography
Abbreviations

The paper discusses the circumstances concerning the creation of Abkhaz alphabets based on Latin script. There were two projects - the so-called "analytical" alphabet proposed by academician N. Ya. Marr (used in 1926-1928) and the so-called "unified alphabet", which replaced Marr’s alphabet (1928 - 1938).

An overview of the main features of the Guma sub-dialect of the Abkhaz language in the field of phonology, morphology and vocabulary. The Guma speech occupied an intermediate position between the Bzyp and Abzhywa dialects. It is now fully preserved only in Turkey. Before the period of Muhadzhirism, the Central Abkhaz ethnographic group, Guma Abkhazians, used to live in the areas of the present-day Sukhum and Gulrypsh districts.

Книга посвящена мало известной истории и искусству христиан-
ской державы — северокавказской Алании, и охватывает Χ–ΧV вв.
В монографии разбирается история аланского христианства, цер-
ковная архитектура и монументальная живопись. Представлены
результаты раскопок авторов. Издании сопровождает обширный
изобразительный материал, в т. ч. уникальные архивные фотогра-
фии, рисунки и чертежи.
Книга содержит также три приложения корпусного типа: о ка-
менных и металлических кресты с территории Алании (В. Н. Чхаидзе),
о кирпиче в церковном зодчестве Кавказа (Д. Д. Ёлшин), о пе-
трографическом анализе кавказского кирпича (А. Ю. Виноградов,
Д. Д. Ёлшин, М. А. Кулькова).
Предназначена для специалистов по истории, искусств и архео-
логии Кавказа и Христианского Востока, а также для всех интере-
сующихся историей Северного Кавказа.

Монография кандидата географических наук Н.В. Багапша посвящена изучению этнодемографических процессов в городе Гудауте на протяжении последних ста тридцати лет. В работе анализируется история изменения этнической структуры населения Гудауты с конца XIX столетия до наших дней, даётся ретроспективная характеристика этнокультурного пространства города, а также проводится исследование современной этнодемографической и этноязыковой ситуации в Гудауте на основе анализа данных социологического опроса.
Книга рассчитана на этнологов, историков, демографов, географов, социологов, политологов, политиков, краеведов, студентов-гуманитариев, а также на широкий круг читателей, интересующихся этнодемографической историей Абхазии.

The father of the great artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci was the Florentine notary ser Piero da Vinci. But who was his mother? Apart from her name – Caterina – nothing is known about her, her life story is shrouded in darkness.

The author of the essay is trying to lift the veil of the mystery of the origin of the enigmatic genius of the Renaissance. Based on the analysis of a number of facts and evidence, he puts forward a hypothesis that the artist’s mother could be an Abkhazian or Circassian slave woman brought to Italy from the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. The romantic relationship of the slave Caterina with the young successful notary Piero da Vinci ended with the birth of a boy, baptized with the name Leonardo.

Professor of Philology Viacheslav Chirikba defended his doctoral dissertation at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He is the author of a series books and articles on the languages, history and mythology of the peoples of the Caucasus.