The
Sukhumi riot was a
riotA riot is a form of civil disorder characterized by disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against people or property. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are typically chaotic and exhibit herd behavior.Riots often occur in reaction to a...
in
SukhumiSukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast, which has been recognized as an independent state by Russia, Venezuela and Nicaragua, and is regarded by all other UN member states as an autonomous republic within Georgia...
, Abkhaz ASSR,
Georgian SSRThe Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Georgian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union.- History :- Preceding Events :On November 28 1917, after October Revolution in Russia, there was established...
,
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
, in July 1989, triggered by an increasing inter-ethnic tensions between the
AbkhazThe Abkhaz or Abkhazians are a Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia. A large Abkhazian diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the emigration from the Caucasus in the late 19th century known as Muhajirism...
and
GeorgianThe Georgians are a South Caucasian people and nation mainly centered in Georgia. They also live in Turkey, Russia, the United States, Iran, and other countries....
communities and followed by several days of
street fightingStreet fighting is a colloquial term used to denote unsanctioned, usually illegal, hand-to-hand fighting in public places, between individuals or groups of people...
and civil unrest in Sukhumi and throughout Abkhazia.
The riots started as an Abkhaz protest against opening of a
Georgian universityTbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University, better known as Tbilisi State University , is a university established on 8 February, 1918 in Tbilisi, Georgia. TSU is the oldest university in the whole Caucasus region...
branch in Sukhumi, and concluded with looting of the Georgian school which was expected to house the new university on July 16, 1989. The ensuing violence quickly degenerated into a large-scale inter-ethnic confrontation. By the time when the Soviet army managed to temporarily bring the situation under control, the riots had produced at least eighteen dead and 448 injured, mostly Georgians, marking the start of the
Georgian-Abkhaz conflictThe Georgian-Abkhazian conflict refers to the ethnic conflict between Georgians and Abkhazians in Abkhazia, which is presently a de facto independent partially recognized republic...
.
Background
The lingering ethnic discord in Abkhazia exacerbated when, on March 18, 1989, the Abkhaz élites, who viewed an increasingly active movement for Georgia's independence as a threat to their political privileges of a "
titular minorityTitular nation was a term introduced in the Soviet Union to denote nations that give rise to titles of autonomous entities within the union: Soviet republics, autonomous republics, autonomous regions, etc., such as Byelorussian SSR for Belarusians....
" and the status of autonomous republic, signed a petition to the central Soviet government at a mass meeting at
LykhnyLykhny is a village in the Gudauta District of Abkhazia. The village lies along the narrow Black Sea plain of Abkhazia at an elevation of 50 meters above sea level. Lykhny is located five kilometers from the administrative center of Gudauta. There are several important historical monuments in and...
, Abkhazia, demanding the rights to secede from Georgia. The move caused mass protests from the Georgian community, which accounted for by far the largest single group in (45,7%) of the population of the Abkhaz ASSR, and were resolutely opposed to any diminution of their links with the Georgian republic, holding rival demonstrations within Abkhazia and within Georgia proper. The protests climaxed in the Georgian capital of
TbilisiTbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form Tp'ilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
and evolved into a major anti-Soviet and pro-independence rally on April 9, 1989, which was violently dispersed by the Soviet Interior Ministry troops, killing twenty, mostly young women, and injuring hundreds of demonstrators. At a plenum of the Georgian central committee the following day the Communist party first secretary,
Jumber PatiashviliJumber Patiashvili is a Georgian politician. A current member of parliament, he was the Communist leader of the Georgian SSR from 1985 to 1989....
, resigned and was replaced by the former head of the Georgian
KGBThe KGB was the national security agency of the USSR. From 1954 until 1991, the Committee for State Security was the Communist state's premier secret police, internal security, and espionage organization, whose coat of arms—the Shield and the Sword—illustrate a national military hierarchy...
, Givi Gumbaridze. The April 9 tragedy removed the last vestiges of credibility from the Soviet regime in Georgia and pushed many Georgians into radical opposition to the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the Abkhaz remained largely loyal to the Soviet rule partly to antagonize the Georgian movement and partly to obtain
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
’s sympathy towards their cause.
The university controversy
The issue of
universityA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
had always been very sensitive in Abkhazia. Sukhumi State University was established in 1978 as a part of the concessions towards the Abkhaz secessionist demands, which in its turn was triggered by the Georgian national mobilization in defense of their
languageGeorgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 3.9 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
and culture. The University had three –
AbkhazAbkhaz is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken mainly by the Abkhaz people. It is the official language of Abkhazia, where around 100,000 people speak it. Furthermore, it is spoken by thousands of members of the Abkhazian diaspora in Turkey, Georgia's autonomous republic of Adjara, Syria, Jordan...
, Georgian, and
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
– sectors. However, Georgian students repeatedly complained of discrimination at the hands of their Abkhaz and Russian lectors and administration. Soon after the April 9 events, Georgian students at Abkhaz State University launched a
hunger strikeA hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
, demanding that the Georgian-language sector of their institution be spun off and transformed into a branch of
Tbilisi State UniversityTbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University, better known as Tbilisi State University , is a university established on 8 February, 1918 in Tbilisi, Georgia. TSU is the oldest university in the whole Caucasus region...
. The students' demand was part of a larger Georgian campaign aimed at reviving or establishing separate Georgian cultural institutions in Abkhazia which would be free of any Soviet influence. Earlier, this had led to the division of the Sukhumi soccer team and the theater along ethnic lines. The student movement acquired a widespread support among the Georgian population of Abkhazia, with ethnic Georgian lectors and schoolteachers, and the Sukhumi Subtropics Institute researchers joining them in a strike. The university issue, however, required Tbilisi's approval, and the authorities were reluctant to concede. On May 14, 1989, however, Gumbaridze's government gave in to public pressure and ordered to establish the new Sukhumi branch of Tbilisi State University, leaving the Abkhaz and Russian sectors under the administration of Sukhumi State University. Yet, Abkhaz responded angrily and launched a series of mass demonstrations immediately after the decision. They promptly organized a
sit-inA sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more persons nonviolently occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change.-Process:...
in an attempt to block the Georgian preparations for admissions examinations for their new university. Foreseeing the possibility of violence, local officials began a campaign to collect hunting weapons from the population. At the same time, the Abkhaz activists from the recently established nationalist organization Aydgylara ("Popular Forum") filed a complaint to Moscow, reporting that the university crisis was fueled by the Georgian "informals" as anti-Soviet oppositionists were then known. A special commission Supreme Soviet of the USSR launched an investigation of the university dispute in early July and concluded that the Georgian government had no legal right to authorize the new university, prompting an acute reaction in Georgia. Despite that conclusion, and threats by the Abkhaz, the Georgians went ahead with a new entrance exam for the university that was scheduled to be administered on July 15.
The riots
A few days before the scheduled exams, several thousand of Abkhaz organized a mass anti-Georgian rally in Sukhumi. On July 12 1989, the Aydgylara activists led the demonstrators, including armed groups, into the attack on the building of the local Georgian-language newspaper, forcing it to shut down. Soon, the school building which was expected to house the Georgian university was also surrounded by the crowd. The local
militsiyaMilitsiya or Militia was used as a short official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation ....
(police) officials ignored calls from desperate employees from the besieged building and replaced, early on July 15, policemen of Georgian nationality guarding the university with Abkhaz officers. The same day, a small police unit sent to Sukhumi from Tbilisi to help restore order was disarmed by the Abkhaz militia without any hindrance from the local police. Meanwhile, Georgians gathered into a counter-rally to prevent the Abkhaz from disrupting the university.
While the reports are conflicting on which group first resorted to violence, with both sides blaming each other of starting fighting, the ensuing events would quickly degenerate into an open inter-ethnic warfare and eventually into the War in Abkhazia. Georgians reported that a group of armed Abkhaz opened fire on the Georgian demonstration in
RustaveliShota Rustaveli was a Georgian poet of the 12th century, and the greatest classic of Georgian secular literature. He is author of "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" , the Georgian national epic poem.- Biography :...
Park, while Abkhaz claimed that they engaged in fighting after an Abkhaz photographer was beaten by Georgians while trying to penetrate the university building. Either way, on late July 16, a crowd of five thousand Abkhaz, many of whom were armed, surged into the building. Several members of the Georgian exam commission were beaten up, and the school was looted.
This set off a chain of events that produced further casualties and destruction as the both sides engaged in armed fighting for several days to come. That evening, Abkhaz and Georgians began mobilizing all over Abkhazia and western Georgia. The
KodoriThe Kodori Valley is a river valley in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway autonomous republic. The valley's upper part, populated by Svans, was the only corner of the post-1993 Abkhazia, directly controlled by the central Georgian government, which officially styles the area as Upper Abkhazia...
SvansThe Svans are an ethnographic group of Georgians that mostly live in Svanetia, region of Georgia speaking the Svan language. The self designated Svan is Mu-shaun, known to the ancient authors as Misimian...
, ethnic Georgian subgroup from northeastern Abkhazia, and Abkhaz from the town of
TkvarcheliTkvarcheli is a town in Abkhazia. It is situated on the river Ghalidzga and the railroad connects it with Ochamchire.-History:...
clashed in a shooting spree that lasted all night and intermittently for several days afterward. Meanwhile 30,000 Georgians from western Georgia, particularly from Mingrelia, and the predominantly Georgian
Gali districtGali district is a district of the Republic of Abkhazia. Its capital is Gali, the town by the same name. The district is smaller than the eponymous one in the de jure subdivision of Georgia, as some of its former territory is now part of Tkvarcheli district, formed by de facto Abkhaz authorities in...
in southern Abkhazia, began marching toward Sukhumi, led by the eminent Soviet-era
dissidentA dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
Merab Kostava250px|thumb|Merab Kostava, 1988Merab Kostava was a Georgian dissident, musician and poet; one of the leaders of the National-Liberation movement in Georgia...
. The authorities reported that the Abkhaz crowds attacked police posts to get access to weapons, but evidence suggests that official sympathy prevented the local law enforcement agencies from offering resistance to the "attackers". Moreover, a local procurator in
OchamchireOchamchira, commonly referred to as Ochamchire; is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia, and a centre of the eponymous district.According to the 1978 population census, Ochamchira had 18,700 residents...
ordered the return of Abkhaz hunting weapons. Hence, the Abkhaz armed groups were able to organize picket and block the Georgian marchers (some of whom were armed as well) at a bridge outside the ethnically mixed town of Ochamchire. Kostava stopped the march, averting more bloodshed, and soon the Soviet Interior troops were invoked to reestablish order.
The July events in Abkhazia left at least eighteen dead and 448 injured, of whom, according to official accounts, 302 were Georgians. Although a continuous presence of the Interior Ministry troops maintained a precarious peace in the region, outburst of violence did occur, and the Soviet government made no progress toward solving any of the interethnic problems. The Georgians suspected the attack on their university was intentionally staged by the Abkhaz secessionists in order to provoke a large-scale violence that would prompt Moscow to declare a
martial lawMartial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupations in the absence of any other civil government. Examples of this form of military rule include Germany and Japan...
in the region, thus depriving the government in Tbilisi of any control over the autonomous structures in Abkhazia. At the same time, they accused the Soviet government of manipulating ethnic issues to curb Georgia's otherwise irrepressible independence movement. On the other hand, the Abkhaz claimed that the new university was an instrument in the hands of Georgians to reinforce their cultural dominance in the region, and continued to demand that the investigation of the July events be turned over to Moscow and that no branch of Tbilisi State University be opened in Sukhumi.
However, as neither side felt strong enough to force the issue militarily at that time, the Georgian-Abkhaz antagonism had largely been relegated to the legislatures by July 1990, making Abkhazia a field of "war of laws" until the armed hostilities broke out in August 1992.