Protests Shake the Caucasus - Eastern Express - TVP World

[TexasTowelie]

Abkhazia, a Russian-occupied breakaway region of Georgia, faces a political storm as protests force its leader to resign amid accusations of corruption and growing frustration with Russian control. This episode of Eastern Express explores the protests, Georgia’s hopes for reunification, and Russia’s struggle to maintain influence in the region. What does this mean for the region as well as global geopolitics? Watch the episode for the full story.

[tornado34jh]

1. To understand the issue between Abkhazia, Georgia, and Russia, we have to go back to just after the Soviet Union fell

After the Soviet Union fell, there was a war between separatists in Abkhazia and Georgia. The former won, and de facto declared independence in 1993, and since then it has been under the control of Russia-backed separatists. However, Georgia and most of the world still consider it as part of Georgia, as is the case with South Ossetia. Now, the Abkhaz are a Caucasian group more closely related to the Adyghe or Circassian. But there is a conflict between who settled in the South Caucasus first (i.e. south of the mountainous border with Russia in Georgia). There are a lot of Abkhaz who support Russia, but there are Abkhaz people who are also found in Syria. So as is the case with a lot of the ethnic complexities of the region, there are a lot of political alignments so to speak.

But then again, I don't really feel sorry for them because they sided with Russia in the Abkhazia war. So you made your bed with them. I mean, you can't really be frustrated with corruption and frustration of Russian control since you supported them in your independence.