South Ossetia
South Ossetia (
Ossetian: Хуссар Ирыстон,
Respublikæ Xussar Iryston;
Russian: Республика Южная Осетия,
Respublika Yuzhnaya Osetiya;
Georgian: სამხრ"თ ოს"თის რ"სპუბლიკა,
Samkhret Oseti Respublika (unofficial) is a self-proclaimed republic within
Georgia. Although this former
Soviet autonomous
oblast (region) has declared its independence and is in
de facto control of significant part of the region, its separation from Georgia has not been
recognized by any other country and is regarded a
de jure part of the Georgian region (
mkhare) of
Shida Kartli. As Georgia itself refuses to recognise the region as a distinct entity, the government doesn't use the name
South Ossetia, but calls it by the medieval name of
Samachablo or, more recently,
Tskhinvali region (after the republic's capital).
Medieval and early modern period
The
Ossetians were originally descendants of
Iranian-speaking tribes from
Central Asia. They became
Christians during the early
Middle Ages, under Georgian influence. Under Mongol rule, they were pushed out of their medieval homeland south of the
Don river in present-day Russia and part migrated towards and over the
Caucasus mountains, to Georgia where they formed three distinct territorial entities. Digor in the west came under the influence of the neighboring
Kabard people, who introduced
Islam. Tualläg in the south became what is now South Ossetia, part of the historical Georgian principality of Samachablo, where Ossetians found refuge from Mongol invaders. Iron in the north became what is now North Ossetia, under Russian rule from
1767. Most Ossetians are now Christian (apparently 61%), there is also a significant Muslim minority.
South Ossetia under Russia and the Soviet Union
|
Simdi, Ossetian Dance by Georgian Dance Company Sukhishvili |
|
South Ossetia detailed map |
The modern-day South Ossetia was annexed by Russia in
1801, along with Georgia proper, and absorbed into the
Russian Empire. Following the Russian Revolution, South Ossetia became a part of the
Menshevik Georgian Democratic Republic, while the north became a part of the
Terek Soviet Republic. The area saw brief clashes between the Georgian governmental forces and Ossetians led by Ossetian and Georgian
bolsheviks in 1920.
The Soviet Georgian government established by the Russian 11th
Red Army in 1921, created the
South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (i.e. district) in April 1922. Although the Ossetians had its own language (
Ossetian),
Russian and
Georgian were administrative/state languages. At present,
Russian is the only administrative language used by the separatist government in Tskhinvali. In the Soviet time, under the rule of Georgia's government, it enjoyed some degree of autonomy, including to practice (
Ossetian) language and teach it in schools.
Georgian-Ossetian conflict
The tensions in the region began to rise amid the rising nationalism among both Georgians and Ossetians in
1989. Prior to this, the two communities had been living in peace with each other except for the episode in 1920. Both ethnicities have had a high level of interaction and the high rate of intermarriages.
In the same year, the influential South Ossetian Popular Front (
Ademon Nykhas) demanded unification with
North Ossetia as a measure to defend the Ossetian autonomy from the alleged Georgian encroachment. On
10 November 1989, the South Ossetian Supreme Soviet approved a decision to unite South Ossetia with the North Ossetian ASSR, part of Russia. A day later, the Georgian parliament revoked the decision and abolished South Ossetian autonomy. Additionally, the parliament authorized the suppression of newspapers and demonstrations.
|
Georgian refugees expelled from Tskhinvali |
Following Georgia's independence in
1991 under the nationalist leader
Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the Georgian government declared
Georgian to be the only administrative language throughout the country (Georgian was a state/administrative language throughout the soviet time along with Russian and it was written so both in the 1936 and 1979 constitutions of Georgian Soviet Socialists Republic). This caused great concern in South Ossetia, whose leaders demanded that
Ossetian become the language of their state. The Ossetian minority continued to seek greater levels of autonomy, but were faced with increasing nationalist sentiment among the Georgian majority. Violent conflict broke out towards the end of 1991 during which many South Ossetian villages were attacked and burned down as well as Georgian houses and schools in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. As a result, approximately 1,000 died and 60,000-100,000 refugees fled the region, most across the border into North Ossetia or into Georgia proper. Many South Ossetians were resettled in uninhabited areas of North Ossetia from which the
Ingush had been expelled by
Stalin in
1944, leading to conflicts between Ossetians and Ingush over the right of residence in former Ingush territory. Only 15% of the Ossetian population now lives in South Ossetia.
In
1992, Georgia was forced to accept a ceasefire to avoid a large scale confrontation with Russia. The government of Georgia and South Ossetian separatists reached an agreement to avoid the use of force against one another, and Georgia pledged not to impose sanctions against South Ossetia. A peacekeeping force of Ossetians, Russians and Georgians was established. On November 6 1992, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) set up a Mission in Georgia to monitor the peacekeeping operation. From then, until mid-2004 South Ossetia was generally peaceful. In June 2004, tensions began to rise as the Georgian authorities strengthened their efforts against smuggling in the region. Hostage takings, shootouts and occasional bombings left dozens dead and wounded. A ceasefire deal was reached on
August 13 though it was repeatedly violated. Presently the situation is tense though largely peaceful, although Moscow and Tskhinvali view the recent Georgian arms build-up with concern. In the last year or so Georgia has purchased
SU-25 fighter bombers from
Republic of Macedonia and
Bulgaria, as well as
Mi-8 "Hip" helicopters from
Ukraine, and its army is being trained by
US Marine instructors. The Georgian government protests against the continually increasing Russian economic and political presence in the region, as well as the uncontrolled military of the South Ossetian side.
The Republic of South Ossetia is not a territorially contiguous entity. It is, instead, something of a checkerboard of Georgian-inhabited and Ossetian-inhabited towns and villages in an arc around the largely Ossetian city of Tskhinvali. The capital and most of the other Ossetian-inhabited communities are governed by the separatist government in Tskhinvali, while the Georgian-inhabited villages are governed by the Georgian government. This close proximity and the intermixing of the two communities has made the conflict in South Ossetia particularly dangerous, as any attempt to create an ethnically pure territory would necessarily have to involve
population transfer on a large scale.
The political dispute has, however, yet to be resolved and the South Ossetian authorities still govern the region with effective independence from Tbilisi. Although talks have been held periodically between the two sides, little progress was made under the government of
Eduard Shevardnadze (
1993–
2003). His successor
Mikheil Saakashvili (elected
2004) made the reassertion of Georgian governmental authority a political priority. Having successfully put an end to the
de facto independence of the southwestern province of
Ajaria in May 2004, he pledged to seek a similar solution in South Ossetia. After the 2004 clashes, the Georgian government has intensified its efforts to bring the problem to international attention. On
January 25 2005, President Saakashvili presented a Georgian vision for resolving the South Ossetian conflict at the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) session in
Strasbourg. Late in October, the
U.S. Government and the OSCE expressed their support to the Georgian action plan presented by Prime Minister
Zurab Noghaideli at the OSCE Permanent Council at
Vienna on
October 27,
2005. On
December 6, the OSCE Ministerial Council in
Ljubljana unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the Georgian peace plan which was subsequently rejected by the South Ossetian
de facto authorities.
South Ossetia covers an area of about 3,900km² on the southern side of the
Caucasus, separated by the mountains from the more populous
North Ossetia (part of
Russia) and extending southwards almost to the Mtkvari river in Georgia. It is extremely mountainous, with most of the region lying over 1,000m (3,300ft) above sea level. Its economy is primarily agricultural, although less than 10% of South Ossetia's land area is cultivated, with cereals, fruit and vines the major produce. Forestry and cattle industries are also maintained. A number of industrial facilities also exist, particularly around the capital
Tskhinvali.
Following a war with Georgia in the
1990s, South Ossetia has struggled economically. Employment and supplies are scarce. Additionally, Georgia cut off supplies of electricity to the region, which forced the South Ossetian government to run an electric cable through North Ossetia. The majority of the population survives on subsistence farming. In addition to its economic problems, unclear political perspectives, thousands of refugees, and an illegal
drug and
arms trade have made the region unstable again in the last few years. Virtually the only significant economic asset that South Ossetia possesses is control of the Roki Tunnel that links Russia and Georgia, from which the South Ossetian government reportedly obtains as much as a third of its budget by the expedient of levying customs duties on freight traffic.
*
Music of Ossetia*
Post-Soviet frozen conflicts*
Ossetian Wikipedia*
Former Soviet war zones | The hazards of a long, hard freeze (
The Economist, 19 August, 2004)
*
Fighting intensifies in S Ossetia (BBC news, 19 August, 2004)
*
Special South Ossetia on Caucaz.com, Weekly Online about South Caucasus
*
Photos and stories from South Ossetia*
Ossetia—History, culture, politics, news (in Russian)
*
BBC overview of South Ossetia
