South Ossetia

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Хуссар Ирыстон
სამხრეთ ოსეთი
South Ossetia

Area  – Total  – % water	3,900 km² 0%;
Population  - Total (2000 est.)  - Density	70,000  18/km²
Time zone	UTC +3
Government of the unrecognized South Ossetia Republic Flag Coat of Arms
National anthem	Unknown
Official languages	Ossetian, with Russian having and widespread use by government and other institutions
Political status	De facto independent
Capital	Tskhinvali
Capital's coordinates	42°14′N 43°58′E
President	Eduard Djabeevich Kokoity
Prime Minister	Yury Morozov
Independence  – Declared  – Recognition	From Georgia  1991-11-28  none
Currency	Russian ruble
Alternative Government of South Ossetia
Official languages	Ossetian and Georgian
Political status	Autonomous Republic of Georgia
President	Dmitri Sanakoev
Prime Minister	Uruzmag Karkusov
Independence (within Georgia)  – Declared  – Recognized	From Soviet Union    none
Currency	Georgian lari

South Ossetia (Ossetian: Хуссар Ирыстон, Xussar Iryston; Georgian: სამხრეთ ოსეთი, Samkhret Oseti ; Russian: Южная Осетия, Yuzhnaya Osetiya) is a self-proclaimed republic within the internationally recognized borders of 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. Georgia does not recognise the region as a distinct entity, instead referring to it by either the medieval name of Samachablo or, more recently, Tskhinvali region (after the republic's capital).

Contents 1 Political status 2 History 2.1 Medieval and early modern period 2.2 South Ossetia under Russia and the Soviet Union 2.3 Georgian-Ossetian conflict 3 Politics 4 Alternative Government of South Ossetia 5 Geography 6 Economy 7 See also 8 Notes 9 External links

[edit] Political status

The United Nations, European Union, OSCE, Council of the European Union, United States and NATO recognize South Ossetia as an integral part of the Georgian state. However, The de facto independent republic governed by the secessionist government has held a second independence referendum^[1] on November 12, 2006, after its first referendum in 1992 was not recognized by the international community as valid.^[2]. As expected the referendum turned out a majority for independence from Georgia. However, it was not recognized internationally by the European Union, OSCE, NATO and the Russian Federation, given the lack of ethnic Georgian participation. ^[3] Parallel to the secessionist referendum and elections, the Ossetian opposition movement (The Salvation Union of South Ossetia) to Kokoity, organized their own elections in which both Georgian and Ossetian inhabitant of the region votes in favor of Dmitri Sanakoev as the alternative President of South Ossetia. ^[4]

[edit] History

[edit] Medieval and early modern period

The Ossetians are 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 ^[5] 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 ^[6] 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 (approximately 61%); there is also a significant Muslim minority.

[edit] South Ossetia under Russia and the Soviet Union

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 their own language (Ossetian), Russian and Georgian were administrative/state languages. ^[7] At present, Russian is the only administrative language^{[citation needed]} 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.^[8]

[edit] Georgian-Ossetian conflict

Main article: 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 high rates of intermarriages.

In the same year, the influential South Ossetian Popular Front (Ademon Nykhas) demanded unification with North Ossetia as a measure to defend Ossetian autonomy. 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.

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. Throughout the Soviet era Georgian, along with Russian, were the state and administrative languages, since it was stipulated as such in both the 1936 and 1979 constitutions of the Georgian Soviet Socialist 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.

[edit] Politics

Georgian-Russian relations

Events Georgian-Ossetian conflict Georgian-Abkhaz conflict Rose Revolution Adjara crisis Gas pipeline sabotage Ban of wines Kodori crisis Espionage controversy Primary parties involved Georgia Abkhazia South Ossetia Adjara Russia v • d • e

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 separatist 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.

On August 26, 2006, the high-ranking delegation of the United States Senators led by the Arizona Senator John McCain paid a visit to the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone. The group visited Tskhinvali and met with the de facto leader Eduard Kokoity. Speaking about his visit to Tskhinvali, Senator McCain said that the trip was "not very productive." Senator McCain said:

Because there was not a direct response to our questions about why OSCE has been blocked from doing its job; why there has been no progress on peace initiatives from Georgia, from the UN, from the OSCE, from other organizations - there has been no progress. I think that the attitude there is best described by what you see by driving in [Tskhinvali]: a very large billboard with a picture of Vladimir Putin on it, which says 'Vladimir Putin Our President'. I do not believe that Vladimir Putin is now, or ever should be, the President of sovereign Georgian soil.[9]

Two days later, on August 28, Senator Richard Lugar, then visiting Georgia's capital Tbilisi, joined the Georgian politicians in criticism of the Russian peacekeeping mission, stating that "the U.S. administration supports the Georgian government’s insistence on the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from the conflict zones in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali district." ^[10]

On September 11, 2006, the South Ossetian Information and Press Committee announced that the republic will hold an independence referendum^[11] (the first referendum was not recognized by the international community as valid in 1992 ^[12]) on November 12, 2006. The voters will decide on whether or not South Ossetia "should preserve its present de facto status of an independent state". Georgia denounced the move as a "political absurdity". However, On September 13, 2006, the Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary General Terry Davis commented on the problem, stating that

The secessionist authorities of the South Ossetian region of Georgia are wasting time and effort on the organisation of a "referendum on independence" in November... I do not think that anyone will recognise the result of such a referendum. If the people in power in South Ossetia are genuinely committed to the interest of the people they claim to represent, they should engage in meaningful negotiations with the Georgian government in order to find a peaceful, internationally accepted outcome.[13]

On September 13, 2006 EU Special Representative to the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, while visiting Moscow, said: "results of the South Ossetian independence referendum will have no meaning for the European Union". ^[14] Peter Semneby also added that this referendum will not contribute to the peaceful conflict resolution process in South Ossetia

On October 5, 2006, Javier Solana, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, ruled out the possibility of replacing the Russian peacekeepers with the EU force." ^[15] However, on October 10, EU South Caucasus envoy Peter Semneby admitted that "Russia's actions in the Georgia spy row have damaged its credibility as a neutral peacekeeper in the EU's Black Sea neighbourhood."^[16]

South Ossetians nearly unanimously approved a referendum on November 12, 2006 opting for independence from Georgia. The referendum was hugely popular, winning between 98 and 99 percent of the ballots, flag waving and celebration marked were seen across South Ossetia, but elsewhere observers were less enthusiastic. International critics claimed that the move could worsen regional tensions, and the Tblisis government thoroughly discounted the results. "Everybody needs to understand, once and for all, that no amount of referendums or elections will move Georgia to give up that which belongs to the Georgian people by God's will," declared Georgi Tsagareishvili, leader of the Industralist's bloc in Georgia's parliament.^[17] On November 13, Terry Davis, head of the 46-nation Council of Europe, called the referendum on "independence" as "unnecessary, unhelpful and unfair" because ethnic Georgians were not given the right to vote in it. ^[18]

[edit] Alternative Government of South Ossetia

The Salvation Union of South Ossetia was founded in October of 2006 by the ethnic Ossetians who were outspoken critics and presented a serious opposition to Eduard Kokoity. The group headed by the former defence minister and then prime minister of secessionist government Dmitri Sanakoev organized the so-called alternative presidential election, on November 12 – parallel to those held by the secessionist authorities in Tskhinvali. ^[19] High voter turnout was reported by the alternative CEC, which estimated over 42,000 voters from both Ossetian (Java district and Tskhinvali) and Georgian (Eredvi, Tamarasheni, etc) communities of South Ossetia. In few days Alternative CEC announced Sanakoev as the winner of the Presidential race.^[20] Sanakoev’s inauguration ceremony was held on December 1, 2006 near Tskhinvali.

“I, the President of the Republic of South Ossetia, declare before God and Nation that I will protect the interests of the South Ossetian people... I will take care of the security, well-being and revival of South Ossetia and its people,”

Dimitri Sanakoev said in his presidential oath, which he gave in the Ossetian and Georgian languages.^[21]

Soon after Sanakoev formed his government, appointing Uruzmag Karkusov as Prime Minister, Jemal Karkusov (former Interior Minister in the secessionist government) as Interior Minister and Maia Chigoeva-Tsaboshvili (head of the Tbilisi-based non-governmental organization Iber-Ironi Georgian-Ossetian Union) as Foreign Minister. ^[22]

“This is a historic day. A year ago no one could imagine that South Ossetian flags could appear here in the Georgian-populated village,” Vladimir Sanakoev, co-founder of the Salvation Union of South Ossetia, said. ^[23]

There were large number of Ossetian flags also used by the South Ossetian secessionist authorities, flown alongside the Georgian flag in Kurta, near Tskhinvali. South Ossetian flags are usually displayed in Tskhinvali by the Separatist controlled territories of the breakaway region alongside of the Russian national flag.

[edit] Geography

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.

[edit] Economy

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 levying customs duties on freight traffic.

[edit] See also

• Music of Ossetia

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• 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
• (Russian) Ossetia—History, culture, politics, news
• BBC overview of South Ossetia
• [2]
• Georgia: South Ossetia's Ethnic Georgians Launch Counter-Vote
• Two Referendums and Two “Presidents” in South Ossetia

	Subdivisions of Georgia
Autonomous Republics: Abkhazia1 | Adjara
Regions: Guria | Imereti | Kakheti | Kvemo Kartli | Mtskheta-Mtianeti | Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti | Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Samtskhe-Javakheti | Shida Kartli2
City with special status: Tbilisi3 Notes: (1) A self-proclaimed republic which is de-jure part of Georgia; (2) Officially includes also the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia; (3) Capital of Georgia