Choloki River

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The Choloki River (in Georgian: ჩოლოქი) in Georgia forms the border between the autonomous province of Ajaria and the province of Guria. For a time in the nineteenth century it formed the border between Turkey and Imperial Russia.

During the Crimean War, Russia’s 13,000 troops consisting mainly of Georgian militias under General Lieutenant Prince Ivan Malkhazovich Andronnikov (Andronikashvili) routed Sinan Pasha’s Turkish corps of 35,000 strong on the left bank of the Choloki River on June 4, 1854.

Another military episode took place on April 16, 1918, when the Georgian National Guard under General-Lieutenant Giorgi Mazniashvili repelled a Turkish invasion force.

The bridge over Choloki river that was a main road link between Ajaria and the rest of Georgia was blown up on May 2, 2004 by the ousted leadership of the Autonomy. Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze called the decision to blow up the bridges in the Kobuleti border region "a preventive measure against the possible attempt of military action by the central Georgian authorities."