User:Srguan/1994 in Georgia (country)

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1994
in
Georgia (country)

Decades:
See also:Other events of 1994
List of years in Georgia (country)

Incumbents[edit]

January[edit]

  • January 5 – Georgian Civil War: The death of the fugitive President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia is reported by his wife, Manana Archvadze-Gamsakhurdia, who says his husband committed a suicide in western Georgia after being surrounded by the enemy troops. However, an aide of the Georgian Security Minister David Mumladze suggests that Gamsakhurdia could have been murdered by his own allies in the Chechen capital Grozny to "turn him into a martyr".[1]
  • January 8 – A group of investigators sent by Eduard Shevardnadze to Grozny report that Gamsakhurdia committed a suicide on the Georgian territory.[2]
  • January 11-13 – Second round of Georgian-Abkhaz peace talks in Geneva. The sides agree to a full-scale UN or UN-mandated peacekeeping force to be stationed in the conflict zone, to continue work for a quadripartite agreement on repatriation of refugees and displaced persons in Abkhazia, to create a special commission on refugees, and to put into effect from 10 February a gradual process of returning the refugees to Abkhazia, starting from Gali district.
  • January 18 – Clashes between Abkhazian forces and Georgian partisans in Gali district.
  • January 25 – Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia's son, says his father was murdered, dissaproving the official version of events proposed by the Shevardnadze's government.[3]
  • January 29 – According to Abkhazian reports, a car of Abkhazian Armed Forces was shelled near the village of Otobaya, Gali district, killing one and wounding two. Another four dead Abkhazian soldiers were found near the village of Sida, Gali district.
  • January 31 –The Abkhaz Defence Ministry reports killing of 25 Abkhazian servicemen and 12 civilians in the past 20 days by Georgian groups crossing into Abkhazia.
  • January 31 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 896: The UN does not sends a peacekeeping force to Abkhazia, but agrees to take steps in this direction if the political conditions are favorable following the next talks in Geneva. It also recognizes the right of refugees to return and condemns any attempt to change the demographic composition of Abkhazia "by repopulating it with persons not previously resident there" (implying Russian Cossacks and North Caucasians who were being settled by the separatist Abkhaz authorities in Abkhazia in place of ethnically cleansed Georgians).

February[edit]

  • 3 February – Russian President Boris Yeltsin visits Tbilisi. Russia and Georgia sign a treaty on friendship and 24 other agreements on trade and economic ties, scientific and cultural cooperation, the status of Russian border guards in Georgia, and military basing rights.[4]
  • 5-15 February – The fighting escalates in Abkhazia. Abkhaz forces expel between 3000 to 15000 Georgian civilians from Gali district.
  • 8 February – A head-on collision between two passenger trains results in three deaths and several people wounded.[5]
  • 10 February – The Abkhazian Supreme Soviet adopts a formal declaration of independence of Abkhazia.
  • 17 February – Gamsakhurdia's body is identified by a joint Chechen-Georgian commission.[6] His wife refuses to allow autopsy of her husband's body.[7]
  • 19 February – Gamsakhurdia's body is buried in Grozny after being transported there from Georgia.
  • 22-25 February – A third round of UN-sponsored negotiations between Abkhaz and Georgian leaders in Geneva ends in stalemate. A question of returning from 200,000 to 300,000 refugees remains unresolved.[8]

March[edit]

  • 1 March – The Georgian Parliament ratifies the membership into the Commonwealth of Independent States.
  • 7 March – US President Bill Clinton says that the USA will support a peacekeeping force in Abkhazia, but without involving the American troops.
  • 7-9 March – Abkhaz-Georgian peace talks in New York.
  • 10 March:
    • The Georgian Parliament adopts a resolution 'On the Legislative Practice of Apartheid and Racism in the Abkhazian Autonomous Republic', dissolves the Abkhazian Supreme Soviet.
    • Amid tense relations between the Mkhedrioni paramilitary and the Georgian government, a blast in the Mkhedrioni building kills two and wounds several.[9]
  • 24 March – Abkhazians launch offensive in the Kodori Gorge and the Gali district.
  • 25 March – Abkhazians capture the village of Nizhnaya Lata in the Kodori Gorge.
  • 25-29 March – Abkhaz-Georgian peace talks in Moscow.
  • 28 March – Eduard Shevardnadze's office reports killing of 10 Georgians as a result of shelling of Georgian-controlled villages by Abkhaz separatists in Kodori Gorge.[10]

April[edit]

  • 4 April – Two documents are signed as a result of negotiations by Abkhaz and Georgian sides with the presence of representatives of Russia, UN and OSCE: "Declaration on Measures for a Political Settlement of the Georgian/Abkhaz Conflict", and the "Quadripartite Agreement on Voluntary Return of Refugees and Displaced Persons".

May[edit]

The UN security zone in Abkhazia
  • 14 May – Georgian and Abkhaz sides sign the "Agreement on a Cease-fire and Separation of Forces", which provides for the deployment of CIS peacekeepers to the conflict zone. The agreement identifies the "Security Zone", a strip of territory along the Enguri river in which the placement of armed forces and heavy military equipment is banned, and the "Restricted-weapons Zones", a territory around the Security Zone, in which the deployment of heavy military equipment is prohibited. The police and milita are allowed to carry only personal arms in these territories. The agreement also stipulates a withdrawal on Georgian troops from the Kodori Valley (the only region in Abkhazia under Georgian control) and the placement of peacekeeping force there.

June[edit]

  • 2 June – Russian Foreign Ministry lifts economy sanctions on Abkhazia, introduced in September 1993.
  • 21 June – Russian Federation Council votes to deploy a peacekeeping force to Abkhazia.[11]
  • 24 June – Two Russian battalions, between 2500 to 3000 troops, take up positions in the security zone along the Enguri River.[12]
  • 31 June – Negotiations on returning refugees falter as Abkhazia demands that all returnees sign a declaration to abide by the Abkhazian laws.

July[edit]

  • 1 July – 5000 Georgian villagers return to Abkhazia.
  • 6 July – Former military commander of pro-Gamsakhurdia forces, Loti Kobalia is arrested in Ukraine and extradited to Georgia.
  • 21 July – The UN Security Council votes to endorse the deployment of Russian peacekeeping force to Abkhazia and increases the number of UN observers in the region.

August[edit]

  • 6 August – Georgian troops begin to withdraw from the Kodori Valley, with 250 soldiers leaving the area.
  • 14 August – The Human Rights Watch publishes report, charging Eduard Shevardnadze's government of torture and other human rights violations.[13]
  • 17 August – Separatist leader of Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba and Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiev sign a friendship and cooperation treaty, recognizing each other as "subjects of international law". This prompts protests from Georgia and Russia, with Russia stating that the treaty violates Russian-Georgian friendship treaty, while Abkhazians replying that Russia-Georgian treaty lacks legal force because it has not been ratified yet by the Russian Federation Council.
  • 22 August – Russian President sends additional 2200 troops to Abkhazia.
  • 31 August – Georgian side accuses the Abkhaz side of delaying the repatriation of Georgian refugees to their homes in Abkhazia.

September[edit]

  • 23 September – Abkhaz troops lay mines along the Inguri River to prevent the Georgian refugees from returning.

October[edit]

  • 6 October – The UNHCR representative denounces the Abkhaz side for creating barriers to repatriation, saying that 33000 refugees could have been returned to Abkhazia by that time if Abkhaz authorities cooperated.
  • 28 October – In Tskhinvali, South Ossetia and Transnistria sign an agreement on friendship and cooperation.

November[edit]

  • 12 November – Russia and Georgia sign an agreement on border enforcement and cooperation.
  • 15 November – The negotiations on the status of Abkhazia in Geneva between Abkhaz and Georgian sides fail. The problem of refugees remains unresolved, with the UN High Commission for Refugees stationed in Georgia accusing the Abkhaz forces of harassing and intimidating the returning Georgian refugees.
  • 26 November – Abkhazia passes a new constitution, proclaiming the Republic of Abkhazia as sovereign. Vladislav Ardzinba is elected as the President of Abkhazia. The election is not recognized by the international community.
  • 27 November – Eduard Shevardnadze says that the declaration of Abkhazian Supreme Soviet constitutes an attempt to set up an independent state, says Georgia will not conduct the negotiations with the Abkhaz side as an independent state.
  • 29 November – Vladislav Ardzinba says that the new constitution will make little change in the status of Abkhazia, cites the 1925 Abkhaz constitution restored by the Abkhaz Supreme Soviet in July 1992 as already declaring Abkhazia as sovereign. Ardzinba says that Abkhazia will negotiate with Georgia on creating a "union state with two equal components".

December[edit]

  • 9 December – Azerbaijani Foreign Minister condemns the unilateral declaration of the Abkhazian Supreme Soviet, saying that it contradicts Georgian territorial integrity and a commitment of sides to resolve the question of Abkhazian political status through negotiations.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Ousted Georgian leader took own life, wife says". Desert News. 5 January 1994. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Gamsakhurdia killed himself - official". The Independent. 9 January 1994. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Gamsakhurdia 'was murdered'". The Independent. 25 January 1994. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Yeltsin signs Georgia treaty". The Independent. 4 February 1994. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Train crash in Georgia kills three, injures dozens". UPI. 8 February 1994. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Georgia Confirms Gamsakhurdia Death". Los Angeles Times. 18 February 1994.
  7. ^ "Caucasus Report: April 20, 2001". Radio Liberty. 20 April 1994. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Gamsakhurdia buried in southern Russia". UPI. 24 February 1994.
  9. ^ "Explosion kills two, wounds several in Georgia". UPI. 10 March 1994.
  10. ^ "Abkhazia clashes kill 10". The Independent. 28 March 1994.
  11. ^ "Russian Peacekeepers Approved for Georgia: Moscow to Send 3,000 Troops to Rebel Province". The Washington Post. 21 June 1994. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Russia Begins Patrol Of Abkhazia Border". The New York Times. 27 June 1994. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  13. ^ "Georgia accused of torture". The Independent. 15 August 1994.