National flags were lowered to half-mast at government buildings as Georgia commemorates the 33rd anniversary of the fall of Sokhumi on September 27, 1993, which ended the 1992–93 armed conflict in Abkhazia.
The date is associated with Tbilisi’s loss of control over the region and the ethnic cleansing of the Georgian population, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of thousands.
Among those who paid tribute at the Heroes Memorial in Tbilisi were Georgian Dream government officials, opposition representatives, and members of the diplomatic community. A march organized by the Abkhaz Council movement and joined by opposition parties and protest groups is planned later in the day from Tbilisi State University campus to the memorial to commemorate the day.
“September 27 is an utterly tragic day that reminds us of the gravity of the Abkhazia war. On this day, we commemorate the heroes fallen in Abkhazia and pay tribute to their heroic deeds and memory,” Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said. “It is our duty to do our utmost to restore the territorial integrity by peaceful means,” he added, noting that this was the dream of the Abkhazia war heroes.
Among those who paid tribute was also Courtney Austrian, the newly-appointed U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Georgia. “We join our Georgian partners in remembering the sacrifice and courage of those who gave their lives to protect the Georgian homeland and those who have since been displaced after the war,” the U.S. Embassy wrote on X.
Tbilisi dispatched troops to the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia in the summer of 1992 with the stated aim to protect the Abkhazia section of the Russian-Georgian railway.
The government troops were forced to withdraw from the region in September 1993, following the attack on Sokhumi on September 16, 1993, by Abkhaz militants and mercenaries from the Russian Federation. The attack occurred in violation of the July 27 ceasefire that envisaged the withdrawal of heavy Georgian weaponry from Sokhumi and its surroundings.
September 27 is associated in Georgia with the loss of control over Abkhazia and the ethnic cleansing of the ethnic Georgian population. An estimated 12,000 people were killed during the 13-month armed conflict, while more than 200,000 ethnic Georgians were displaced from the region.
Following the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, Moscow recognized Abkhazia as an independent state, but the region’s international recognition remains limited, with Nauru recently becoming the latest country to withdraw its recognition.
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