For Abkhazia, a 'Special' Independence Day

Maria Hintuba, left, and Madina Shamba celebrated Abkhazian independence day near the parliament building, which was burned out in the 1992-93 separatist war. Many Abkhaz say they have now achieved genuine independence. (By Tara Bahrampour -- The Washington Post)
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Other guests included representatives from Russian regions such as Daghestan and Kursk and from other disputed post-Soviet territories such as South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transdniester, some wearing tall fleece hats with their business suits.

Also present was a delegation from the German-Abkhazian Association, a private German organization that seeks to promote interest in Abkhazia. "It's the Cote d'Azur of . . . the Soviet Union," said Philipp Ingel, a member from Berlin who said the group was looking into rehabilitating a castle here that was once owned by German aristocrats.

The capital of Abkhazia is an eerily empty city, lined with stately, peeling, Czarist-era villas and lush foliage. The Black Sea laps at its expansive bays, and huge eucalyptus trees perfume the air. Russian is the main language, although Abkhazian is also widely spoken.

People in Georgia actively mourn the loss of this beloved vacation spot, and some -- including many in government -- still talk of "when," not "if" they get Abkhazia back. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has made reintegrating the territories one of the keystones of his rule.

But it is hard to find anyone here who believes Georgia has the right to claim Abkhazia. They cite history stretching from the 10th century to the Soviet era to support the idea of Abkhazia as a country. While many say they lived peacefully alongside their Georgian neighbors until the 1992-93 war, they also say they cannot forgive the Georgians for the deaths and injuries it caused.

This summer's war in South Ossetia brought back memories of that war. Tanya Abgadzhaba, 41, of Gudauta, said she was worried that young people such as her two sons, who are 18, and 20, would be called to fight. "It was like living on a volcano," she said of the constant fear that war would reignite with Georgia. Since the Russian recognition, she said, "I feel more secure."

Besides showcasing the Abkhaz army, Tuesday's parade included a brigade of Cossacks with large moustaches, red capes and ceremonial daggers who said they had fought with the Russian army last month in Georgia. When the parade ended, they gathered under some trees, passed around sausages and plastic cups of vodka, and pontificated on what it means to be Cossack.

"Cossacks don't fight with anybody, they defend people," said Sergei Zaoruliko, 48. "We're always going to defend our way of life, our children, our traditions, our songs."

Defend them from whom? "From NATO," said Roma Kavalyov, 38.

Inside the former parliament building, a burned-out 12-story edifice that stood as the backdrop for the parade, Ainar Gamisonia, 16, stood at a hole where a window had been, and smoked a cigarette. Born during the war, he said he didn't know much about what happened in the building, but when war started in South Ossetia this summer, he was ready to go to the Georgian front.

"With my classmates and my older brother, we got together to go there, to Gali, to help our elders, whatever was needed," he said. "Our fathers, our grandfathers, our ancestors taught us how to use guns."

"We don't want to leave our borders," he said. "We just didn't want them to come in."