Incumbent President Raul Khadzhimba (left) will likely face Alkhas Kvitsiniya (right) in Abkhazian presidential election run-off.
The latest election had a record number of nine candidates, including the incumbent Raul Khadzhimba, who has held the office since 2014 and ran for the fifth time. Khadzhimba will likely face opposition candidate Alkhas Kvitsiniya in the run-off ‘within two weeks’.
Abkhazian residence permit and passport (abkhazinform.com)
As the issuance of new passports continues in Abkhazia, many non–ethnic Abkhaz — ethnic Armenians, Russians, Georgians, and others — fear the reason behind the new regulations is to deprive them of citizenship.
Ketevan Tsikhelashvili serves as Georgia’s Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality (smr.gov.ge)
Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has served as Georgia’s State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, responsible for coordinating the country’s conflict resolution policy, since 2016. Tsikhelashvili sat down with OC Media to discuss the ministry’s successes and failures, her new peace initiative, and the barriers to and prospects for peace.
Sukhumi’s State Russian Drama Theatre (siff-abkh.tv)
The state-owned Georgian National Film Centre (GNFC) has condemned the holding of the Sukhum International Film Festival in Abkhazia. They say the festival represents ‘soft power deployed by Russia’s occupation regime’.
Stella Adleyba (/OC Media)
‘When the war in Abkhazia began, I was only a year old. My Dad went to the front in the first days of the war, so we were left alone: my mother, my brother, and me. Of course, I don’t remember what happened in those days, but all of my life I have listened to the stories of my mother and brother about what we went through back then.’
Ruslan Gvashev (Facebook)
A 67-year-old Circassian activist on hunger strike in Krasnodar Krai has suffered a stroke. Ruslan Gvashev has been protesting for 24 days after being fined for performing a public prayer at a sacred tulip tree in the village of Golovinka, near Sochi. [Read more…]
Ruslan Gvashev holding an Abkhazian flag (David Dasaniya/ Facebook)
A rally in solidarity with a 67-year-old Circassian activist was held in Sukhumi (Sukhum) on 27 September. The former Shapsug leader has been on hunger strike in Krasnodar Krai for more than two weeks.
