Akhalgori district spreads over the foothills of the Greater Caucasus in the high valley of the Ksani river, which runs into the Kura, upstream from Mtskheta. It is physically separated from the rest of South Ossetia by a mountain range and is well-connected to Mtskheta region by road. Before 1990-91 conflict it was inhabited by a majority of ethnic Georgians.

Ossetians also used to live there, especially in the villages above Akhalgori city. However, while the South Ossetian regime in Tskhinvali claims that Georgians have despoiled the Ossetians and forced them to leave, particularly in 1991 during Zviad Gamsakhurdia’s presidency, it seems that both communities later continued to live together in relative harmony.

1990-2008: A Region Apart From The Separatist Conflict

Isolated from South Ossetia’s capital Tskhinvali and its political turmoil, the South Ossetian district of Akhalgori did not experience the armed conflict. It stayed under the Georgian government’s control and was merged into the Mtskheta-Mtianeti administrative region. In doing so, the Georgian government gave a fate to the Akhalgori district different from the rest of South Ossetia: the zones of the South Ossetian Autonomous Territory which were involved in the fighting and stayed under Georgian control until august 2008 were incorporated into Gori’s administrative region, Shida Kartli.

The years between 1990 and 2000 were rather favourable for the district, which was not hit by the many clashes between Georgian forces and South Ossetian militias. The Lomisi Beer Factory, one of Georgia’s three biggest, provided jobs for the majority of Akhalgori city’s 6000 residents. The rest of the rural and mountainous district lived like most regions in Georgia, off of basic agriculture.

The Georgian government had even repaired the road between Mtskheta and Akhalgori in 2007-2008, thus further integrating the district into the Georgian infrastructure. Akhalgori’s main tourist attraction, the medieval castle of the Ksani Princes (who were among the most powerful Georgian princes in the 10-12th centuries, remaining important until the 19th century), which is also an art and history Museum, was on its way to becoming a favourite for Tbilisians, for school excursions, for instance.

The August 2008 War : The Price Of Counter Attack

But in August 2008, the Georgian troops’ attack on Tskhinvali and on South Ossetia’s regions, which used to be under the breakaway government’s control, immediately followed by a lightning counter-attack by the Russians, put an end to this relative quiet. This region, which experienced the darkest hours of the country’s recent history without major injury, was pulled into the turmoil of the Georgian army’s rout.

South Ossetian militias, encouraged by Russia’s victory in South Ossetia and in Shida Kartli, “crossed the mountains” through a tough pass leading from Tskhinvali to Akhalgori, which only ATVs can navigate, and drove away the Georgian police forces stationed in Akhalgori. The Georgian army, which had already abandoned its positions in central Georgia in order to withdraw around Tbilisi, was not deployed in the district. At present, there is a checkpoint several kilometres south of Akhalgori, which confirms the district’s control by Ossetians and its loss for Georgia.

Tbilisi accuses the Russian army of having helped the South Ossetian militias take position in Akhaglori and of having participated in the ethnic cleansing. According to Georgia, some units of the Russian army are still stationed there. Last October, the OSCE confirmed the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgian regions around South Ossetia, but criticized their remaining in Akhalgori.

Is Akhalgori definitely lost for Georgia?

In the Georgian view, Russia has intentions to merge Akhalgori into South Ossetia’s breakaway territory. One of Tbilisi’s main accusations towards Moscow concerns the officially declared project to build a road between Tskhinvali and Akhalgori, which can be achieved only with Russian technical assistance.

After its military defeat, Georgia has little chance of reclaiming the Akhlagori district, unless it becomes compensation during negotiations between the two sides. Because the bottom of the valley is a cul-de-sac, the Akhalgori district is no more strategically important than it is economically important. The separatist republic’s institutions and infrastructure have not been established there and the number of Ossetians living there is rather small. If talks take place, which would be rather favourable for Georgia, it is possible that the Ossetian-Russian side would used Akhalgori more as a bargaining chip, than as a territorial aim in itself.

Far from this supposition, the Ossetian-Russian control over Akhalgori has actually been well established. On November 27th 2008, despite the checkpoint, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili tried to bring his guest, Polish President Lech Kaczynski, to Akhalgori. But this sombre affair ended with a U-turn. The Georgian side claimed that someone had fired shots at the car which transported the two presidents. South Ossetian authorities denied the accusations. The Polish president faced scandal in his own country, for having put himself at risk without the appropriate security measures, in an unscheduled enterprise which did not fit with the usual rules for official presidential visits.

In addition to this strange episode, Tbilisi called on Moscow several times to evacuate the Akhaglori district. Given the Ossetian-Russian takeover of the region, at present, the Georgian government can do little more than make statements, without any means of coercion or attempts to attract the international community’s attention.

A Threatened Population

A significant number of Akhalgori’s ethnically Georgian inhabitants has been chased away by Ossetian militias or escaped during the August events to seek refuge in Tbilisi or in other camps of Georgians who were displaced from South Ossetia after the war.

At the end of Novembre, Human Rights Watch reported that Ossetian militias were extorting ethnic Georgians in Akhaglori. Despoliations, plundering, physical aggressions: the population seems to be at the mercy of armed gangs. Enquirers also noticed that in one school of the city, only 136 of the 236 pupils remained, giving an idea of how many people left their homes. Human Rights Watch urged Russia, as an occupying power, to ensure that the extortion stops.

Apart from several inquiries by human rights organizations, it is still very difficult to precisely reconstruct what happened and is happening in Akhalgori since South Ossetian militias took control. Certainly, there has been a massive exodus of Georgian people, which made up a majority in the district before the war. In addition, the city’s main activities have been largely interrupted. “Leningor” is again in South Ossetia, while the new rulers’ plans for the district and the city are unclear.