In the 70s years XIX century has become aggravated again Eastern question. The struggle between Russia and states Western Europe(England, France, Austria-Hungary and Germany) for the redistribution of Turkey's territory entered a new stage. Russia recovered from its defeat in the Crimean War (1853–1856) and began to prepare for a new war. Russia laid claim to the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and the city of Istanbul, but it was opposed by England and France. However, Russia was supported by the population of the Balkan Peninsula, which waged a war of liberation against the Turkish yoke. As for Georgia, it contributed to Russia's desire to expel Turkey from southwestern Georgia. The next Russian-Turkish war was accelerated by the uprising of the Slavic peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, which began against Turkey in 1875. In response to this uprising, Turkey undertook a series of punitive expeditions and, incited by England, did not comply with Russia’s demand to stop punitive expeditions. This was the reason for the start of the war. In April 1877, Russia declared war on Turkey. The Slavs joyfully greeted the entry of the Russian army into the Balkan Peninsula. In 1877 the Russians besieged main fortress Turkey - Plevna. At the same time, they occupied the Shipki Gorge to prevent the influx of additional Turkish forces from the southern side of the Balkans. The Russian-Turkish war took place not only in the Balkans. Military operations also began in Transcaucasia, in particular in Georgia. The war inspired hope that this time Adjara and the southwestern historical territories of Georgia would be returned to Georgia. The Georgian public showed particular interest in the Adjara issue, or, as Adjara was then called “Ottoman Georgia,” in the 60s of the 19th century. Representatives of the national movement, famous scientists and public figures tried to restore contact with Muslim Georgians living on the original Georgian land seized by Turkey. Before the start of the Russian-Turkish war, Dimitri Bakradze, Giorgi Kazbegi, Mamia Gurieli, Ivane Kereselidze, Giorgi Tsereteli and others made a trip to southwestern Georgia. Ivane Kereselidze met with a popular figure in Adjara, Sheriff Beg Khimshiashvili, and had a conversation with him. The uprising that began in Adjara in 1875 aroused great interest among the Georgian public. The Turkish Sultan ordered the collection of an army from the Adjarians for the war against the rebel Slavs. The Adjarians did not comply with the order and rebelled. This phenomenon in Georgia was perceived as a serious manifestation of the anti-Turkish movement in Adjara. Immediately after the start of the Russian-Turkish war, a Georgian people's militia began to form in Georgia. More than 38 thousand Georgian militias were sent to participate in hostilities. By the beginning of the war, significant Russian military forces were concentrated in the Caucasus. Meanwhile, Turkey was quite well prepared for war. Military operations on Caucasian Front began in April 1877. The Russians took the cities of Bayazet and Ardahan, but they were unable to secure their position achievements achieved and they had to leave the territories occupied at the beginning of the war. The Russians were also defeated in Adjara. True, in 1877 they went on the offensive in the direction of Batumi and occupied the villages of Mukhaestate and Khutsubani, but were unable to advance further. On the way to Batumi there was a significant fortress of Tsikhisdziri, to the defense of which the Turkish command sent 35 thousand people. The garrison of the fortress was actively supported by the navy, so the Russians were unable to take the Tsikhisdziri fortress. Failure befell the Russians in Abkhazia as well. In 1877, Türkiye landed a large force in Abkhazia. The Russians had to leave Sukhumi without a fight. The Turks occupied almost half of the territory of Abkhazia. Anti-Russian unrest began in Abkhazia, caused by indecisive actions of Russia. A dangerous situation has arisen for Russia. Auxiliary forces consisting of Russian units were urgently sent to Abkhazia. regular army and the Georgian people's militia. The Turks were defeated and forced to retreat. Russian troops entered Sukhumi. Soon the Turks abandoned all of Abkhazia. In 1877, the Russians went on the offensive and took the Kars fortress. In January 1878, Russian troops and Georgian militias occupied Shavsheti. Military operations also developed successfully in the Balkans. The Russian army approached Istanbul. Turkey was saved from complete disaster by England, which demanded that Russia cease offensive actions. Russia, not wanting complications in relations with England, stopped its army near the village of San Stefano. On March 3, 1878, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed between Russia and Turkey, according to which Russia was to receive Bessarabia in Europe, and in Asia the historical territory of southwestern Georgia. Meanwhile, England expressed dissatisfaction with the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano, and according to On her initiative, European states demanded a revision of the treaty. Finding itself isolated, Russia was forced to agree to convening a congress in Berlin European countries in June 1878 and make some concessions. According to the Berlin Treaty, signed in July 1878, Russia passed historical territory Georgia captured by Turkey: Adjara, Shavsheti, Klarjeti, Imerkhevi, Kola-Artaani and Oltisi. The city of Batumi was transferred to Russia under the status of a free port (open sea port). At the time of the signing of the Berlin Treaty, most of the territories mentioned were in the hands of the Russian army. Only in Adjara, including Batumi, did it remain Turkish army. Türkiye delayed the withdrawal of troops from Adjara. On August 25, 1878, Russian military units entered the city of Batumi. On the same day, the Russian military fleet entered the Batumi port. Batumi remained under the status of a free port until 1886, after which Russia unilaterally abolished this status of Batumi. The territory of Georgia, which passed to Russia according to the decision of the Berlin Congress, was divided by Russia into Batumi, Kars and Artaan regions. Most of Adjara entered the Batumi region, which administratively became the Kutaisi province. The annexation of Adjara to Russia was followed by the resettlement of Muslim Georgians (Adjarians) to Turkey (Muhajirism). Russia contributed in every possible way to this process, since it was interested in the liberation of border areas from Muslim Georgians. Therefore, she created unbearable living conditions for the Muslim population of Adjara. As a result, during the Russian-Turkish War and after the period of Muhajirism, approximately 30 thousand Muslim Georgians moved from Adjara to Turkey. After the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878, Muhajirism began in Abkhazia. The first stream of Abkhazians moved to Turkey back in early XIX century, some of them moved to Turkey during the period Crimean War(1853–1856) after the evacuation of Turkish troops from Abkhazia. After the defeat of Turkey in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878, about 30 thousand Abkhazians moved to Turkey. Russia contributed in every possible way to this process. The Russian government used all possible methods to force Muslim Abkhazians to move to Turkey. Muhajirdom became a tragic phenomenon in the history of Georgia. The reunification of Adjara with its homeland - Georgia was a great event in the history of the Georgian people. The modern Georgian public greeted with jubilation the liberation of Adjara from the Turkish yoke. Jacob Gogebashvili wrote: “The Berlin Treaty brought us one of the greatest benefits. Our brothers, blood from blood and flesh from our flesh, our ancient Georgia, which invariably fought with us against the “blows of our evil fate,” the nest of our miracle heroes, the cradle of our great teaching and enlightenment - our ancient Georgia is finally reunited today with us.” At the initiative of Georgian public figures, a deputation from Adjara was invited to Tbilisi, which included: Khusein-beg, Bezhan-ogly (Bezhanidze), Khusein Abashidze, Sheriff-beg Khimshiashvili and others. They were given warm hospitality by: Grigol Orbeliani, Dimitri Kipiani, Akaki Tsereteli and others. At the banquet organized in honor of the dear guests, Grigol Orbeliani gave a brilliant speech. With a response speech in clear Georgian language Hussein-beg Bezhanidze and Sheriff-beg Khimshiashvili spoke.
Will Russia terminate the Kars Treaty?
“The Year of the Red Monkey will be the most successful for Ukraine, because the main monkey there is Saakashvili!” - Rezo Amashukeli joked. The poet is right - on November 8, 2016, elections will be held for the 45th President of the United States, who will be the candidate from the Republican Party Donald Trump. Trump thinks Putin a strong popular leader and after his election is going to get along with him, and Putin considers Trump the undisputed leader of the presidential race and very bright talented person. This means that under the new US President the anti-Russian trend will go out of fashion and US Republican Party will stop supporting Saakashvili in Ukraine . Misha will be removed and this will be a great success for the Ukrainians.
But for Georgia, 2016 may be less successful - it may again lose territory if official Tbilisi succumbs to pressure from Ankara, as well as the tricks of Defense Minister Khidasheli, the Republican Party of Georgia and President Margvelashvili.
Historical fact: for Georgia, Türkiye has always been an aggressor and occupier. Only Russia prevented the Turks from finally capturing the God-protected country of the Orthodox Kartvelians, having concluded a treaty with fellow Christian Georgia on July 24, 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk. But the rulers of Turkey continued to dream of enslaving Sakartvelo, as attractive as Georgian women, through which the Great Silk Road passes from East to West; way to North Caucasus, which means - to Russia; to Azerbaijan, and therefore to the treasures of the Caspian Sea; the path to Armenia, locked in a geopolitical dead end. Therefore, on January 28, 1920, the Turkish Majlis (Parliament) adopted "National Covenant" - official document, which defined the boundaries modern Turkey, according to which Adjara is Batumi region (vilayet) of Turkey.
And on October 13, 1921, by Treaty of Kars between Turkey- on the one hand, and Georgia-Armenia-Azerbaijan- on the other hand, Turkey lost: the original Georgian territory of Tao-Klarjeti (Artvini, Artaani, Erzurum); Armenian lands - Kars province with the city of Kagyzman and Surmalinsky district of the Erivan province with Mount Ararat; and the Nakhichevan district of the Erivan province came under the protectorate of Azerbaijan. According to the Treaty of Kars, which describes in detail the Turkish border from Sarpi to Nakhichevan, suzerainty over Batumi was transferred to Georgia - given that , that for the above-mentioned 3 Transcaucasian republics, which enjoy the status of one party under the Treaty of Kars, Russia (RSFSR) will act as a guarantor.
Despite the fact that the Kars Treaty, concluded for 100 years, expires in 5 years and 9 months - October 21, 2021, Russia and Turkey can denounce it unilaterally, and Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which enjoy the status of one party in the document, individually do not have the right to withdraw from the Kars Treaty. And they don’t want to, because only Armenia will benefit from the denunciation of the Kars Treaty, to which Turkey will be obliged to return 30% of the territory, and Azerbaijan - Nakhichevan. Georgia will have to give Adjara to Turkey.
Türkiye also does not want to unilaterally - without Russia - denounce the Kars Treaty, because The guarantor of the second party will not allow entering the desired Batumi before the end of the contract - Russia, which over the past 300 years has fought with Turkey 30 times and always won. And Russia, despite tempting offers from Turkey, does not abandon the Kars Treaty and constantly extends it, confirms its guarantees and does not abandon Georgia to the mercy of Turkey. Last time It was August 14, 2008, When Recep Tayyip Erdogan(current president and then prime minister of Turkey) and members of the Majlis (Turkish parliamentarians) urgently flew to Moscow and begged Putin to divide Georgia between Russia and Turkey. To do this, Russia, to which Saakashvili declared war by killing its peacekeepers in Tskhinvali, should have simply refused to be Georgia’s guarantor under the Kars Treaty. In this case, Adjara returned to the suzerainty of Turkey, Turkish troops entered Batumi, and Russia, according to the Turks, received the rest of the territory of Georgia along with Abkhazia and Samachablo. On March 3, 2009, the then Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia Vano Merabishvili confirmed this fact: “Türkiye was ready during the Russian - Georgian war bring your armed forces into Adjara if the Georgian authorities could not ensure the security of the region,” he noted in an interview with the Georgian news agency.
But Merabishvili did not fully tell the truth - Turkey did not send its troops into Adjara not because the then Georgian authorities, who were unable to ensure even their own personal safety, ensured the security of Adjara, but because Russia strictly forbade the Turks from doing so.
But Erdogan, with his Turkish mind, has not understood Russia to this day - why did it turn its tanks back several kilometers from Tbilisi in August 2008, when even US President Bush accepted the loss of Georgia and dissuaded French President Sarkozy from traveling to Tbilisi and Moscow? Erdogan, with his Turkish yardstick, cannot measure the scale of Russia and understand to this day why Russia remains the defender of Georgia, which left the CIS and does not intend to join the Eurasian Union; signed an Association Agreement with the European Union and participates in all NATO operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; opened on its territory The educational center and NATO Partnership Office? The Turks are perplexed - why Russia continues to be Turkey’s guarantor for Euro-Atlantic Georgia, which has declared membership in NATO and the EU as its uncontested foreign policy and broke off diplomatic relations with Russia as the occupier, aggressor and enemy of Georgia No. 1?
One thing is well understood in Turkey: Russia does not give up its long-time Orthodox neighbors, no matter how bad their temporary rulers are. Erdogan realized that it was not Georgia, but Russia that was stopping Turkey from returning Adjara!
Therefore, Ankara developed an insidious plan, according to which Turkey pretended to be a friend of Russia all these years, but in fact was waiting for an opportune moment - to stab it in the back, which it did on November 24, 2015, by shooting down a Russian Su-24 bomber. Turkey today decided that its time has come - Russia is torn by a war on two fronts - in Syria and Ukraine - so it no longer cares about Adjara.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan understands that after November 8, 2016, when Donald Trump becomes President of the United States, he will have to give up his dream of becoming the caliph of the entire Muslim world and with the support of ISIS (banned in Russia - editor's note) and Saudi Arabia to conquer Iran.
After all, Trump, who sharply criticizes his country - the United States - for the creation and support of ISIS, will clearly not spare Erdogan, who supports ISIS, who got rich by smuggling stolen ISIS oil and declared war on Russia, which is fighting against international terrorism. Therefore, Turkey must use its advantages before the US presidential elections - that is, within 10 months remaining until November 2016.
But Turkey has advantages today, because it is the only major military-political ally of the United States in the Islamic world, one of the few where dozens of American B-61 nuclear bombs are stored at a joint military base of the Turkish and US Air Forces; Türkiye is a regional superpower with ambitions to control the Caucasus; the only country bordering Georgia is a NATO member with the second, after the American, army in NATO in terms of size and combat effectiveness.
The second part of the insidious Turkish plan concerns Georgia directly: Turkey had to turn the Adjarian autonomy into a pro-Turkish republic with an extremely Islamized population, which at the “X” hour would ask Turkey for protection from Georgia and the Georgians - following the example of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which asked for help from Russia.
The ground for this has been created in Georgia for years, since the time of President Shevardnadze. It was then, since 1991, that part of the Georgian intelligentsia, bribed by the Turkish special services, a corrupt caste of ignoramuses calling themselves political scientists - experts in all fields, the Georgian media and some politicians began a “tearful” campaign for the return “to the homeland of our unfortunate brothers” - the Meskhetian Turks evicted by the “tyrant Stalin”. “Touching” films were made on this topic, hundreds of publications were published, the legislative framework- you can’t count everything.
But I really tried to start this process Saakashvili, even in last days of his presidency, secretly distributed thousands of Georgian passports to the Turks, and if not for the sharp protest of the Armenian population of Samtskhe Javakheti, this would have escalated into a bloody clash. Although, Saakashvili found another way out - instead of a densely Armenian-populated region, the Turks began to be invited to Javakheti bordering Samtskhe Adjara.
Received unprecedented scope under President Saakashvili religious expansion Turkey, especially in Adjara and the Azerbaijani-populated region of Kvemo Kartli, where hundreds of new mosques began to be built, as if the existing ones were suddenly not enough... They really became not enough due to the large influx of Muslims from Turkey, as well as Iran and the North Caucasus, but not only That's why. August 24, 2015, in the publication “THE ISLAMIC STATE WILL SOON BE IN EVERY MOSQUE IN GEORGIA! - Aunt Tina from Tbilisi, or a forecast that came true 4 years later,” I warned: “ISIS recruiters and propagandists will penetrate every mosque on our territory - as into the centers of Islam and the sacred centers of Muslims. And after the preparatory campaign, when the goals and objectives of ISIS in Georgia and the Caucasus, impressively supported by dollars, are brought to the attention of fellow believers, people from the Pankisi Gorge, some of whom occupy high position to ISIS, will return to Georgia with their troops.” And only the sharp protest of Georgian society regarding the construction of a huge mosque-complex Azize, slightly slowed down the momentum of Turkey’s religious expansion in Georgia.
The Turkish financial and economic expansion- Turkey monopolized all imports, flooding Georgia with low-quality consumer goods and food products hazardous to health, which turned out to be cheaper to bring from afar and sell in Georgia than high-quality Georgian agricultural products. This also happened thanks to legislation specially created taking into account Turkish interests by President Saakashvili and his business mother, Turkologist Gyuli Alasania - a woman deeply loved by Turkish partners and, accordingly, sitting in the Turks' share.
Here is what he said about this on March 21, 2012 Alexander Chachia newspaper “Georgia and the World”: “It is no secret that all the new facilities in Adjara, of which Saakashvili’s government is so proud, were built by the Turks and are their property. The construction of luxury hotels and other tourism infrastructure in Adjara cannot be profitable - Georgians do not have the money to use it, and the Armenian tourist flow is insufficient to develop such capacities, and the holiday season in Adjara is very short. Turks are buying up land and building their properties in the hope that they can soon be sold as residential apartments for their compatriots. I was told that today there are 23 thousand Turks registered in Batumi. If this is true, then the number is very respectable. There have never been so many Turks living in all of Adjara, even when it was part of the Ottoman Empire.
The Turks ask for our official consent only out of politeness. Today they can do whatever they want in Adjara, and no one can stop them! The Georgian leadership understood perfectly well that control over Adjara was gradually passing into the hands of the Turks, but they could not resist this. After all, if the Turks stopped building objects in Adjara and Tbilisi, then what would Saakashvili present as a result of his rule? Fountain in Zugdidi?! Repainted facades on Plekhanov Street?! Where should we take foreign guests?!”
At the same time, since the time of Shevardnadze , Turkey began to export strategic raw materials from Georgia - metal, wood and all the equipment left over from the times of the USSR for factories and production facilities, and machine tools and other expensive equipment were exported at the price of scrap metal! And at this time, Georgians went to Turkey to work as servants: women - as nurses, nannies, waitresses and prostitutes, men - for work that did not require qualifications, and for goods, which were then imported for sale on Georgian wholesale markets. Thus, Türkiye carried out mental expansion, instilling in Georgians that they are second-class citizens.
While the parents worked for Turkey, their children were “tamed” by Saakashvili’s mother, the aforementioned Turkologist Giuli Alasania, who opened in Georgia with Turkish money, a network of private Turkish-Georgian universities under its leadership, thus implementing Turkish expansion in the field of education.
I will not touch upon such a capacious topic as energy expansion Georgia by Turkey - main oil and gas pipelines and lines running from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey (Ceyhan, Erzerum) high voltage power transmission, as well as thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants built in Georgia by Turkish companies, tightly linked Georgia with Turkey. Let me just note that thus tied to Turkey Georgian economy began to dictate the country's policy.
In this regard, it is necessary to note the destructive activities of Turkish intelligence in Georgia, for which to this day all the agents of the special service existing under Saakashvili - the DKB (Department of Constitutional Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia) - agents recruited under the then Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Merbashvili, the head of the DKB Data ( David) Akhalay and his deputies, in particular Vazha Leluashvili, responsible for the Panki Gorge and the sensational Lapankur operation. They were the ones who trained and sent militants to the war against Russia - first to the North Caucasus, and then, through Turkey, with the assistance of Turkish intelligence services - to Syria, with the ranks of ISIS. Presumably, on the instructions of Turkish intelligence, DKB agents infiltrated the Georgian Dream Coalition and power structures, which was very useful for Turkey in 2012, after the arrival new government in Georgia.
The hand of Turkish intelligence can be traced in the hysteria raised today in Georgia regarding the negotiations between Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy of Georgia Kakha Kaladze with GAZPROM and Iran - protest actions carried out by Turkish intelligence together with Saakashvili’s ex-ruling National Movement party and bribed by Turkish intelligence the above-mentioned “experts” for all occasions, none of whom are qualified as power engineers (mostly half-educated humanists, teachers, directors, journalists, who have never worked a day in their specialty and live on Western grants and money from the secret services). The fruits of the activities of Turkish intelligence are the many years of fruitful relations between the Ministry of Energy of Georgia and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan SOCAR and the State Gas Energy Company of Kazakhstan KazTransGas, which have escalated to the point of scandal. The goal of Turkish intelligence is to ensure that Georgia does not have alternative and cheap energy sources other than SOCAR. Therefore, the next person to be dismissed after Prime Minister Garibashvili could be Deputy Prime Minister Kaladze.
And so last news: January 8, 2016, head of the Center for Political Innovation and Technology, political scientist Mubariz Ahmedoglu told the ECHO newspaper that January 23, 2016, A meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will take place in Tbilisi, which was initially scheduled to be held in Batumi (the meeting was moved to Tbilisi due to the high risk of a terrorist attack in Batumi). The main issue at the ministerial will be the creation of a Turkish military base on Georgian territory: “Turkey sent its troops to Iraq, and its military base was created there. Negotiations are underway with Qatar regarding the creation of a similar base. Turkey has exactly the same intentions regarding Saudi Arabia. Therefore, during the upcoming ministerial meeting, Turkey will definitely raise the issue of creating its military base on the territory of Georgia or Azerbaijan. Or perhaps both there and here. Although the existing Constitution in Azerbaijan prohibits the creation of foreign military bases on the territory of the country. And the most important issue during discussions on Turkey’s part will be precisely this question,” - notes the political scientist.
In order to sweeten the Georgian Armenians and lull their vigilance before the opening of a Turkish military base in Georgia, on January 6, 2016, Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli celebrated Christmas with the Armenians - in cathedral Dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia - Armenian Church Surb Gevork on Maidan in Tbilisi.
But Turkey did not take into account that Turkey’s military base is the expansion of NATO to the East, which, in accordance with the updated National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation approved by V. Putin on December 31, 2015, as well as an interview Russian President German publication "Bild" dated January 5, 2016, is the main threat national interests Russia and the main mistake of the West.
Therefore, as soon as the Turkish asker crosses the border in Sarpi, Russia will withdraw from the Treaty of Kars and open a railway to Armenia through the territory of Georgia. Naturally, Russia will ensure the safe passage of trains Moscow - Sukhumi - Tbilisi - Yerevan and back, but the Baku - Akhalkalaki - Kars railway will lose all meaning, because Kars will become Armenian - Turkey will be forced to return Kars to Armenia in accordance with the terms of the Kars Treaty.
If Russia terminates the Treaty of Kars, Turkey will lose a total of 30% of its territory, although it is not a fact that Russia will force Turkey to return Tao-Klarjeti to Georgia...
PS:
On Tuesday, January 12, a terrorist attack took place in Istanbul, and if the next one occurs in Batumi, this will become the main argument for opening a Turkish military base there - supposedly to protect Adjara. For such “good purposes” a terrorist attack in Batumi could be carried out Turkish intelligence, despite the fact that Tina Khidasheli is putting the Georgian people to sleep - they say, terrorist attacks in Georgia are absolutely excluded! President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel thought the same thing when they punished Russia, which was fighting against ISIS, with economic sanctions, until the terrorist attacks took place in Paris and hundreds of German women were raped in Germany. President Erdogan, an unofficial ally of ISIS, also thought the same thing before yesterday’s terrorist attack in Istanbul, turning Turkey into a transit corridor for militants mixed with refugees destroying Europe, which I warned about on April 4, 2011.
Turkish Georgia- this is a part of Southern Georgia, which in the course of history ended up on the territory of Turkey. This is the land on which the Kartvelian tribes were formed in the 3rd millennium, from where they settled in Eastern Georgia and where the state of Tao-Klarjeti was formed in the 9th century. Now here are the Turkish silts (regions) Artvin and Ardahan and part of the Erzurum silt. From Georgian times, there are many fortresses, temples and monasteries left here, and a certain number of the Georgian population, Islamized and switched to Turkish language. On modern map In Turkey this area looks like this:
Historically, the area was divided into many individual regions, which for convenience I will reduce into three groups:
The Arsian ridge (also known as the Yagludzha ridge) runs through this entire region, separating the Artvin and Ardagan silts. In the past it was the border of Artaani and Shavsheti. To the east of the ridge stretch high-mountain cold plains, the same as near Kars or in the Armenian region of Shirak. To the west of the ridge, beautiful green gorges run down to the sea - this is a humid and warm area, especially humid near the sea. In the north, Klarjeti borders with Adjara. South of Artaani and Klarjeti there is an area whose boundaries are somewhat uncertain. This lack of clear boundaries probably led to the fact that the kingdom of Tao merged with Klarjeti from time to time. Tao is a hot, dry gorges, almost a semi-desert.
There is very little in Tao and Klarjeti fertile land and pasture. Recently, the Turkish government has learned to take advantage of the geography of the area and built several hydroelectric power plants here. As a result, the dry mountainous area turned into lakes, and the entire geography changed beyond recognition. The Klarjeti region has changed especially dramatically - now you will see completely different landscapes from what was here in ancient times or even five years ago.
Why do they come here?
Practically all the medieval buildings in this territory are Georgian, sometimes very famous, included in the UNESCO lists. The most famous include, and. Also here beautiful nature, not similar to Georgian.
Short story
The Kartvelian tribes came here a very long time ago, and maybe they formed right here. In the 8th century BC, somewhere here was the kingdom of Diaohi, which was attacked by the Urartian kings. Then a wave of Cimmerians passed through the region, and then a dark era stretched on. According to Xenophon, the Scythians settled somewhere here in the 5th century BC. After 190 BC, a Great Armenia, which a hundred years later subjugates these places, which receive the Armenian name Taik. In 387, Armenia was divided between Rome and Iran, and the dividing line was drawn here. In the middle of the 5th century, this part became part of Iberia, and Vakhtang Gorgasal built several fortresses here. Subsequently, Armenia managed to regain the Tao region, but the Arab invasion prevented it from establishing itself here.
At the end of the 8th century, the Georgian princes managed to fight off the Arabs and create their own independent state on the banks of the Chorokhi with its capital in. From this moment on, the golden age of this territory begins, and it was during this era, especially in the 10th century, that all the main temples and monasteries were built here.
In 1014, the territory passed to Byzantium, but in 1074 it was returned to Georgia due to the Seljuk invasion. During the Georgian era, the territory again became part of Georgia, and after Mongol invasion the entire southwest of Georgia became isolated under the name of the Principality of Samtskhe. For some unknown reason, this era had no effect on the architecture of the region. The princes of Samtskhe built temples in the north of their domains, but not here.
In 1877, the Russian army recaptured this territory from Turkey and it became part of the Kutaisi province as the Artvinsky district. became part of the Kars region. On Russian maps At the end of the 19th century, this region was depicted like this:
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On this map, the area of settlement of Armenians is indicated in gray. It was a kind of enclave, immediately to the east of which Kurds and “Turkmens” were already settling.
In February 1921, on the very day the Red Army broke into Tbilisi, the Turks brought an army into the area. In March in Moscow, the government of the RSFSR recognized this land as the property of Turkey. The population partially left these areas, but many remained.
Transport
Transport in Turkey is not very convenient. For example, trains are poorly distributed. The main form of transport here is buses, but they are quite expensive. In addition, there is no state bus system in Turkey and hundreds of small private cooperatives provide transportation. Bus company offices are usually clustered at the bus station or around, and there is no uniform schedule. But the prices are approximately the same for all companies. For example, the Ardagan-Gole bus costs 8 liras for 40 kilometers, and the Ardanuch-Artvin bus costs 15 liras for 30 kilometers. On average, it turns out to be 1 lira for 5 or 6 kilometers, which is almost twice as expensive as Georgian prices. It seems that there is a bus connection between towns and villages, I have seen such buses, but it is not clear how to find them in the cities themselves.
There are also taxis in Turkey, but they are outrageously expensive. From Yusufeli to Dertkilise (12 kilometers) they cost 30 liras one way, and from Yusufeli to Oshki (45 kilometers) they cost 65 one way.
Money and prices
The currency of Turkey has been the Turkish lira since 1844. Even before 2005, everything here was counted in millions, then 6 zeros were cut off from the lira and the so-called " new lira". For some time, both lira coexisted, then the old lira went out of circulation, but the expression “new lira” (eni lira) is still occasionally used. The exchange rate for the summer of 2013 is as follows:
For 1 lira they give 16 - 17 Russian rubles.
For 1 American dollar they give 1.9 liras.
For 1 euro they give 2.5 liras
For 1 lari they give 0.83 or 0.86 liras
For 1 lira they give 4.2 Ukrainian hryvnia
For 1 lira they give 0.40 Azerbaijani manat
Prices in Turkey are slightly higher than in Georgia. Accommodation in a mid-range and modest hotel costs about 30 - 50 liras. The cheapest type of food, chorba, costs 3 lira everywhere. Meat food like kebab or stuffed pepper costs 7 - 8 liras.
Grocery prices are as follows: a liter of oil costs 5 liras for sunflower oil and 10 liras for olive oil. A half-kilogram pack of Lipton tea costs 8 liras, local tea costs 7 liras. A kilogram of red lentils is 2.6 liras. Wheat cereal (bulgur) - 2 lira. A kilogram of salted olives - 10 - 13 liras. Potatoes - 1.6 liras, Sweet peppers - 2.3 liras, Eggplants - 1.8 liras, Lemons and pears - 4 liras, aobuz - 1 liras, onions - 1.6 liras.
Cooking
There are several types of prepared food sources in Turkey. First of all, this is a “lokanta” - something very similar to a dining room. Usually they sell chorba lentil soup, kebabs, rice, stewed chicken and sometimes shawarma, which is called doner here. Lokants are found in cities and towns, but never in towns. There is no street food here either. There are cafes that prepare tea or coffee - the latter is brewed for 2 lira.
Everything else lives in markets. The Turks have reached unprecedented heights in the production of instant food in factory packaging: they are sold here in huge quantities bouillon cubes, soups in bags, dozens of types of instant coffee and even instant tea. This gigantic industry of chips, cookies and flavors identical to something else has almost completely replaced folk food such as pies or flatbreads. Analogues of khachapuri can be found here, but extremely rarely. There is bread and cheese, and the Georgian example is close, and the Turks like the taste of khachapuri, but they do not dare to make it. There's some kind of mysterious cultural barrier here.
Conclusion: you won’t go hungry in Turkey, but you won’t have that feeling of naturalness and healthy food that you can feel well in Georgia. Türkiye is not a culinary sanatorium. Golden LegendThere is one interesting topic in this part of Turkey, which I called “Golden Legend”. The point is, if you have to communicate with local residents, then at some point he will probably start a conversation that you don’t really understand about gold. At good knowledge Turkish, you will understand that they are asking you if you came here for gold. The Turks here are completely convinced that Russian tourists come here to look for gold. The Golden Legend has many versions. The most popular one is that there are gold treasures in the region that were buried by the Russians who left these places in 1921. There are some secret maps on which these treasures are marked. In Kars, one Turk even assured me that he had such a map. According to another version, Queen Tamara was buried here with all her treasures. The Turks offered to show one person this burial and help in removing the gold. They themselves did not dare to do this, because it’s like a Christian burial, you never know... It’s scary. Perhaps you will be able to hear some other versions of the “Golden Legend”. I myself encountered her back in 2002 and recently (2013) discovered that she is still alive. So if the word “altyn” (gold) starts to appear in a conversation with a Turk, don’t be surprised. |
Kartli's struggle against Iranian aggression
Foreign policy of the Kingdom of Kartli in XVI V. was aimed mainly at repelling the increased aggression of the Iranians - the Qizilbash.
Kizilbashi still in the first quarter XVI V. They tried to conquer Kartli, but the Safavids began the struggle for the consistent seizure of Georgian lands later, after the development of the countries of Eastern Transcaucasia, where they achieved the restructuring of the entire social and political structure in the Qizilbash way. The organizer of the Qizilbash campaigns against Georgia was the Iranian Shah Tahmasp. At that time Luarsab reigned in Kartli I . (1530 - 1556). In 1541 - 1554. Shah Tahmasp launched four campaigns against Georgia. True, he captured some of the fortresses of Kartli and installed Qizilbash garrisons in them, but still he could not conquer the country. The Georgian people selflessly fought against the Kyzylbash aggression.
In 1555, after a fifty-year war, Iran and Turkey concluded the so-called. The Peace of Amasia, according to which Georgia was divided between these two aggressors: Kartli, Kakheti and the eastern part of Samtskhe-Saatabago were declared the possessions of the Qizilbash, and the Imeretian kingdom with its principalities and the western part of Samtskhe went to Turkey. As a result of this conspiracy, the struggle of the Georgian people against the aggressors became even more difficult, the country was artificially dismembered, and its political disintegration deepened. The reactionary Georgian Mtavars and Tavads, who contributed to the dismemberment of Georgia, now had their own patron allies - the Ottomans and Qizilbashs.
After signing peace with Turkey, Iran significantly increased pressure on Kartli. But King Luarsab did not recognize the legality of the Iranian-Turkish agreement. On the contrary, he attempted to recapture the fortresses of Inner and Lower Kartli, and even Tbilisi. King Luarsab died in 1556 in the Algeti region during a battle with the army of the Karabakh Belyarbek, who came to the aid of the Tbilisi Kyzylbash garrison.
These long wars brought innumerable disasters to the Georgian people. During one campaign alone, Shah Tahmasp stole 30,000 prisoners. But at a cost huge casualties the Georgian people retained their independence: the Qizilbash did not manage to capture Georgian lands and establish their own rules in Georgia.
In 1556, the son of Luarsab took the throne of Kartli talented commander Simon. He steadily continued the work begun by his father - an irreconcilable struggle against the Qizilbash and other invaders. However, in subsequent years, the Iranians achieved some successes in Kartli. In 1569, with the assistance of a traitor-feudal lord, they captured the king and, intending to abolish royal power in Kartli, planted their official there - Brother Simon (Daud Khan), who converted to Mohammedanism. During the reign of Daoud Khan, the Qizilbash carried out a census of the population of Tbilisi and Lower Kartli and subordinated them to the Iranian state divan. The Kartli ruler Daoud Khan annually paid the Iranian Shah a tribute of 20,000 ducats. The policy of Shah Tahmasp in Kartli was aimed at establishing the dominance of the Kizilbash land use. Thus the foundation was laid for what arose in the beginning XVII V. in Lora and Debed to the Mohammedan khanates.
The struggle of the Georgian people against the Ottomans
The Turkish invaders also used the same methods. At first XVI c., having become a direct neighbor of Georgia, Türkiye attacked Samtskhe. But then the Ottomans did not strive to completely take control of Samtskhe-Saatabago and were content with only vassalage. This meant that Turkish troops received the right of free movement throughout the territory of the principality, which was obliged to supply food to the Turkish troops.
This gave the Ottomans the opportunity, passing through Samtskhe, to invade Western Georgia, sometimes even with the participation of the Atabaghs themselves. However, the Ottomans also penetrated here from the other side. On the extreme northwestern border of Georgia, the Jiki and some other Abkhaz-Adyghe tribes had long since fallen under the influence of the Ottomans. With their help, Türkiye tried to gain a foothold in Abkhazia. After the fall of the Kingdom of Trebizond, the Turks came close to Georgia and in the southwest. IN XVI V. they captured Chaneti (Lazika) and approached Imereti from Guria.
In 1510 great Turkish army invaded Western Georgia and Samtskhe-Saatabago. After this, the Turks unexpectedly attacked Kutaisi, whose population barely had time to flee. The Ottomans ravaged cities, destroyed villages, robbed and burned churches. The young Imeretian king Bagrat did not have time to organize resistance to the enemy. Having plundered the country, the Ottomans quickly retreated.
The Atabagh’s vassal dependence on Turkey and the raids of the Jik, incited by the Ottomans, on the villages and cities of Megrelia and Abkhazia created a double threat to the Imeretian kingdom. Therefore, in 1533, on the initiative of King Bagrat, Dadiani and Gurieli joined forces against Jiketi; in 1535, the Imeretian king, together with his mtavars, attacked the atabagh of Samtskhe, defeated him, and annexed Saatabago to the Imereti kingdom. This gave the Turkish Sultan a reason for more active intervention in the internal affairs of Samtskhe.
The next year, Turkish troops crossed the borders of Meskheti (Samtskhe) and seized several districts from it. Thus, the Ottomans began to gradually seize the territory of Saatabago and create their own troops here. administrative units. Despite such success, Turkey was still unable to immediately seize, much less Turkify, this part of Georgian territory. In 1543, the Georgians inflicted a brutal defeat on a large Ottoman army, which was ravaging western part Samtskhe.
The Sultan sent new troops to Georgia. During these decisive days, the Kartlians stood side by side with the Imeretian warriors. The battle took place near Sokhoist in 1545. The Georgians selflessly fought the enemy, but the betrayal of the Tawads decided the outcome of the battle in favor of the Ottomans. This time Türkiye achieved significant military and political success. The Sultan's troops were stationed in Meskheti fortresses. The meaning of all these events was quite clear to the Georgians, the residents of Samtskhe; expressing their irreconcilability with the policies of the Ottomans, they rebelled against them more than once. In response to this, Türkiye organized a new major hike in Samtskhe and seized several more districts from Saatabago. It was clear that the aggressor was seeking to finally seize Georgian lands and establish his own order there.
As a result of all this, the Turkish protege, Atabag Kaykhosro, sharply changed his orientation and, breaking with Turkey, chose to become a vassal of Iran. The Shah took advantage of the opportunity and expelled the Ottomans from Samtskhe. This time Türkiye was unable to break the resistance of the Georgian people and defeat Iran; according to the peace treaty of 1555, she recognized eastern part Samtskhe-Saatabago possession of the Qizilbash.
Strengthening Turkey's aggressive policy
However, Turkey could not come to terms with the loss of the eastern part of Samtskhe and was only waiting for the right moment tooust Iran from there. Coming soonan opportunity presented itself: taking advantage of the fact that in the 80s. XVI V. Iran was busy with intra-feudal wars; a large Turkish army led by Mustafa Lala Pasha moved to Transcaucasia in 1578. Türkiye intended to seize Georgian lands and establish its own socio-political system in them. The threat of “Turkification” raised the majority of Georgian feudal society to fight against Turkey. However, there were also feudal lords who, considering resistance hopeless, preferred to voluntarily accept vassalage and pay an annual tribute to the Turks. Despite this, the Kingdom of Kartli and Samtskhe-Saatabago continued the war against the invaders.
In 1578, the Shah, defeated in the war with Turkey, freed Simon I and sent him to Kartli. In this way, the Shah hoped to acquire a reliable ally in the fight against the Ottomans. In addition, Iran was forced to temporarily abandon the settlement of Kartli by the Qizilbash.
Daoud Khan, immediately after Simon's return I in Kartli, broke away from his patron, the Iranian Shah, surrendered the Kartli fortresses to the Sultan’s army, and he himself fled to Istanbul. The Georgian people selflessly fought against the enemy, who tried to introduce Ottoman rule by force of arms into the heart of Georgia - Kartli. During this war, which lasted 20 years, Georgians wrote many glorious pages in the history of their country.
King Simon, who led this struggle, made a number of attempts to create a large anti-Ottoman coalition, starting for this purpose diplomatic relations with the states of Western Europe. However, plans to create an anti-Turkish coalition failed. European countries needed anti-Ottoman propaganda only to strengthen Catholicism and strengthen their trade and economic positions in the East. Naturally, they did not try to provide effective assistance to Georgia. Only the heroic resistance of the Georgian people thwarted the plans of the Ottoman invaders, who sought to dismember Kartli and establish their own order here. The selfless struggle of Kartli and Samtskhe for national independence eased the situation of Turkey's enemy - Iran.
In 1590, in accordance with the peace concluded in Istanbul, the Shah was forced to recognize Turkey's rights to all of Transcaucasia. But the defeat of the Shah did not mean the final victory of Turkey. Simon I continued the fight, regardless of the terms of the peace treaty. According to an eyewitness, the Ottomans, who were sitting in the Kartli fortresses, did not dare to go beyond the walls of the fortresses out of fear of the Georgians.
The invaders were forced to make concessions and recognize the Christian king Simon as the sovereign of Kartli. But this was only a temporary respite: Simon I waited for the right moment to finish off the enemy with a decisive blow. In 1599, the Georgians rebelled and, in a fierce battle, recaptured the Gori fortress from the Ottomans. The success of the rebels created a threat to the Sultan's rule in Georgia, and he instructed the Tauriz Beglerbeg Jafar Pasha to suppress the uprising. The Georgians met the Ottoman army at Nakhiduri, but after a five-hour battle they were forced to retreat, succumbing to the numerical superiority of the enemy. With the help of traitors - Georgian feudal lords - Jafar Pasha managed to capture the king himself. In 1601, Simon was sent to Istanbul, where he died. The Turkish commander presented the Sultan with another “gift” - bags filled with the heads of Georgian soldiers killed in battle.
The twenty-year heroic struggle of the Georgian people against the Ottomans was of great historical significance: it prevented the invaders from establishing their dominance in Kartli.
Samtskhe-Saatabago under the yoke of Turkey
The southwestern part of Georgia took the first blows of the Turkish invasion, so the results of the Ottoman aggression were especially severe here. The success of the Ottomans in this area was facilitated by the differences of the feudal lords, especially internal political struggle between the Atabaghs and the Shalikashvili clan.
Even before reconciliation with Iran, wherever the hand of the Turkish invaders reached, they persistently tried to introduce “Ottoman orders.” After the conclusion of peace in 1590, they had greater opportunities for this.
By order of the Sultan, Turkish officialscarried out a census in Samtskhe-Saatabago and in 1595 compiled a detailed book of taxes, which was called the “Long Register of the Gurjustani Vilayet” (Georgian region).
ProducedThe census and subordination of the country to the Diwan, the introduction of Turkish taxes and the transfer of the best lands into the hands of new, Ottoman, feudal lords meant that the Georgian system of land tenure had to give way to the Ottoman system. This latter implied that only a warrior could be the owner of the land, and even then only temporarily. Enroll in military service only a devout Mohammedan could. Therefore, the Georgian feudal lord, who owned his estate by inheritance, had to either lose it, or accept Mohammedanism and in this way preserve the land, but for temporary use.
The establishment of Ottoman land use regulations threatened the death of the Georgian feudal state system. Achieving this, the Turks even began to introduce their own administrative system. They called the region they captured the “Gurjustani Vilayet” and divided it into eight Ottoman “sanjaks” or “lives” (military districts). However, the final approval of the new order in Georgia was still far away. The people strongly opposed the abolition of their relatively progressive land tenure system, developed over centuries. The Georgian peasant did not want to turn into an Ottoman peasant - a “paradise”, exhausted by heavy state duties and taxes; just like his exploiter, the Georgian feudal lord, he did not want to be only a temporary and conditional owner of the land.
One type of protest against politics Ottoman authorities There was a mass exodus of the population from the areas captured by the Turks. The practice of levying kharaj in favor of the Turks, the barbaric forms that the Ottoman corvee took, and constant campaigns in Samtskhe-Saatabago led to sad results. The number of villages abandoned by peasants steadily increased. At the end XVI V. in Samtskhe-Saatabago there were already 296 abandoned villages, and in the other 344 villages there were only from 1 to 11 smokes each.
As a result of the constant population decline, the Ottomans repeatedly had to re-take a census of Meskheti. For more than two hundred years, Türkiye fought for the creation of the Akhaltsikhe pashalyk, and only in the second quarter XVII V. She was able to complete the conquest of this area.
In the end, Türkiye finally destroyed in Samtskhe local authorities. After this, the Georgian feudal samtavro - Samtskhe-Saatabago ceased to exist. The place of the atabagh was taken here by the Sultan's official, the pasha. This happened in 1628. The first Akhaltsikhe Pasha, or, as he was called in Turkey, the “Childir Beylarbeg,” was Beka (in Islam, Safar Pasha).
The new administrative division fragmented the territory of Samtskhe-Saatabago: Tortum, Ispir, Namervan and Malaya Artaani were part of different vilayets; the rest made up the Childir vilayet, or Akhaltsikhe pashalyk, which was divided into fourteen sanjaks.
The Sultan and his official Safar Pasha immediately began intensive Turkification of the country: a new population census was carried out, taxes were assessed, and distributed among the new owners of the land of Georgian Christian feudal lords. All this, of course, changed the order of land ownership, but the Akhaltsikhe pashalyk for a long time retained some features, differing from other Turkish provinces. The Sultan's government was forced to reckon with local traditions and recognize some of the old privileges of the Georgian feudal lords. This is precisely what explains the fact that out of fourteen sanjaks of the Akhaltsikhe Pashalyk, four were the so-called “Ojaklyk”, i.e. lands left by the Ottomans for the hereditary possession of some feudal lords. The Ocaklyks were not subject to the Turkish state tax system, due to which the Georgian feudal aristocracy in large parts of Meskheti retained some independence.
In addition, the Childir vilayet (Akhaltsikhe pashalyk) was ruled not by an ordinary official of the Sultan, but by a representative of the Atabagh clan who converted to Mohammedanism. The position of pasha here was inherited from father to son. As we see, the Ottomans, despite all their efforts, were unable to completely destroy the Georgian feudal system of land tenure.
Adjara under the yoke of the Ottomans
Gradually under Ottoman rule passed to one of thethe most jealous Georgian provinces are Adjara. The past of this country is inextricably linked with the history of the Georgian people.
In ancient times, the territory of Adjara was included first in the Colchis and then in the Iberian (Kartli) kingdom. WITH VIII c., after the emergence of new feudal kingdoms and principalities in Georgia, Adjara, together with other provinces of Southern Georgia, united into the Tao-Klarjet samtavro (principality).
With X V. Adjara entered the borders of a single feudal Georgian monarchy, and from that time until the middle XIII V. it was ruled by the royal eristavis from the Abuseridze family. Over the centuries, Adjara has actively participated in economic, political and cultural life all over Georgia.
From the second half XIII V. it came into the possession of the Meskheti Mtavars, and from the 60s. XIV century until the beginning of the XVI V. was under the control of one of the mtavars of Western Georgia - Gurieli.
In 1512, Mtavar Meskheti briefly annexed Adjara and Chaneti (Lazika) to his possessions. From the middle XVI V. Adjara, like other southwestern Georgian lands, was torn away from Georgia by Turkish invaders.
Already from the second quarter XVII V. Lazika and Adjara become administrative units of the Ottoman Empire. Lazika entered the Trebizond vilayet, which consisted of the Trebizond and Batumi sanjaks. The Gurian coast of the Black Sea (including Batumi) and Lazika constituted one vilayet. Although Batumi was considered the domain of the Sultan, the actual owners here were the local begs.
Adjara itself was formally part of the Childir vilayet (Akhaltsikhe pashalyk) in the form of a separate sanjak. But in the first half XVII V. local feudal lords did not yet recognize the authority of the Sultan. The declaration of this region as the sanjak of the Childir vilayet indicated that Turkey intended to conquer Adjara with the help of the Akhaltsikhe pashas. That is why, over the centuries, the enmity between the Akhaltsikhe pashas and the Adjarian begs did not stop.
The population of Adjara for a long time heroically fought together with the entire Georgian people against the Ottoman conquerors, who tried to impose Islam on the Adjarian Georgians with fire and sword.
Adjarians They rebelled more than once, but nevertheless, as a result of a long unequal struggle, they were finally forced to convert to Islam.
This is how the southwestern part of the country was cut off from Georgia.Thanks to the persistent resistance of the people in these lands, the “Ottoman order” and the process of Turkification of Georgians, which began here at the end, could not strengthen for a long time. XVI century, to the beginning of the XIX V. was still not completed.
In the West modern Georgia as early as the 8th century BC. the Greeks lived. Several centuries later, Anatolian tribes came from the territory of modern Turkey to the east of Georgia and assimilated with local population. Soon, the Iberian state was formed here. But it didn’t last too long either. Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC. these territories were captured by various empires. In 189 BC. roman army The Seleucid army was victorious here, and a strong Armenian state was formed. The rulers of this empire were able to conquer many territories from the Caspian Sea to the center of modern Turkey. The Georgian principalities also became part of the Armenian state.
On the edge IV-V centuries The Armenian state, and with it all the Georgian principalities, was captured by the then powerful Byzantine Empire. But the Byzantines did not capture all the territories that belonged to to the Armenian state, but only its western part, the eastern part of this empire was captured by the Persians.
In the 7th century, Muslim Arabs came here and created a Muslim state - the emirate. Georgia was able to free itself completely from the Muslim yoke only in 1122. This period is considered one of the most successful periods in the history of Georgia. At the same time, the Seljuk Turks invaded Armenia, and many Christian Armenians were forced to flee to Georgia, where they assimilated with the local population.
But the Iberian state soon weakened, and for several centuries its Christian population was forced to fight against assimilation with the Persians and Turks. At the same time, Persia and Ottoman Empire for a long time they tried unsuccessfully to seize these territories. And it seemed in the 18th century. the Turks almost succeeded. But the Christian population of the Caucasus was then literally saved by Catherine the Great, the ruler of the Russian Empire. Here, on the territory of present-day Georgia, Russian troops arrived and were able to drive out numerous Turkish troops. From that moment on, Georgia became part of the Russian Empire. In 1795, the largest city in this region, Tbilisi, was almost completely destroyed by Persian troops led by Agha Mohammed. It was possible to completely expel the Muslim invaders from the territory of the Christian states of the Caucasus, including Georgia, only in the middle of the 19th century.
In the same 19th century in Georgia, nationalist groups and parties were very popular among young people, which at one time even included Joseph Dzhugashvili, better known to us as Joseph Stalin.
At the turbulent beginning of the 20th century, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan declare themselves independent states. But soon, the Bolsheviks capture all these states, and they become part of the Soviet Union. In the early 20s of the 20th century, these three states were united into the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (TSFSR).
In 1936 this federation was dissolved. From that moment on, the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic was formed.
In 1990, elections were held for the first time in Georgia, in which several political parties. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, independent Georgia, according to many political experts, had the prospect of a rapid economic development. But in 1992-93, as we all know, those who were part of Georgia - South Ossetia and Abkhazia began a war of independence. And only in the mid-90s, then-President Eduard Shevardnadze managed to slightly stabilize the economic and political situation in the country.