Ajaria
Adjara, Adjaria or Adzharia (Georgian: აჭარა Ach'ara), officially the Autonomous Republic of Adjara (Georgian: აჭარის ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკა, Ach'v'urip' 9;ublik'a ), is an autonomous republic of Georgia. Adjara is bordered by Türkiye to the south and the Black Sea to the west. It has an extension of 2900 km² and a population of 333 953 inhabitants (2014). Its capital and most populous city is Batumi, which serves as a major port and tourist center.
History
Ajaria was part of Colchis in ancient times. The Greeks founded colonies in the 5th century BCE. C.. The region fell under Roman rule in the 2nd century B.C. It was then integrated into the kingdom of Lazica before being incorporated into the unified kingdom of Georgia in the IX century. The Ottoman Turks conquered the country in 1614. The Islamization of its population took place thereafter. The Ottomans had to cede Ajaria to the expanding Russian Empire after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78.
Following a temporary occupation by Turkish and British troops in 1918-1920, Adjara became part of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1920. After a brief military conflict in March 1921, Turkey ceded the territory to Georgia under of article VI of the Treaty of Kars, on the condition that the Muslim population enjoy a regime of autonomy. The Soviet Union instituted the Adjara Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1921 in accordance with this clause. Thus Ayaria was part of the Georgian SSR, but with considerable autonomy.
After the dissolution of the USSR, Ajaria became part of the newly independent Republic of Georgia, which was plagued by political divisions, and managed to keep itself safe from the Georgian civil confrontation of 1991–1993 thanks to the authoritarian rule of its leader.
Since 1989, Aslan Abashidze, a scion of an old feudal family, ruled the region autonomously. Allied to Gamsakhurdia, he managed to keep up with his fall thanks to Russian protection, which wanted to protect its military base in Batumi. Confronted with Shevardnadze on numerous occasions, at the end of his term he supported him against his rivals. But Shevardnadze was overthrown in 2004, and the new government soon sent troops to Adjara. In exchange for certain assurances and guarantees, Russia facilitated his departure from the country, in which a government close to the Georgian was established, up to now respecting autonomy.
After some tension in 2005, Russia ceded the Batumi military base to Georgia on November 17, 2007, in agreement with the Georgian government, within the framework of CIS-NATO and EU Cooperation.
In July 2007, the seat of the Constitutional Court of Georgia was moved from Tbilisi to Batumi.
Culture
In "Axal Bulvarshi" stands the sculpture created by Georgian artist Tamar Kvesitadze (თამარ კვესიტაძე). At first this sculpture was called "Man and Woman", but after it was decided to install it in Batumi, the artwork acquired the names "Ali and Nino" (ალი და ნინო), two heroes from a book by Kurban Said, which tells the love story of a young Azerbaijani man who falls in love with a Georgian princess but who shortly after dies in defense of his country.
A small-scale version of the 'Ali and Nino' sculpture was shown at an exhibition in London, before the artist decided to build it on a larger scale for the city of Batumi. It took 10 months for the construction to finish.
The steel sculpture, over 10 feet tall and weighing 7 tons, depicts the silhouettes of a man and a woman on the Black Sea coast of Georgia. The figures interact in intervals of 8 to 10 minutes every day from 7:00 p.m., moving towards each other until they merge into a single piece.
The sculpture was featured in the Georgian Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007.
Political organization
The status of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara is defined by Georgian law on Adjara and the region's new constitution, adopted after the overthrow of Aslan Abashidze. The Adjara Supreme Council (Parliament) consists of 30 members, elected for a term of 4 years. The region's executive body (Council of Ministers) is appointed by the President of Georgia, who also has powers to dissolve the assembly and government and to override local authorities in cases of contravention of the Georgian Constitution.
The current head of the Ayarian government is Leván Varshalomidze.
Adjara is subdivided into 6 municipalities:
- City of Batumi
- Municipalities of Jelvachauri
- Municipalities of Julo
- municipality of Keda
- municipality of Kobuleti
- Shuajevi municipality