Tbilisi to Put up Monuments for War Heroes who Refused to Flee Abkhazia

Monuments of Zhiuli Shartava and Guram Gabiskiria, former officials killed by the Abkhaz separatist groups in 1993, will be placed in Tbilisi- the Mayor Kakha Kaladze announced at the government meeting today. 

In August 1992, simmering ethnic tensions in Georgia’s region of Abkhazia exploded into a 13-month war, culminating in the military victory of Abkhaz separatists and a political stalemate that continues to this day. Zhiuli Shartava served as the head of the Council of Ministers for the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia. Guram Gabeskiria was the mayor of Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia. After Tbilisi lost control of the region, the two refused to flee despite obvious threats to their lives. 

“On March 7, 2019, 75 years would have passed since the birth of our national hero, Giuli Shartava.  At the time when Tbilisi lost control of Sokhumi, Shartava and Gabeskiria were last to leave the government palace. When told to kneel and curse the Georgians, in the face of death, Gabiskiria’s answer was: Never! Our children should remember our heroes.”, Kaladze claims.