Much needed update: moving, teaching and running blockades

Hey there Three Kings fans, I apologize for the very long pause in my posts but things have been rather busy lately. Slow on the journalistic front – busy on the life front.

The view from my bedroom balcony.

Perhaps the biggest recent change has been my move to the lovely Saburtalo district of Tbilisi. Although I do miss being a mere 20 minute walk from Rustaveli, I’ve already begun to appreciate my new apartment and neighborhood.

The view from my dining room balcony. The tower in the center is the headquarters of the Rustavi-2 broadcast network.

The second big change in my life here is that I began teaching a reporting course at the University of Georgia, which is so far going very well.

But enough about me, the big international news here in Georgia remains the imminent release of the official report on the August War, which is expected to lay much of the blame for the sudden outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Georgia on Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

At the same time there has been a flurry of public and secret diplomatic moves concerning Abkhazia’s disputed waters. Last month Georgia seized a Turkish vessel headed to Sukhumi, ostensibly to break the Georgian blockade on the break-away republic and deliver supplies. The captain, Mehmet Coskun Öztürk, a Turkish citizen, was sentenced to 24 years in prison for violating Georgia’s ban on economic activity with Abkhazia. But, after a visit by the Turkish foreign minister he was quickly released.

Meanwhile, Russia stepped into the ring, saying it would support the (non-existent) Abkhaz navy in protecting it’s sovereign territorial waters and would engage any Georgian vessels attempting to seize Abkhazia-bound cargo ships.

While this sounds like a huge escalation and potential for more conflict, it strikes me as a the inevitable tying off of loose ends. Since the August War and Russia’s recognition of Abkhazia as independent, Georgia has effectively lost all control over the province. Russian troops now patrol the de facto Abkhaz-Georgian borders, and Russia has naval vessels docked in Abkhazia’s southern port of Ochamchira. It was only logical that after securing control of Abkhazia’s terrestrial territory that Russian and Abkhaz authorities would extend their control over Abkhaz waters and end the five-year-old blockade imposed by Saakashvili.

Georgia must protest of course, but there is little it can do, and I highly doubt Georgia’s small naval force will risk skirmishing with the Russian Black Sea fleet just to hamper the de facto Abkhaz government from importing supplies.