We, the people of Abkhazia/Abaza origin, living throughout the world are committed to the principle of an Abkhaz homeland. We are equally dedicated to the inalienable right of all ethnic Abkhaz to return to Abkhazia and hereby establish this coalition to work for a peaceful means to achieve these goals.

The Coalition for a Democratic Abkhazia (CDA) is a political, historical and social organization established in the United States of America in 1999.

I. The CDA is dedicated to the inalienable right of all Abkhaz/Abaza to have a homeland.

II. The CDA is dedicated to the right of all ethnic Abkhaz to obtain Abkhaz citizenship irrespective of present day status.

III. The CDA is dedicated to the creation of a new constitution for the Abkhaz/Abaza homeland that truly promote democratic principles of law, justice and equality and the separation of executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

IV. The CDA is dedicated to universal suffrage that elects a President and Parliament along with local and regional officials.

V. The CDA is dedicated to the principle of free speech, press, assembly and religion.

VI. The CDA is dedicated to the principle of private property rights.

VII. The CDA is dedicated to the principle of an independent judicial system. The rule of law must prevail over the rule of men.

VIII. The CDA is dedicated to the free market system.

IX. The CDA is dedicated to a decentralized and independent banking system.

X. The CDA is dedicated to aid the population of the Republic of Abkhazia during the present economic hardship.

The CDA is committed to an equitable and just resolution of the conflict with Georgia.

The CDA is committed to a comprehensive new agenda in the peace process with the Georgian Republic.

The CDA is committed to a completely new negotiation team in the peace process.

The CDA is committed to the universal repatriation of all refugees to their homeland without discrimination. Abkhazia prides itself on being a heterogeneous society.

The founders of the Coalition will comprise the initial Board of Directors until the appropriate time and place become possible for a general assembly meeting to ratify the platform of the coalition, elect a leadership and a new Board of Directors. Furthermore, the CDA as a voluntary organization will seek to obtain financial support from its general assembly membership and outside sponsors who support the principles of freedom in an Abkhaz homeland.

2. The dynasty of Abkhazia broke off after the death of childless King Feodos and the power passed to his nephew Bagrat III (978-1014). Bagrat III had inherited the Abkhazian throne through his maternal line although his father was Georgian. It is from this period on that the formation of the United Kingdom of Abkhazia and Kartvel (Georgia) had begun.

    

3. During the next several centuries (XI . XIII) the kings of United Abkhazia and Kartvelia named themselves, firstly, kings of Abkhazia and the title, "Kings of the Kartvels" in their denomination was second. Toward the end of the XIII century the United Kingdom of Abkhazia and Kartvelia collapsed. From the (XIII-XV) centuries Abkhazia was in the political and economical sphere of Genoa who established commercial trading stations on the Black Sea Coast. From the (XVI-XVIII) centuries the Abkhazian kingdom was under the protection of the Ottoman Empire. At this time the indigenous Abkhaz people predominately converted to Islam.

    

4. Towards the end of the XVIII century under the Chachba Dynasty, the Abkhazian Kingdom became strong again and controlled the Black Sea coast from Batum to Anapa. In 1810, the Abkhaz Kingdom came under the protection of the Russian Empire with the status of a separate state until the year of 1864. From 1864 to 1917, Abkhazia was subordinated to the Tsar. s administration for the Caucasus.

    

5. During the advent of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Abkhazia had joined the North Caucasus Republic and declared its independence on May 11^th, 1918. On May 26, 1918, Georgia followed suit by declaring its independence. Abkhazia was not part of the Georgian Republic when both countries determined their respective fate in 1918. In 1991, Georgia utilized the May 26, 1918 declaration of independence as its basis for independence. Georgia. s independence legally could not include Abkhazia as Abkhazia was beyond its jurisdiction.

    

6. After the Bolsheviks consolidated their power in Russia in 1921, an Abkhazian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) as well as a Georgian Soviet Socialist (SSA) was created. In December of 1921 a union treaty was concluded under Stalin. s pressure which specifically mandated the equality of both republics. The Abkhaz SSR constitution of 1925, and the Georgian constitution of 1927 specified their separate but equal SSR status in the Soviet Union.

    

7. In 1931, Stalin unilaterally dissolved the Republic of Abkhazia. s SSR. s status as part of the Soviet Union and subordinated its status to that of an autonomous republic within the territorial framework of the Georgian SSR despite the Abkhaz popular rally from 18 to 26 of February of 1931 in protest against that decision. This illegitimate and illegal act of Stalin in 1931 was performed without the consent of the Abkhaz people and remains illegitimate and illegal to the present day.

    

8. From 1931 until Stalin. s death in 1953 the Abkhaz people and their legitimate leaders were purged by the thousands as part Stalin and Beria. s ethnic cleansing nationality policy. The Georgianization of Abkhazia was in full swing. It is a fact that ethnic Georgians including Mingrelians in Abkhazia were 6% in 1886. 24% in 1897 as a result of the expulsion of the majority of the Abkhaz population to Turkey at the end of the Caucasian War in 1864 and the Russian victory over Turkey in the Russian/Turkish War of 1877-1878, the population risen to 30% in 1939, 39.1% in 1959 and 44% in 1989.

    

9. Mass meetings and demonstrations by the Abkhaz people took place in post Stalin era during 1957, 1964, 1967, 1978, 1979 and 1989 demanding to secede from Georgia without success. The disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in the Georgian SSR declaring its independence including an autonomous Abkhazia. On February 21, 1992, the military council of Georgia reinstated the constitution of 1921 in which Abkhazia was not mentioned. On July 23, 1992 Abkhazia restored its constitution of 1925 according to which Abkhazia was a sovereign state.

    

10. Two weeks after independent Georgia was admitted as a member of the UN, Georgia. s military council initiated on August 14, 1992 a brutal war of aggression against Abkhazia. This action was aimed at ethnically cleansing Abkhazians and reducing Abkhazia to nothing more than a place on the map. Georgia. s military objective was to create an "Abkhazia without Abkhazians". On September 30, 1993 the Abkhazian forces with the assistance of ethnic Armenians, ethnic Russians of Abkhazia along with volunteers from the North Caucasus and Cossacks defeated the Georgian military machine.

     

11. Abkhazia ratified its own constitution on November 26, 1994 and elected its first Parliament and President. The heads of the CIS countries imposed a strict blockade on Abkhazia in December of 1994 till present at the request of the Georgian Republic. At this time, Russian peacekeeping forces were introduced between Abkhazia and Georgia.

     

12. At the peace table, since the end of September of 1993, there has been very little progress with largely cosmetic gestures made for domestic consumption. National debate should never be mistaken for national disunity. Abkhazia desperately requires a national debate on its future and the peace process with Georgia.

Dr. Yanal Kazan