If I was feeling safe I would have shared my name last name and even my address but now I cannot risk it, I have children, relatives and I cannot put their lives in danger, ”this is how a lady started her interview with “Tbilisi-24”, who is a member of Georgian-Abkhazian family. Her family lives in Sukhumi (de-facto capital of Abkhazia). She is currently visiting relatives in Tbilisi. Out of his three children, two live in Moscow, Russia. One of them resides in Sukhumi with his parents.
“We have raised kids grand kids, we are in a mediocre health and material conditions. We have enough to share with our neighbors but our soul is still missing contact with Georgians, it is much like oxygen for us”, said the lady and asked to bring her words to Georgians.
“Abkhazians are now regretting what happened back in 1990s. Now, Russians want to take everything under control here. Abkhazian people are very proud and cannot adopt with colonial rule over their place. After our patriarch expressed his wish to visit Abkhazia, hope emerged among most Georgians and Abkhazians. My Abkhazian friend in Sukhumi told me: ‘what if we can really set new relationship with Georgia.’ I know from him that most Abkhazians are looking for ways to connect to Georgians. I as a citizen feel that the hatred has disappeared. Earlier no one wanted to hear anything about Georgians. You know, how many new Georgian-Abkhazian families have been created? Do not feel offended but you journalists must be more active regarding Abkhazian issue, you always show conflicts instead of positive things that might have better impact on Georgian-Abkhazian relations.
My dear Georgians, I am a mother and that is why I dare to ask you to let our grandchildren grow up in Georgia with communal love and care. It indeed, requires huge effort to resolve the conflict . It is essential to reconstruct the trust between Georgians and the State of Georgia. We need to begin from public diplomacy and neglect the tone of order and aggression. Like I said, my friends returned to me, a lot of people want to return too. Of course, Russia plays a huge role but perhaps it is possible to talk to Russians. I believe that soon will come time when all Abkhazians will see news, development and will be willing to return to Georgia. Already, a lot of Abkhazians say- Abkhazia is Georgia.
t the end of the interview the woman said with her sorrowful voice: “We had a poster in Sukhumi, saying that Abkhazia is Georgia, you had to broadcast it on every channel. Media is the first step that could lead us to Georgian-Abkhazian reunion”.
Georgian Youth Network in the United States 