Tengiz Kitovani
Encyclopedia
Tengiz Kitovani (born June 9, 1938) is a retired Georgian
politician and military commander with high-profile involvement in the Georgian Civil War
early in the 1990s when he commanded the National Guard of Georgia
and served as a Defense Minister until being gradually sidelined by Eduard Shevardnadze
who had earlier been invited to lead the nation after a successful coup d'etat
launched by Kitovani and his allies against President
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
.
, Kitovani graduated from the Tbilisi Fine Arts Academy and taught at a boarding school in the town of Tetritsq'aro
, and then worked as a main painter for the Tbilisi State Advertising Bureau between 1967 and 1969.
Kitovani entered the national politics early in 1990 when the independence movement reached its climax in then-Soviet Georgia. Elected to the Supreme Council of Georgia the same year, he was closely associated with Zviad Gamsakhurdia
, a Soviet-era dissident
who went on to become the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council and eventually the President of Georgia
in 1991. In December 1990, Gamsakhurdia decreed the creation of the National Guard of Georgia
and appointed Kitovani as its head. However, the two men collided in August 1991, when Gamsakhurdia sacked him as National Guard commander. Kitovani subsequently claimed that Gamsakhurdia was intending to disband the National Guard, and had been ordered to do so by the leaders of the Moscow Putsch who had briefly taken power in the Soviet Union, but did not produce the documents he claimed to possess confirming this. Kitovani refused to accept his dismissal and left Tbilisi with most of his troops to entrench himself in the Rkoni Gorge. This was the beginning of the end for Gamsakhurdia, whose inflexible politics forced many of his former supporters into opposition.
and the paramilitary
leader Jaba Ioseliani
, launched a violent coup in December 1991. Ioseliani, as well as Gamsakhurdia’s supporters and some independent observers, claimed that Kitovani hired some Soviet/Russian troops stationed in Tbilisi to join the attack on the government.
Gamsakhurdia had been forced into exile by January 6, 1992, and the coup leaders invited the former Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze
to head the post-coup provisional government
– the State Council – in March 1992. As a result of the power-sharing arrangement that was eventually struck between Ioseliani, Kitovani, Sigua and Shevardnadze, Kitovani remained the commander of the National Guard and retained a considerable influence on decision making. In May 1992, Shevardnadze appointed Kitovani Minister of Defence in an effort to bring the National Guard under central control. However, both Kitovani and Ioseliani were reluctant to concede power to Shevardnadze and tended to engage in unilateral actions, and in doing so frequently conflicted with each other.
The first and most obvious of such actions was taken by Kitovani during a planned military operation
against Gamsakhurdia’s supporters who had formed pockets of armed resistance in western Georgia and had taken Georgian government officials hostage. On the night of August 13, 1992, Kitovani’s force entered the autonomous republic
of Abkhazia
, whose leadership had taken a series of steps towards secession from Georgia, in order to establish control over the region’s railways sabotaged by Gamsakhurdia's loyal militia
s. Although this operation and show of force resulted in the eventual release of the hostages, Kitovani, acting most probably on his own initiative, proceeded towards Abkhazia’s capital of Sukhumi
and forced the Abkhaz leaders into flight. Shevardnadze failed to have Kitovani’s force withdrawn from Abkhazia and the country became involved in a thirteen-month-long war which would end in Georgia’s loss of control over most of Abkhazia. Another version of these events, often quoted in Georgia, says that Russia, while supporting the Abkhaz, also instigated Kitovani to trigger the conflict and perhaps even promised support for his leadership ambitions in Georgia after a successful operation. Later, Shevardnadze would accuse Kitovani of provoking an armed conflict in Abkhazia, claiming that Kitovani disavowed his order and advance with his military to Sukhumi. Kitovani however blamed Shevardnadze for preventing him from following up an offensive on Sukhumi with an attack on the Abkhaz stronghold in Gudauta
, home to a Russian military base which supplied the secessionist forces with instructors and munitions. Shevardnadze’s successor as President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili
, has also accused Kitovani of being a "Russian agent" and blamed him for the loss of Abkhazia.
. In the aftermath of the elections, Shevardnadze attempted to replace him as Minister of Defence with a professional soldier, General Anatoli Kamkamidze, but was unable to do so. Amid persistent rumors that he was planning a new military coup, Kitovani was finally forced into resignation in May 1993 – though a protégé, Gia Karkarashvili, was named as his replacement, and he was able to retain some of his power – partly, according to widespread rumours in Tbilisi, through his control over Georgia’s "energy mafia" and his "special relationship" with Russian defence minister Pavel Grachev
.
However, Shevardnadze was able to exploit the military setback in Abkhazia to embark on a crackdown on the paramilitary
groups and ultimately their leaders. After the pro-Gamsakhurdia rebellion had been quashed with Russian aid by December 1993, Shevardnadze was able to increasingly consolidate his power and deprive both Kitovani and Ioseliani of influence over national security policy.
After spending some time in Russia, Kitovani returned to Tbilisi and, together with Tengiz Sigua and Boris Kakubava, leader of a faction of ethnic Georgian IDPs
from Abkhazia, founded the National Front for the Liberation of Abkhazia in the autumn of 1994.
On January 13, 1995, Kitovani, with the support of Tengiz Sigua, led a force of some 700 lightly armed supporters in a march against Abkhazia
. They were stopped by Georgian police
and arrested. Kitovani was tried for having organized an unlawful armed force and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment
in October 1996. He served four years of his eight-year term and was pardon
ed by Shevardnadze on medical grounds on May 22, 1999.
from where he harshly criticized the Shevardnadze government on several occasions. In February 2002, he responded scandalously to the mysterious suicide of Nugzar Sajaia, Shevardnadze’s close ally and an influential Chairman of Georgia’s National Security Council
, making allegations that Sajaia was a homosexual and had ordered the 2001 murder of journalist Giorgi Sanaia
. Later that year, Kitovani accused Shevardnadze of being behind the 2002 assassination
of Kakhi Asatiani
, a businessman and former soccer star. He also upheld Russia’s claims that some 700 Chechen
fighters had spent that winter in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge
. He further claimed that Russian General Gennady Shpigun
, abducted and killed in Chechnya
in 1999/2000, was in fact held captive and put to death in Pankisi, with the body then taken to southern Chechnya. Georgia dismissed all these claims, however.
Georgian Prosecutor-General Nugzar Gabrichidze claimed that Kitovani had been in close contact with National Guard veterans who staged a failed mutiny
on March 23, 2003. Kitovani, however, denied any links with the mutiny.
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
politician and military commander with high-profile involvement in the Georgian Civil War
Georgian Civil War
The Georgian Civil War consisted of inter-ethnic and intranational conflicts in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia , as well as the violent military coup d'etat of December 21, 1991 - January 6, 1992 against the first democratically elected President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia and his...
early in the 1990s when he commanded the National Guard of Georgia
National Guard of Georgia
The National Guard of Georgia is a military structure within the Georgian Armed Forces and has a department status within the Ministry of Defense. It is tasked with responding to external threats, civil disturbances, and natural disasters...
and served as a Defense Minister until being gradually sidelined by Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
who had earlier been invited to lead the nation after a successful coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
launched by Kitovani and his allies against President
President of Georgia
The President of Georgia is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Government of Georgia. Executive power is split between the President and the Prime Minister, who is the head of government...
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia was a dissident, scientist and writer, who became the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era...
.
Early life and career
Born in TbilisiTbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, Kitovani graduated from the Tbilisi Fine Arts Academy and taught at a boarding school in the town of Tetritsq'aro
Tetritsq'aro
Tetri Tsqaro is a town in Kvemo Kartli in southern Georgia, the name of which translates as "White Spring".- See also :*Gudarekhi...
, and then worked as a main painter for the Tbilisi State Advertising Bureau between 1967 and 1969.
Kitovani entered the national politics early in 1990 when the independence movement reached its climax in then-Soviet Georgia. Elected to the Supreme Council of Georgia the same year, he was closely associated with Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia was a dissident, scientist and writer, who became the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era...
, a Soviet-era dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
who went on to become the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council and eventually the President of Georgia
President of Georgia
The President of Georgia is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Government of Georgia. Executive power is split between the President and the Prime Minister, who is the head of government...
in 1991. In December 1990, Gamsakhurdia decreed the creation of the National Guard of Georgia
National Guard of Georgia
The National Guard of Georgia is a military structure within the Georgian Armed Forces and has a department status within the Ministry of Defense. It is tasked with responding to external threats, civil disturbances, and natural disasters...
and appointed Kitovani as its head. However, the two men collided in August 1991, when Gamsakhurdia sacked him as National Guard commander. Kitovani subsequently claimed that Gamsakhurdia was intending to disband the National Guard, and had been ordered to do so by the leaders of the Moscow Putsch who had briefly taken power in the Soviet Union, but did not produce the documents he claimed to possess confirming this. Kitovani refused to accept his dismissal and left Tbilisi with most of his troops to entrench himself in the Rkoni Gorge. This was the beginning of the end for Gamsakhurdia, whose inflexible politics forced many of his former supporters into opposition.
Military coup and civil war
The confrontation between pro- and anti-Gamsakhurdia factions quickly degenerated into a series of strikes and armed clashes, and eventually, Kitovani, joined by Gamsakhurdia’s former Prime Minister Tengiz SiguaTengiz Sigua
Tengiz Sigua is a Georgian politician and former Prime Minister of the country.Sigua was an engineer by profession and entered politics on the eve of the Soviet Union’s collapse. In 1990, he headed the Rustaveli Society of All Georgia and led an expert group of the bloc “Round Table-Free Georgia”...
and the paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
leader Jaba Ioseliani
Jaba Ioseliani
Jaba Ioseliani was a Georgian politician, bank robber and leader of the paramilitary Mkhedrioni organisation....
, launched a violent coup in December 1991. Ioseliani, as well as Gamsakhurdia’s supporters and some independent observers, claimed that Kitovani hired some Soviet/Russian troops stationed in Tbilisi to join the attack on the government.
Gamsakhurdia had been forced into exile by January 6, 1992, and the coup leaders invited the former Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
to head the post-coup provisional government
Provisional government
A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...
– the State Council – in March 1992. As a result of the power-sharing arrangement that was eventually struck between Ioseliani, Kitovani, Sigua and Shevardnadze, Kitovani remained the commander of the National Guard and retained a considerable influence on decision making. In May 1992, Shevardnadze appointed Kitovani Minister of Defence in an effort to bring the National Guard under central control. However, both Kitovani and Ioseliani were reluctant to concede power to Shevardnadze and tended to engage in unilateral actions, and in doing so frequently conflicted with each other.
The first and most obvious of such actions was taken by Kitovani during a planned military operation
Military operation
Military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state's favor. Operations may be of combat or non-combat types, and are referred to by a code name for the purpose...
against Gamsakhurdia’s supporters who had formed pockets of armed resistance in western Georgia and had taken Georgian government officials hostage. On the night of August 13, 1992, Kitovani’s force entered the autonomous republic
Autonomous republic
An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Many of these republics were established during the Soviet...
of Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
, whose leadership had taken a series of steps towards secession from Georgia, in order to establish control over the region’s railways sabotaged by Gamsakhurdia's loyal militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
s. Although this operation and show of force resulted in the eventual release of the hostages, Kitovani, acting most probably on his own initiative, proceeded towards Abkhazia’s capital of Sukhumi
Sukhumi
Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.-Naming:...
and forced the Abkhaz leaders into flight. Shevardnadze failed to have Kitovani’s force withdrawn from Abkhazia and the country became involved in a thirteen-month-long war which would end in Georgia’s loss of control over most of Abkhazia. Another version of these events, often quoted in Georgia, says that Russia, while supporting the Abkhaz, also instigated Kitovani to trigger the conflict and perhaps even promised support for his leadership ambitions in Georgia after a successful operation. Later, Shevardnadze would accuse Kitovani of provoking an armed conflict in Abkhazia, claiming that Kitovani disavowed his order and advance with his military to Sukhumi. Kitovani however blamed Shevardnadze for preventing him from following up an offensive on Sukhumi with an attack on the Abkhaz stronghold in Gudauta
Gudauta
Gudauta is a town in Abkhazia and a centre of the eponymous district. It is situated on the Black Sea, 37 km northwest to Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia....
, home to a Russian military base which supplied the secessionist forces with instructors and munitions. Shevardnadze’s successor as President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...
, has also accused Kitovani of being a "Russian agent" and blamed him for the loss of Abkhazia.
Conflict with Shevardnadze
During the war in Abkhazia, Kitovani developed a power centre rivalling Shevardnadze’s and on several occasions challenged Shevardnadze, now Head of State, on defence matters, suggesting that he should be responsible only for foreign policy. Kitovani stood as a candidate in Georgia's parliamentary elections of October 11, 1992 and was elected in the single-mandate constituency of BolnisiBolnisi
Bolnisi , is a city in the country of Georgia, located in the Kvemo Kartli region and capital of the Bolnisi district. Currently has an estimated 13,800 inhabitants....
. In the aftermath of the elections, Shevardnadze attempted to replace him as Minister of Defence with a professional soldier, General Anatoli Kamkamidze, but was unable to do so. Amid persistent rumors that he was planning a new military coup, Kitovani was finally forced into resignation in May 1993 – though a protégé, Gia Karkarashvili, was named as his replacement, and he was able to retain some of his power – partly, according to widespread rumours in Tbilisi, through his control over Georgia’s "energy mafia" and his "special relationship" with Russian defence minister Pavel Grachev
Pavel Grachev
Pavel Sergeyevich Grachev , sometimes transliterated as Grachov, is a retired Russian Army General and the former Defence Minister of the Russian Federation; in 1988 he was declared the Hero of the Soviet Union...
.
However, Shevardnadze was able to exploit the military setback in Abkhazia to embark on a crackdown on the paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
groups and ultimately their leaders. After the pro-Gamsakhurdia rebellion had been quashed with Russian aid by December 1993, Shevardnadze was able to increasingly consolidate his power and deprive both Kitovani and Ioseliani of influence over national security policy.
After spending some time in Russia, Kitovani returned to Tbilisi and, together with Tengiz Sigua and Boris Kakubava, leader of a faction of ethnic Georgian IDPs
IDPS
IDPS may refer to:*Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems*A graphics server software: iDPS...
from Abkhazia, founded the National Front for the Liberation of Abkhazia in the autumn of 1994.
On January 13, 1995, Kitovani, with the support of Tengiz Sigua, led a force of some 700 lightly armed supporters in a march against Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
. They were stopped by Georgian police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and arrested. Kitovani was tried for having organized an unlawful armed force and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is a legal term.The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co....
in October 1996. He served four years of his eight-year term and was pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
ed by Shevardnadze on medical grounds on May 22, 1999.
Emigration
Since early 2000s, Kitovani has lived in MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
from where he harshly criticized the Shevardnadze government on several occasions. In February 2002, he responded scandalously to the mysterious suicide of Nugzar Sajaia, Shevardnadze’s close ally and an influential Chairman of Georgia’s National Security Council
National Security Council of Georgia
The National Security Council of Georgia is an advisory body for the President of Georgia dealing with matters of national security. The current Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia is Giga Bokeria.-Legal authority:...
, making allegations that Sajaia was a homosexual and had ordered the 2001 murder of journalist Giorgi Sanaia
Giorgi Sanaia
Giorgi Sanaia, sometimes spelled as Giorgi Sanaya was a Georgian television journalist of the independent broadcasting company Rustavi 2 who was murdered under controversial circumstances in 2001....
. Later that year, Kitovani accused Shevardnadze of being behind the 2002 assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of Kakhi Asatiani
Kakhi Asatiani
Kakhi Asatiani was a Georgian footballer and sports manager.During his career he played for FC Dinamo Tbilisi , Asatiani earned 16 caps for the USSR national football team, and participated in UEFA Euro 1968 and the 1970 FIFA World Cup. He coached FC Dinamo Tbilisi between 1978 and 1982, and...
, a businessman and former soccer star. He also upheld Russia’s claims that some 700 Chechen
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
fighters had spent that winter in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge
Pankisi Gorge
The Pankisi Gorge or Pankisi is a valley region in Georgia, in the northeastern corner of the country, bordering the Chechnyan republic of the Russian Federation. Administratively, it is included in the Akhmeta district of the Kakheti region...
. He further claimed that Russian General Gennady Shpigun
Gennady Shpigun
General Gennady Nikolaevich Shpigun was the Russian Interior Ministry's special representative in Chechnya....
, abducted and killed in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
in 1999/2000, was in fact held captive and put to death in Pankisi, with the body then taken to southern Chechnya. Georgia dismissed all these claims, however.
Georgian Prosecutor-General Nugzar Gabrichidze claimed that Kitovani had been in close contact with National Guard veterans who staged a failed mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
on March 23, 2003. Kitovani, however, denied any links with the mutiny.