STATEMENT OF THE ABKHAZ PEOPLE’S COUNCIL on Memorandum of the Volunteer Army to the
English Headquarters
15 April 1919
Having heard the report of the Member of the
Abkhaz Council I.I. Ramishvili on the Memorandum of
the Volunteer Army to the English Headquarters, where it is said that: “the
population of Abkhazia, according to the Memorandum, which is especially
hostile to Georgians and has a vocation to Russia often asks the Volunteer Army
to help them in ousting Georgians and attaching Sukhumi
Okrug to Russia.
After receiving such application from the official representatives of
the Abkhaz people the Headquarters send the telegram to the Generals Milns and Forstie proposing to
carry out the following measures:
1. To expel Georgian troops and administration
from the Okrug;
2. To declare neutrality in the Okrug and entrust the elected power with the task of
maintaining the public order;
3. To withdraw Georgian across the
The
Abkhaz People’s Council publicly declares: 1) The Abkhaz People’s Council is the sole
authorized and plenipotentiary representative of Abkhazia elected through the
most democratic principles; 2) through this Council Abkhazia established close
links with the Democratic Republic of Georgia, entered in the Republic as an
Autonomous entity and defined its an Georgia’s common state borders; 3) any
“official representative” of Abkhazia, mentioned in the Memorandum, is just the
enemy of the Abkhaz and Georgian democracy, who tries to prepare fertile soil
for the counter-revolution and for restoration of the old order aimed at
deteriorating the democratic achievements; 4) the Abkhaz democracy, in
collaboration with the Georgian democracy will be able to curb unbidden
“representatives” of the Abkhaz people and take over the counter-revolution and
its agents for the sake of revolution; 5) the
Abkhaz People’s Council wants to know who are those impostors that make
an appeal on behalf of the Abkhaz people to the Volunteer Army. The Abkhaz People’s Council declares them
as traitors and states that the evidence given in the Memorandum doesn’t
correspond to reality; 6) to inform the allies about this Resolution through
the Democratic Republic of Georgia”.
(Jemal Gamakharia, Badri Gogia, Abkhazia-Historical Region of Georgia.