A local scandal erupted in the Gulripshi district of Abkhazia: during the restoration of a sign at the entrance to the village of Tskybyn, inhabited by ethnic Armenians, a plaque with the Soviet-era name of the village, Shaumyanovka (named after Stepan Shaumyan), was restored.
Stepan Shaumyan (1878-1918) was an Armenian revolutionary and leader of the Caucasian Bolsheviks. During the Soviet period, many cities, villages, streets, etc., across the Caucasus were named after him.
A photo of the “new old” sign posted on social media sparked widespread outrage.
As a result, the villagers who had unilaterally changed the plaque had to apologize to the district administration.
Subsequently, the Armenian community of Abkhazia stated that the change of the plaque was a private initiative, noting that it “shares the concern and apprehension about the unauthorized alteration of place names of all types of settlements in the country.”
“We advocate for the strict adherence to laws regarding the use of official names for villages, cities, and other administrative entities.
Each geographical name is the result of work by historians and relevant specialists, reflecting the historical and geographical characteristics recorded in the state’s toponymy,” the community’s statement said.
Those responsible for the incident were threatened with administrative fines, the unauthorized plaque was removed, and the “official” one will soon be restored.
Armenians are the second-largest ethnic group in the republic after the Abkhaz themselves. Most of the Armenians here are descendants of refugees from Turkey.
Armenian-Abkhaz relations in the republic are a delicate topic. Essentially, there are informal agreements about the community’s roles and responsibilities.
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