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{{Short description|Former Georgian military commander and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
'''Emzar Kvitsiani''' ({{lang-ka|ემზარ კვიციანი}}, {{Audio|En-us-Emzar Kvitsiani from Georgia pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg|[ɛmzɑr kʼvitsʰiɑni]}}; born April 25, 1961) is a former [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] military commander and politician. He took part in the [[War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)]], forming a paramilitary group ''[[Monadire]]'' in the upper [[Kodori valley]], guarding it from Abkhaz forces. He was mainly active in [[Kodori valley]], which he ran ''de facto'' through his militia from 1992 to 2006. Kvitsiani opposed the [[Rose Revolution]], which subsequently led to confrontation with the Georgia's central authorities under [[Mikheil Saakashvili]]. Kvitsiani declared defiance to the authorities in 2006 and was subsequently [[2006 Kodori crisis|ousted]] by the Georgian government forces. He fled to [[North Caucasus]], but, in 2014, he was arrested on his return to Georgia, initially sentenced to 16 years in jail, and then released under a plea bargain in early 2015.<ref name="RFE on release">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Georgian Court Releases Jailed Warlord|url=http://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-kvitsiani-russia/26818432.html|accessdate=23 October 2016|agency=Radio Free Europe|date=28 January 2015}}</ref> He was one of the leaders of the [[Alliance of Patriots of Georgia]] and a member of [[Parliament of Georgia]].<ref name="AofP Website">{{cite web|last1=Alliance of Patriots of Georgia|title=Leadership: Emzar Kvitsiani|url=http://patriots.ge/leadership-emzar-kvitsiani/|accessdate=23 October 2016|archive-date=21 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021182850/http://patriots.ge/leadership-emzar-kvitsiani/|url-status=dead}}</ref>▼
{{Infobox military person
| name = Emzar Kvitsiani
| image = Emzar Kvitsiani (VOA).jpg
| caption = Kvitsiani in 2006
| native_name = ემზარ კვიციანი
| native_name_lang = ka
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|4|25|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Chkhalta]], [[Abkhaz ASSR]], [[Georgian SSR]], [[Soviet Union]] (now [[Abkhazia]], Georgia)
| allegiance = Georgia
| commands =
| battles = {{tree list}}
* [[Abkhaz–Georgian conflict]]
** [[War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)]]
** [[2001 Kodori crisis]]
** [[2006 Kodori crisis]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}
▲'''Emzar Kvitsiani''' ({{lang-ka|ემზარ კვიციანი}}, {{Audio|En-us-Emzar Kvitsiani from Georgia pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg|[ɛmzɑr kʼvitsʰiɑni]}}; born 25 April
== Career ==
Kvitsiani was born in 1961 in the village of [[Chkhalta]], part of the predominantly ethnic Georgian [[Svans|Svan]] upper Kodori valley in the then-[[Abkhaz ASSR|Soviet Abkhazia]], an [[autonomous republic]] within the [[Georgian SSR]]. He finished the [[Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management|Novosibirsk Institute of National Economy]] and later graduated the
After the [[War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)|secessionist war]] broke out in Abkhazia in 1992, Kvitsiani organized a militia force of several hundred fighters named ''Monadire'' ("the Hunter") in the upper Kodori valley in order to fend off the Abkhaz threat. He succeeded in keeping the strategically crucial gorge under the control of his militia after the retreat of the Georgian forces from Abkhazia in 1993, though militia in the area reportedly also demanded money and possessions from fleeing civilians, in exchange for passage.<ref name="MartenBook" /> Following the war, Kvitsiani maintained nominal dependence on the central government of Georgia. The then-[[President of Georgia]] [[Eduard Shevardnadze]] attempted to channel Kvitsiani's activities into the legal framework of the Georgian state apparatus. Kvitsiani was appointed deputy special state envoy to the Kodori valley in 1997 and then special state envoy to that area in 2000. He and his men entertained good relations with the Abkhaz people despite numerous skirmishes and incidents occurring over the years. According to his own claims, Abkhaz representatives occasionally tried to persuade him to sign a four-sided treaty that would effectively transfer control of the valley over to the Sukhumi administration. Kvitsiani however always refused and also countered various armed incursions, mostly in a pacifying manner.<ref name="patriots.ge"/> He earned the Abkhazians respect by treating prisoners well and in some cases even releasing them with their arms returned. In 1998, his militia was made a special battalion of the [[Georgian Armed Forces]], but the government had little control of it.<ref name=civil26993>{{cite news|title=Wanted Ex-Warlord Arrested on Arrival in Tbilisi|url=http://civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=26993|accessdate=1 March 2014|newspaper=[[Civil Georgia]]|date=28 February 2014}}</ref><ref name=lenta/> In 2004 on behalf of the Georgian government Emzar Kvitsiani was also engaged and partially responsible in convincing the Abkhazians to clear minefields that were deployed during the war. In return minefields laid by the Georgian army would be removed as well.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.landmine.de/archiv/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/news/news-detailseite/article/georgia-abkhazia-ageree-to-demine-kodori-gorge.html |title=Landmine.de: Georgia, Abkhazia ageree to demine Kodori Gorge |website=www.landmine.de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118100542/http://www.landmine.de/archiv/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/news/news-detailseite/article/georgia-abkhazia-ageree-to-demine-kodori-gorge.html |archive-date=2016-11-18}} </ref>
Kvitsiani's role in the abduction of the [[United Nations]] and Georgian officials in Kodori in the 1990s, the [[2001 Kodori crisis]], and various supposed criminal activities in the region have been disputed.<ref name=lenta/><ref name="Marten"/
After his ouster from the Kodori valley, Kvitsiani eventually fled to the Russian [[North Caucasus]]
== Arrest and trial ==
On 28 February
== Political engagement post-2015 ==
Kvitsiani is one of the leaders of the [[Alliance of Patriots of Georgia]], a populist party that gained six seats in the parliamentary elections in Georgia in October 2016.<ref name="AofP Website" />
In 2018, Kvitsiani proposed a law to ban the wearing of [[burqa]] and [[niqab]] in public. The parliament of Georgia considered the proposal.<ref name="dfwatch.net">{{Cite web|url=https://dfwatch.net/georgias-parliament-to-consider-a-ban-on-wearing-burqa-and-niqab-in-public-52732|title = Georgia's parliament to consider a ban on wearing burqa and niqab in public|date = 26 December 2018}}</ref> Kvitsiani has also been seen at several rallies in Tbilisi held by [[Georgian March]], a far-right, anti-LGBT and anti-immigration group.<ref name="dfwatch.net"/>
During a televised interview in April 2018, Kvitsiani
კოდორის მოვლენები - ემზარ კვიციანი ადასტურებს, რომ რუსეთის სპეცსამსახურების დავალებას ასრულებდა|date=April 2018|website=Georgian Information Agency|access-date=3 March 2024}}</ref>
== References ==
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