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Pankisi

Coordinates: 42°07′N 45°16′E / 42.117°N 45.267°E / 42.117; 45.267
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pankisi Gorge
Georgian: პანკისის ხეობა
Pankisi Gorge is located in Georgia
Pankisi Gorge
Pankisi Gorge
Pankisi Gorge is located in Kakheti
Pankisi Gorge
Pankisi Gorge
Geography
Country Georgia
Coordinates42°07′N 45°16′E / 42.117°N 45.267°E / 42.117; 45.267 

Pankisi (Georgian: პანკისი) or the Pankisi Gorge (Georgian: პანკისის ხეობა, Pankisis Kheoba)[a] is a valley region in Georgia, in the upper reaches of River Alazani. It lies just south of Georgia’s historic region of Tusheti between Mt Borbalo and the ruined 17th-century fortress of Bakhtrioni.

In 2002, Pankisi was at the epicentre of the Pankisi Gorge crisis, during which the valley played host to an armed formation led by the Chechen commander Ruslan Gelayev, who had fled the Second Chechen War. In the context of the Global War on Terror, both Russian and American political figures made public allegations, which were subsequently either disproved or uncorroborated, that senior Al-Qaeda leaders were present in the Gorge, and had acquired the nerve agent ricin.[1] The Gorge has occasionally been mentioned in subsequent reports linking it to Salafi-jihadist activity.[2]

Administratively, Pankisi is included in the Akhmeta municipality of the Kakheti region. The area is about two and half miles wide and eight miles long.[3]

As of 2019, the Kist ethnic group accounted for the majority of the area's roughly 5,000 residents.[4] The Kists are Vainakhs, usually of Chechen roots, who have moved to the Pankisi area since the 19th Century. Kist culture combines Vainakh traditions with some influences from surrounding eastern Georgia.[3]

History

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The 17th century geographer and historian Prince Vakhushti Bagrationi, in his book Description of Kingdom of Georgia, writes that the inhabitants of Pankisi were Georgian nobility of the Aznauri and Tavadi classes, although his account makes clear that there were also peasants in the area. [5] He described them as intelligent, and as "skilled warriors."

Vakhushti described Pankisi itself as forested, with plentiful fruit trees, and vineyards that produced good wine. He added that the harvests were good, and the forests rich in game. Fish were also numerous, he wrote, especially "mountain trout", and there were many cattle, and many pigs, but few sheep.[5]

In the 1730s, the Pankisi valley was emptied of Georgian population: part of them were killed as a result of the invasions, and rest of them resettled elsewhere.[6]

In 18th century Georgian legislation, the noble (Aznauri) Kobiashvili family of the Kingdom of Kakheti are mentioned as the lords of the Pankisi valley.[7][8]

Georgia's 1989 census found that the Pankisi Gorge's population was 43% Kist, 29% Georgian, and 28% Ossetian.[3] However, during the subsequent two decades the valley's ethnic composition changed again under the pressure of regional wars. Many of the valley's Ossetians fled from the South Ossetia War and the Georgian Civil War, to settle in North Ossetia-Alania in the Russian Federation.[3] Chechens fled from the two wars in Chechnya, which had attempted to secede from the Russian Federation, and some made their homes in Pankisi's villages.[3] By 2007, the Kists were the largest ethnic group in the area.[3]

The 2014 census did not report a separate demographic breakdown for Pankisi, but found that the wider Akhmeta municipality was home to 5,471 Kists, who constituted roughly 17% of the municipal population.[9] By 2019, Kists were reported to be a majority of Pankisi's roughly-5,000 inhabitants.[4]

Etymology

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According to Mate Albutashvili (also known as Kisti Chobani), the toponym Pankisi is of Georgian origin. He writes that Pankisi derives from Pantisi which means "land rich in wild forest pears", (P’ant’a-პანტა) (pyrus caucasica) with the Georgian suffix -სი(si).[10][6]

[edit]
Main article: Pankisi Gorge crisis
The flags of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and Georgia flying side-by-side in the Pankisi Gorge

The Pankisi Gorge crisis was a 2002 geopolitical dispute that arose as a direct result of the Second Chechen War, and which was shaped by the U.S. Global War on Terror and pre-existing tensions between Russia and Georgia.[1] From 1999, thousands of refugees from the war in Chechnya, 25 miles to the north, congregated in the valley, including some armed rebels.[11] By 2002, Ruslan Gelayev, a Chechen commander was reported to have gathered hundreds of armed men there.

Russia wanted Georgia to act against Gelayev's band, but Georgia was in dispute with Russia over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and declined to do so. On the contrary, Gelayev's force allegedly fought on behalf of Georgia in Abkhazia in 2001.[1]

Both Russian and U.S. leaders made public claims during 2002 and 2003 that Al-Qaeda was operating in the valley, and that a "Chechen network" associated with the organisation had learned to manufacture ricin, a lethal nerve agent. In Russia's case, the claims, which were unfounded, may have been made in an effort to persuade the U.S. to put pressure on Georgia to expel Gelayev and his men.[1] In the event, Gelayev led his column out of Georgia and back onto Russian territory in September 2003, after which Georgian authorities conducted an operation in the Pankisi Gorge.[1][11] It netted 15 alleged militants of Arab heritage, none of whom were thought to have been senior.[1]

Nonetheless, in Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council in February 2003, the Secretary of State claimed to know that associates of the Al-Qaeda leader Musab al-Zarqawi had

been active in the Pankisi Gorge, Georgia and in Chechnya, Russia. The plotting to which they are linked is not mere chatter. Members of Zarqawi's network say their goal was to kill Russians with toxins.[12]

Powell showed a slide that depicted a purported Al-Qaeda network under the command of al-Zarqawi, including a bearded man named Abu 'Atiya located in Pankisi, Georgia.[13] Abu 'Atiya was reportedly arrested in Azerbaijan on 12 August 2003, and deported to Jordan.[14]

In 2008, the valley was reported to be peaceful despite the nearby Russo-Georgian war, and substantial numbers of refugees from Chechnya remained living there [15][16]

The former senior Islamic State leader Tarkan Batirashvili, otherwise known as "Omar the Chechen," grew up in Pankisi, which was still home to some of his family as of 2014.[17] In 2014, Batirashvilii reportedly threatened to return to the area to lead a Muslim attack on Russian Chechnya.[2] However, the threat never came into fruition, and Batirashvili was killed during a battle in the Iraqi town of Al-Shirqat in 2016.[18]

List of jihadists and North-Caucasian separatists who have passed through the Pankisi Gorge

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  • Abdulla Kurd (1977-2011), Kurdish jihadist said to have transited through Pankisi on his way to fight in Chechnya.[19] The RIA Novosti agency[19] reported that he did so in 1991: if that and his reported birth date are accurate, he would have turned 14 the year he crossed into Chechnya - it is possible that one or both are incorrect. He later became the fifth and last emir of the foreign Mujahideen in Chechnya organisation
  • Khaled Youssef Mohammed al-Emirat (1969-2011), known as Muhannad, a Jordanian jihadist. According to the Russian FSB, he arrived in the north Caucasus in 1999, and crossed into Chechnya from Pankisi.[20] He later became the fourth Emir of the foreign mujahideen in Chechnya.
  • Ruslan Gelayev (1964-2004), Chechen separatist commander, operated in the Gorge from around August 2001 to September 2002. His family reportedly lived in the village of Omalo.[21]
  • Saïd Arif (1965-2015), Algerian Salafi-jihadist associated with Abu Qatada and Al-Qaeda, lived in the Gorge from around May 2001 to early 2003, with the exception of a period inside Chechnya and a trip to see his family in Sweden.[22]
  • Anna Sundberg (1971-present), Arif's wife, later author and politician, lived with him in the village of Duisi from June to November 2001.[22]
  • Abdul-Malik Mezhidov (1961-2009), a Salafist and former Brigadier General of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria who fled with Gelayev to Pankisi, and followed him back into Russia in 2002.
  • Muslim Atayev (1973-2005) led a contingent of some 20-30 volunteers from Kabardino-Balkaria that formed in the Pankisi Gorge training camps, under the command of Gelayev.[23]
  • Zelimkhan Khangoshvili (1979-2019), platoon commander for the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria during the Second Chechen war, and later Georgian military officer and alleged intelligence informant. Khangoshvili was born in Duisi village and was assassinated by the FSB in Berlin.
  • Menad Benchellali, convicted as part of the Chechen Network case, met Arif in the Gorge.[24]
  • Abu Atiya, jihadist and local subordinate of Musab al-Zarqawi, operated in the Gorge around 2001-2002.
  • Akhmed Chatayev (1980-2017), Chechen militant and Islamic State leader, lived in the Gorge for two years up to September 2012.[25]
  • Tarkan Batirashvili, known as Omar al-Shishani, (1986-2016), Islamic State leader, grew up in Pankisi.
  • Tamaz Batirashvili (killed 2018), older brother of Tarkan, fought alongside him in Syria.[26][27][28]
  • Hamzat and Khalid Borchashvili, brothers, killed in Syria, lived in the Gorge until 13 and 11 years old respectively.[29] Hamzat was the first husband of Seda Dudurkaeva, who after his death married Tarkan Batirashvili.
  • Giorgi Kushtanashvili, known by noms de guerre including Salahuddin Shishani (killed 2017), a fighter in Chechnya and leader of minor jihadist organisations in Syria was born in Duisi village.[30]
  • Cezar Tokhosashvili, known as Al-Bara Shishani, recruited as a supporter of ISIS by Chatayev, arrested in Kyiv in 2019 and extradited to Georgia.[31]
  • Murat Akhmetovich Margoshvili, known as Muslim Shishani, was born in Duisi and later fought in the first and second Chechen wars, and in the Syrian civil war [32]
  • Abu Musa al Shishani reportedly has roots in Pankisi [33]
  • Feyzullah Margoshvili, born Giorgi Kushtanashvili in Duisi, known in Syria as Salahuddin Shishani (killed 2017) [32]

Notes

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  1. ^ Chechen: ПӀаьнгазхойн чӀаж, romanized: Phängazkhoyn ch'azh, Ingush: ПӀенгишхой чӀож, romanized: Phengishkhoy ch'ozh

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f McGregor, Andrew (5 May 2005). "Ricin Fever: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the Pankisi Gorge". The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 March 2025. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b Michael Winfrey (October 9, 2014). "Islamic State Grooms Chechen Fighters Against Putin". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Sanikidze, George (2007). "Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Caucasian Region: "Global" and "Local" Islam in the Pankisi Gorge". Hokudai University Slavic-Eurasian Research Centre. pp. 263–280. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2025. Retrieved 21 March 2025. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 19 December 2012 suggested (help)
  4. ^ a b Hauer, Neil (15 July 2019). "Pankisi residents find common cause with other Georgians". Eurasianet. Archived from the original on 21 March 2025. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  5. ^ a b "აღწერა ჰერეთისა, კახეთისა და კუხეთისა, კუალად თუშეთისა და დიდოეთისა - Wikisource". wikisource.org. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  6. ^ a b მამისიმედაშვილი, ხვთისო (2008). პანკისი წარსული და თანამედროვეობა [Pankisi Past and Modernity] (in Georgian). თბილისი: Tbilisi State University. p. 17. ISBN 978-9941-13-034-2.
  7. ^ დოლიძე, ი (1974). ქართული სამართლის ძეგლები : ტომი V (in Georgian). თბილისი : მეცნიერება. pp. 288–292.
  8. ^ მამისიმედიშვილი, ხვთისო (2008). პანკისის წარსული და თანამედროვეობა [Pankisi Past and Modernity] (in Georgian). Tbilisi: Tbilisi State University. p. 19. ISBN 978-9941-13-034-2.
  9. ^ "Data table: Results of Georgia's 2014 census - ethnicity by area". Archived from the original on 2 March 2025. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  10. ^ ალბუთაშვილი, მათე (2005). პანკისის ხეობა [Pankisi Gorge] (in Georgian). თბილისი: გოგი და ნიკო ჯავახიშვილები.
  11. ^ a b Filkins, Dexter (15 June 2003). "U.S. Entangled in Mystery of Georgia's Islamic Fighters". New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2025. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  12. ^ "Transcript of Powell's U.N. presentation, Part 9: Ties to al-Qaeda". CNN. Archived from the original on 12 October 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  13. ^ Powell, Colin (6 February 2003). "Slide 43, February 2006 presentation to the United Nations". George W. Bush White House Archives. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  14. ^ Moore, Cerwyn; Tumelty, Paul (April 2008). "Foreign Fighters and the Case of Chechnya: A Critical Assessment". Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. 31 (5). Taylor & Francis: 412–433. doi:10.1080/10576100801993347. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  15. ^ BBC News, Russia's reach unnerves Chechens, Wednesday, 16 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7189024.stm Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  16. ^ UNHCR, 'Chechen refugees in Pankisi Gorge resume normal life after Georgia scare', 1 October 2008. http://www.unhcr.org/48e389e12.html Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  17. ^ Akhmeteli, Nina (2014-07-09). "Georgian roots of Isis commander". BBC News.
  18. ^ "Daesh says top leader Omar Al-Shishani killed in battle". Arab News. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  19. ^ a b "The main coordinator of terrorists in the North Caucasus was killed in Chechnya" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 4 May 2011. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  20. ^ В Чечне уничтожен эмиссар "Аль-Каиды" Абдулла Курд, сменивший недавно убитого Моганнеда (in Russian). NEWSru. 4 May 2011. Archived from the original on May 9, 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  21. ^ Timofeev, Mikhail (4 October 2002). "Battle of Galashki" (in Russian). nvo.ng.ru. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  22. ^ a b Sundberg, Anna; Huor, Jesper (2016). "Drömmen om paradiset: Pankisidalen 2001". Älskade Terrorist: (in Swedish) (Epub ed.). Stockholm: Norstedts. ISBN 978-91-1-305933-4.
  23. ^ McGregor, Andrew (14 September 2006). "Military Jama'ats in the North Caucasus: A Continuing Threat?". Aberfoyle Security. Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 January 2025. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  24. ^ Hafez, Mohammed M. (2007). Suicide Bombers in Iraq: the Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom. Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace. p. 172. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  25. ^ Sarkisashvili, Natalia (23 October 2012). "Human Rights Center Demands Freedom of Akhmed Chataev". Human Rights in Georgia. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  26. ^ "Brother of Georgia-born IS Commander al-Shishani Reported Dead". Georgia Today. 25 July 2018. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  27. ^ "Brother Of Leader Of ISIL Abu Omar Al-Shishani Was Killed In Syria". Front News. 25 July 2018.
  28. ^ "Umar al-Shishani's brother killed in Syria". Caucasian Knot. 25 July 2018.
  29. ^ Burchuladze, Nino (27 January 2014). ""I didn't raise my children to be killed in Syria" (Exclusive)" (in Georgian). Kviris Palitra. Archived from the original on 31 March 2025. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  30. ^ Paraszczuk, Joanna (15 April 2015). "Who is Salakhuddin Shishani aka Feyzullah Margoshvili (aka Giorgi Kushtanashvili?)". From Chechnya to Syria. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  31. ^ Oliver Carroll (21 November 2019). "How Ukraine became the unlikely home for Isis leaders escaping the caliphate". The Independent. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  32. ^ a b "Ethnic Kist Murad Margoshvili on the Specially Designated Global Terrorists list". Front News. 25 September 2014. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  33. ^ Cecire, Michael (21 July 2015). "How Extreme are the Extremists? Pankisi Gorge as a Case Study". Foreign Policy Research Institute. Retrieved 27 January 2025.

Bibliography

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  • Kurtsikidze, Shorena; Chikovani, Vakhtang (2008). Ethnography and Folklore of the Georgia-Chechnya Border: Images, Customs, Myths & Folk Tales of the Peripheries. Munich: Lincom Europa.
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