Tengis Kitowani

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Tengis Kitowani

Tengis Kitowani ( Georgian თენგიზ კიტოვანი ; born June 9, 1939 in Tbilisi ) is a Georgian artist , warlord and politician . He led a successful coup against the first elected President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia . From 1992 to 1993 he was a member of the Georgian State Council and Minister of Defense of Georgia.

Life

Kitowani first lived as an artist in the Tbilisi bohemian region . In 1990 he joined the national independence movement in Georgia. In the same year he was elected to the country's Supreme Soviet in the first free elections in Georgia.

President Sviad Gamsachurdia installed him as commander in chief of the newly created Georgian National Guard . In August 1991 he was relieved of his position as commander because he had defied orders from the President. Kitowani joined the opposition.

Between December 1991 and January 1992 he organized a successful coup against Gamsakhurdia with Jaba Iosseliani . Under his leadership, parts of the Georgian National Guard besieged the parliament building in Tbilisi. On February 22, 1992, he became a member of the Georgian Provisional Government, the State Council, and Minister of Defense. A month later he invited the former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze to take over the chairmanship of the State Council. In the Abkhazian civil war from 1992 to 1993 he commanded the Georgian armed forces .

In May 1993, Shevardnadze Kitowanis forced his resignation. The military leader then founded the opposition National Front party with former Georgian Prime Minister Tengis Sigua . In January 1995 he started a spontaneous military strike with former members of his People's Guard in order to retake Abkhazia. Kitowani and his supporters were disarmed and detained by the Georgian army. In 1996 he was sentenced to eight years in prison for organizing an illegal armed force.

In February 1999, Kitowani went on a hunger strike to have his trial readmitted. On May 22, 1999, Shevardnadze gave him an amnesty for health reasons. Kitowani's efforts to regain a role in Georgian politics have failed. Tengis Kitowani now lives in Moscow .

Web links

Commons : Tengiz Kitovani  - collection of images, videos and audio files