Ossetia

Ossetia is the land of the people of the Ossetians.

Politically

Ossetia is now divided politically into two different contiguous regions in different States:

• North Ossetia-Alania, a republic within Russia
• South Ossetia, a de facto regime that applies international law as part of Georgia.

Geography

Ossetia Ossetia -Alania or is a mountainous area in the Caucasus. It is bordered to the northwest by Kabardino -Balkaria, in the northeast of Ingushetia and Chechnya (also see North Ossetia-Alania ), and in the south and southwest Georgia (see also South Ossetia).

Language and religion

The Ossetian is an Iranian language. The Ossetians are mostly Christians of the Russian Orthodox Church.

History

The Ossetians are the only Indo-European ( northern Iranian ) ethnic group that lives in the Central Caucasus. They are surrounded by ethnic groups ( Ingush, Kabardian, Georgians ) belonging to the Ibero - Caucasian language family. The Ossetians call themselves forDriver of the Alans who appear in written sources for the first time in the 1st century AD. The Alans were living on the northern slopes of the Caucasus, mainly in the western part, where they founded a state in the Early Middle Ages. In Georgian sources is referred to this state with the name " Owseti " ( Georgian sources do not know the name of the Alans, the Russian name for the Ossetians comes from the Georgian " Osseti "). The connecting paths from Georgia to South Ossetia ran through the valley of the River Terek (Georgian Tergi ), so she called the exit by Dariali Valley the "Gate of Ossetians ," the Georgian sources. The name is of Persian origin Dariali: Dari - alan means " Gate of the Alans ". The region has been inhabited since ancient times. In the 7th century BC the Scythians migrated with a related Iranian tribes. In the 9th century AD, the State Alania arose among the people of the Alans, the direct ancestors of the Ossetians. Some buildings from this time are still present today, including towers.

In the 13th century Ossetia -Alania was destroyed by the Mongols and later the region was under pressure from the Ottomans and Tatars. In the 18th century Ossetia Alania achieved independence. But since it was between the great powers Ottoman Empire, Persia and Russia, it decided in 1774 to voluntarily join the Russian Empire and to keep it a certain autonomy. In order for the field of Ossetians was among the first in the Caucasus region, which came under Russian sovereignty. In other North Ossetia came to the Terek Oblast of the Russian Empire, while South Ossetia was an autonomous Okrug part of the province Tbilisi.

In the Soviet Union, North Ossetia was under the name Nordossetische ASSR an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( ASSR ), while South Ossetia most of the time was part of the Georgian SSR. For the further history of the parts of Ossetia see North Ossetia-Alania and South Ossetia.

Plans for the association

In order to promote conflict resolution in Tskhinvali, met on 23 March 1991, the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin and the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia Zwiad Gamsakhurdia in Georgia in the village of Kazbegi. They agreed on some important measures for conflict resolution, especially a decision on a new agreement between Russia and Georgia. The Agreement should be signed in Tbilisi. It was signed a conversation protocol, which provided some steps to normalize.

On 26 August 2008 Russia recognized South Ossetia as an independent state. This immediately got the union Ossetia to the debate. On 29 August 2008 declared the South Ossetian Parliament President Snaur Gassijew and his representative Gassiewa Kokoti, it was an association of Ossetia and Moscow agreed within the Russian Federation, which should be completed in a few years. However, the Kremlin denied the existence of such an agreement. The president of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, said on 11 September that South Ossetia does not want to be independent, but a part of Russia. This matter had already been decided by the story. The ancestors have already made ​​this decision. On the same day denied Kokoity and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the connection diagrams and reaffirmed the independence of South Ossetia. The statement Kokoitys have referred to the voluntary accession of Ossetia to Russia in 1774.