South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

, a mostly unrecognized republic in the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

, formerly the

South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (; ka, სამხრეთ ოსეთის ავტონომიური ოლქი, tr; ) was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created within the Georgian SSR on April 20, 1922. It was an ...

within the

Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

with its capital in

Tskhinvali Tskhinvali ( ka, ცხინვალი ) or Tskhinval (, ; , ) is the capital of the disputed ''de facto'' independent Republic of South Ossetia, internationally considered part of Shida Kartli, Georgia (except by Russia and four other UN m ...

, held a referendum on independence on November 12, 2006.

Referendum

The voters in the independence referendum organized by

answered the question: "Should the republic of South Ossetia retain its current status as an independent State, and be recognized by the international community?" Parallel to the referendum and elections, the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

-backed

Ossetia Ossetia ( , ; or , or , ) is an Ethnolinguistics, ethnolinguistic region on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, largely inhabited by the Ossetians. The Ossetian language is part of the Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian b ...

n opposition movement organized its own elections in Eredvi, inhabited by ethnic

Georgians Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Ge ...

, in which five Ossetian presidential candidates opposed to

Eduard Kokoity Eduard Dzhabeyevich Kokoyty (; born 31 October 1964) is an Ossetian politician who served as the second president of South Ossetia of the partially recognized state of South Ossetia from 2001 to 2011. Early life Eduard Kokoyty was born in Tsk ...

took part. On the alternative referendum the voters answered the following question: "Should South Ossetia engage in discussions with Tbilisi concerning a federal State uniting it with Georgia?" According to the Electoral Commission of Alternative Elections, 42,000 voters turned out for the elections held in the territories under Georgian control, but Tskhinvali claimed that the voters numbered only 14,000. Dmitry Sanakoyev was elected by 88% of voters as the alternative President of South Ossetia.

Results

On 13 November 2006, the Central Election Commission of South Ossetia announced the results of the referendum. 99% of voters supported independence, with voter turnout at 95%.

Reactions

The Georgian government has declared both the election and the referendum illegal, but it was believed to support the Salvation Union of Ossetians, the organization in charge of holding the alternative elections. Kokoity thus accused Tbilisi of staging the alternative elections that aimed at "dividing the Ossetian people". On 12 September 2006, the Chairman of the Russian

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

Boris Gryzlov Boris Vyacheslavovich Gryzlov (, ; born 15 December 1950) is a Russian politician and diplomat currently serving as the Russian Ambassador to Belarus. Previously, he served as the chairman of the State Duma from 2003 to 2011 and as interior m ...

, welcomed the appointed South Ossetian referendum and announced that Russian parliamentarians would observe the voting process. On 13 September 2006, the Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues, Merab Antadze, issued a statement, condemning Gryzlov's statement as "destructive." The European Union Special Representative to the

, Peter Semneby, downplayed the forthcoming South Ossetian referendum and said in Moscow, on 13 September 2006, that the referendum would not contribute to the conflict resolution process in South Ossetia. On 13 September 2006, the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

(CoE) Secretary General Terry Davis commented on the problem, stating that: The head of the Institute of CIS Countries and the member of the Russian State Duma,

Konstantin Zatulin Konstantin Fyodorovich Zatulin (; born 7 September 1958) is a Russia, Russian politician, first deputy chairman of the committee of the State Duma for the Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS and relations with Russian nationals abroad. He re ...

, is quoted during his visit to Artsakh in October 2006, where he spoke only about Artsakh and Transnistria, as saying: On 2 October 2006, the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

(OSCE) Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister

Karel De Gucht Karel Lodewijk Georgette Emmerence De Gucht (; born 27 January 1954) is a Belgian politician who was the European Commissioner for Trade from February 2010 until 31 October 2014.Secretary General of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance with 32 member states. The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinat ...

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Jakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer (; born 3 April 1948) is a Dutch retired politician, jurist and diplomat who served as the eleventh Secretary General of NATO from January 2004 to August 2009. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (C ...

said in a statement: On 11 November 2006, Luis Tascón, a member of the

National Assembly of Venezuela The National Assembly () is the federal legislature of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which was first elected in 2000 under the 1999 constitution. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by a ...

, said during a press-conference in Tskhinvali: "Those people who wish to be free, will be free." He also hinted that Venezuela might eventually recognize the South Ossetian independence, claiming that president Chávez would make a correct decision. He also noted that his presence in Tskhinvali did not guarantee the recognition the South Ossetian independence by Venezuelan Government. On 11 November 2006, Sergei Fyodorov, an observer and Latvian Parliament member of Russian nationality, and a member of

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, stated during a press-conference in Tskhinvali that all peoples had the right for self-determination, and it could not be ignored. He also made a commitment to inform the other members of the Latvian

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the p ...

of his observations. On 13 November 2006, the European Union foreign ministers said that the vote did not contribute to conflict resolution. The OSCE and the Council of Europe reiterated that they would not recognize the referendum and condemned it as unproductive. An EU statement was later joined by

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

References

{{South Ossetian elections

Independence referendums Referendums in South Ossetia

Russo-Georgian War