Georgian Government’s social media published in Abkhazian

The Georgian Government is looking to widen its audience and has created official Twitter and Facebook accounts in the Abkhazian language.

After Georgia’s civil war in the 1990s, Abkhazia and South Ossetia became breakaway regions of Georgia. Since then, an information vacuum formed between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia.

Georgian authorities said their brothers in Abkhazia did not have enough information about current political, social and cultural events happening in Georgia.

As the majority of Abkhazians did not understand the Georgian language and had no access to Georgian resources, the Georgian Government decided to expand its social media reach and have its words translated into the Abkhaz language. This would help residents in Abkhazia gain a better understanding of the goings-on in Georgia.

"Unfortunately our countrymen living in Abkhazia is only provided with information in Russian on the Internet and in the media, which in many cases, does not reflect the truth,” said the press office of the Georgian Government.

Meanwhile, Georgia is the only country that has taken liability to protect the Abkhazian ethnicity, culture and language.

In accordance with Article 8 of the Georgian Constitution, Georgian is the national language in Abkhazia however the region’s ethnic language, Abkhazian, is also recognized as an official language.

The official website of Georgian Government was renewed in 2010. This was when news and information was first made available in the Abkhazian language.