,
de jure capital of the Autonomous Republic of
Abkhazia During the War in Abkhazia, the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, then called the "Council of Ministers of Abkhazia", left Abkhazia after the Abkhaz separatist forces took control of the region's capital
Sokhumi after heavy fighting on September 27, 1993, leading to the
Sokhumi Massacre, in which several members of the Abkhazian government of that time, including its chairman
Zhiuli Shartava, were executed by the rebels. The Council of Ministers relocated to Georgia's capital
Tbilisi, where it operated as the Government of Abkhazia in exile for almost 13 years. During this period, the Government of Abkhazia in exile, led by
Tamaz Nadareishvili, was known for a hard-line stance towards the Abkhaz problem and frequently voiced their opinion that the solution to the conflict can only be attained through Georgia's military response to secessionism. Later, Nadareishvili's administration was implicated in some internal controversies and had not taken an active part in the politics of Abkhazia until a new chairman,
Irakli Alasania, was appointed by
President of Georgia,
Mikheil Saakashvili. Alasania was later made Saakashvili's envoy in the peace talks over Abkhazia. After the relocation, the Council of Ministers building in Sukhumi was left abandoned. After the
War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) Georgia proposed five-party talks involving the Government of the Autonomous Republic, the government of the
de facto authorities of Abkhazia, and the government of Georgia, along with Russia and the UN as interested parties, in order to settle the final status of Abkhazia within the framework of the Georgian state. Amid the
2006 Georgian police operation in Abkhazia's
Kodori Gorge, in which a local militia, led by the defiant
warlord Emzar Kvitsiani, had been largely disarmed, and the constitutional order restored in the area, President Saakashvili announced, on July 27, 2006, that the authorities had decided to establish the Tbilisi-based Abkhazian government-in-exile in the Kodori Gorge (Upper Abkhazia): During the 2008
Russo-Georgian War, the Republic of Abkhazia joined forces with the Ossetians and opened a second front against Georgia. During the
Battle of the Kodori Valley Abkhazian forces loyal to the
Government of the Republic of Abkhazia pushed the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia out of the region of Abkhazia.
Sergei Bagapsh, President of the
Government of the Republic of Abkhazia said in an address to the
Abkhazian people that "The jurisdiction of the Abkhaz state has been restored in the upper Kodori Gorge." ==Executive branch==