Konstantin Ozgan

Konstantin Ozgan Константин Озган კონსტანტინე ოზგანი
Chairman of the Council of Elders of Abkhazia
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 July 2009
Preceded by	Pavel Adzynba
Deputy Speaker of the People's Assembly of Abkhazia
In office 2002–2007
First Vice Premier and Minister for the Economy of Abkhazia
In office 1997–1999
President	Vladislav Ardzinba
4th Minister for Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia
In office August 1996 – April 1997
President	Vladislav Ardzinba
Preceded by	Leonid Lakerbaia
Succeeded by	Sergei Shamba
Personal details
Born	(1939-05-15) May 15, 1939 Lykhny, Gudauta district, Abkhazian ASSR, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Abkhaz

Konstantin Ozgan (Abkhaz: Константин Озган, Georgian: კონსტანტინე ოზგანი) is the Chairman of the Council of Elders of Abkhazia and a former politician. From 1996 to 1999 Ozgan was a member of the Abkhazian government, first as Minister for Foreign Affairs and then as Minister for the Economy and First Vice-Premier. More recently Konstantin Ozgan was Deputy Speaker of the People's Assembly of Abkhazia from 2002 to 2007.

Early life and career

Konstantin Ozgan was born May 15, 1939 in the village of Lykhny in the Gudauta district. In Soviet times, Ozgan was the first secretary of the Gudauta Raikom and later chairman of the Abkhaz Oblast Soviet. He has been accused by Georgian intellectuals of being responsible for the July 1989 clashes in Sukhumi, in which 25 people died.

From 1991 until 1996, Ozgan was a member of the People's Assembly of Abkhazia.

Minister for Foreign Affairs

Konstantin Ozgan rose to the position of Abkhazian foreign minister in 1996, when his predecessor Leonid Lakerbaia resigned. He handled much of the early negotiations with the United Nations. He met then Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze multiple times, as part of a regular series of negotiations during his two years in office.

As one of the entity's more moderate leaders, he once proposed a five-year moratorium on discussions of Abkhazia's future political status as an interim compromise, in a similar fashion to the deal Russia had at that time with Chechnya. While this was the closest the two sides had come to agreement, it was rejected by the Georgian side.

In the earlier stages of Ozgan's term, he had overseen some of the more successful negotiations between the two sides. However, in 1997, tensions began to rise again. Ozgan accused the Georgian government of being behind terrorist attacks on Abkhaz soldiers. He also demanded that the Commonwealth of Independent States lift sanctions before any Georgian refugees could return to their homes – a policy which has since continued under his successors.

Vice Premier and Minister for the Economy

After being replaced as foreign minister, Ozgan was appointed Vice Premier of Abkhazia and minister for the Economy. In 1999, he headed the Abkhaz commission that was to oversee the unilateral repatriation to the Gali district of ethnic Georgian displaced persons. On April 2, 1999, Ozgan survived an assassination attempt when four colleagues were seriously injured by a landmine.

Deputy of Parliament

Though he no longer occupied as much of a public role as he once did, Ozgan remained a deputy in the People's Assembly of Abkhazia. He lost a 2002 bid for the position of speaker to Nugzar Ashuba, and became deputy speaker instead. Ozgan failed to be re-elected in thet 2007 elections.

Konstantin Ozgan joined the opposition movement against former President Vladislav Ardzinba, which in 2005 was successful in installing opposition candidate Sergei Bagapsh as President. One of his recent proposals was an unsuccessful attempt to have the segment of the Abkhaz constitution overturned that demanded that a presidential candidate have lived in Abkhazia for more than five years before running for office.

Chairman of the Council of Elders

On 31 July 2009 Konstantin Ozgan was chosen by the Council of Elders of Abkhazia to succeed outgoing chairman Pavel Adzynba. Adzynba had asked to be allowed to step down after heading the council for 16 years.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Leonid Lakerbaia	Minister for Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia 1996–1997	Succeeded by Sergei Shamba
Preceded by Pavel Adzynba	Chairman of the Council of Elders of Abkhazia 2009–present	Succeeded by Incumbent