page_title: 1991–92 Georgian coup d'état
section_title: The First Day
hierarchical_section_title: 1991–92 Georgian coup d'état / The Conflict / The First Day
caption_attribution_description: ქართული: სასტუმრო „მარიოტი“ This is a photo of a monument in Georgia identified by the ID 4812
context_page_description: The 1991–92 Georgian coup d'état, also known as the Tbilisi War, or the Putsch of 1991-92, was an internal military conflict that took place in the newly independent Republic of Georgia following the fall of the Soviet Union, from 22 December 1991 to 6 January 1992. The coup, a violent representation of the chaos that engulfed the Caucasus at the beginning the 1990s, pit factions of the National Guard loyal to President Zviad Gamsakhurdia against several paramilitary organizations unified at the end of 1991 under the leadership of warlords Tengiz Kitovani, Jaba Ioseliani and Tengiz Sigua.
  Stemming from authoritarian actions undertaken by Gamsakhurdia, the Tbilisi War ended with the exile of the first democratically elected president of Georgia, after two weeks of violent clashes in the heart of the Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. Rustaveli Avenue, the main thoroughfare of Tbilisi, was ravaged by the conflict, which mainly consisted of a siege of the Georgian Parliament building, where Gamsakhurdia was isolated in a bunker.
context_section_description: As soon as Kitovani arrives in Tbilisi, battle plans are put into place. While the National Guard and government leaders fortify themselves within the Parliament building, Tengiz Sigua takes over the Tbilisi Hotel on Rustaveli Avenue, less than 250 meters away from Parliament, designating the building as the opposition's military headquarters. On 21 December, Otar Litanishvili, a commander of the Mkhedrioni, brings a detailed map of the capital within the HQ and military leaders plan the coming attacks. Tengiz Kitovani takes command of the upcoming assault on Parliament, being the most knowledgeable of the building's infrastructure, from his time as head of the National Guard.
  The opposition's preparations are largely made on the night of 21–22 December. Giorgi Arveladze, a Mkhedrioni officer (and future Minister of the Economy), is sent to inspect the surroundings of Parliament to confirm the location of governmental troops and soon, Rustaveli Avenue is blocked from the public, with both sides using buses and armed vehicles to isolate the most popular street of Tbilisi. Around 01:00, Gia Karkarashvili, who leads a militia of around 80 men known as Tetri Artsivi ("White Eagle"), leaves his post in Tskhinvali, where he is defending the Georgian neighborhoods of the city during the South Ossetian conflict, and sets up barricades on the main highway leading to Tbilisi from the north, in order to avoid any access to the capital, before leaving his soldiers in the outpost while bringing weapons to the opposition. His militia is armed with 50 AK-47s, 3 AKS74s, 20 AKS-74Us, and 50 cases of grenades.
  The morning of 22 December, according to the witness testimony of former deputy Sandro Bregadze, Sigua orders his personal guard, led by former Soviet secret service officer Murtaz Shaluahsvili, to position itself in Alexandrov Park (today known as the April 9 Park), in order to target the Parliament. With just the Kashveti Church serving as a buffer between both camps, government authorities send Mayor Tamaz Vashadze of Tbilisi and deputy Avtandil Rtskhiladze on a negotiation mission one last time before the beginning of the hostilities, but the two are kidnapped by Sigua's forces.
  Around 07:30, Murtaz Shualashvili orders the first fire against Parliament and Karkarashvili launches four rockets on the Parliament building, inaugurating two weeks of violence. According to a New York Times report, the opposition refuses to accept any responsibility with the first attack. Throughout 22 December, both sides use rockets, grenades, and automatic weapons to fight each other. The Kashveti Church, which houses opposition soldiers, becomes a target of governmental forces. The Gamsakhurdia household, nicknamed "Colchis Bell", catches fire, but the family, under governmental protection during the coup, remains safe.
  The Parliament building is entirely isolated, notably because of the preceding cut of all communication cables leading to and from Gamsakhurdia's bunker, a cut that was ordered by the President a few months before under the advice of his National Security Adviser, Otar Khatiashvili. Khatiashvili joins the opposition on the first day of fighting, while Communications Minister Phelix Tkebuchava, stays formally inside the government but collaborates with coup leaders by cutting the phone lines of Parliament.
  Throughout the day, rebels managed to enter Parliament twice, but governmental forces push back both times, before asking for a negotiation. The latter soon fails and the battle starts anew, while Sigua contacts Gamsakhurdia and warns him, "Your faults will not happen any longer. You should have resigned a long time ago. Now, you better come out with a white flag or we will take care of everyone."
  Besik Kutateladze, the deputy minister of Defense, is sent by Zviad Gamsakhurdia to negotiate again with the opposition, but he betrays the President, joins the opposition and makes a televised declaration asking Gamsakhurdia to resign and to let a new Parliament punish all guilty parties behind the violence. Kutateladze then takes a heli
caption: Hotel Tbilisi became, in December 1991, the HQ of the armed opposition.
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