Editing Pankisi

{{Short description|Gorge in Georgia}}
{{Infobox valley
| name               = Pankisi Gorge
| other_name         = {{Lang-ka|პანკისის ხეობა}} 
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'''Pankisi''' ({{lang-ka|პანკისი}}) or the '''Pankisi Gorge''' ({{lang-ka|პანკისის ხეობა|links=no}}, ''Pankisis Kheoba''){{efn|{{langx|ce|ПӀаьнгазхойн чӀаж|Phängazkhoyn ch'azh}}, {{langx|inh|ПӀенгишхой чӀож|Phengishkhoy ch'ozh}}}} is a [[valley]] region in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], in the upper reaches of River [[Alazani]]. It lies just south of Georgia’s historic region of [[Tusheti]] between Mt Borbalo and the ruined 17th-century fortress of [[Bakhtrioni]].

In 2002, Pankisi was at the epicentre of the [[Pankisi Gorge crisis]], during which the valley played host to an armed formation led by the Chechen commander [[Ruslan Gelayev]], who had fled the [[Second Chechen War]]. In the context of the [[Global War on Terror]], both Russian and American political figures made public allegations, which were subsequently either disproved or uncorroborated, that senior [[Al-Qaeda]] leaders were present in the Gorge, and had acquired the nerve agent [[ricin]].<ref name="McGregor-2005">{{cite web |last1=McGregor |first1=Andrew |title=Ricin Fever: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the Pankisi Gorge |url=https://jamestown.org/program/ricin-fever-abu-musab-al-zarqawi-in-the-pankisi-gorge/ |website=The Jamestown Foundation |access-date=21 March 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250321144344/https://jamestown.org/program/ricin-fever-abu-musab-al-zarqawi-in-the-pankisi-gorge/ |archive-date=21 March 2025 |date=5 May 2005}}</ref> The Gorge has occasionally been mentioned in subsequent reports linking it to [[Salafi jihadism|Salafi-jihadist]] activity.<ref name="Winfrey-2014" />

Administratively, Pankisi is included in the [[Akhmeta municipality]] of the [[Kakheti]] region. The area is about two and half miles wide and eight miles long.<ref name="Sanikidze-2007">{{cite web |last1=Sanikidze |first1=George |title=Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Caucasian Region: “Global” and “Local” Islam in the Pankisi Gorge |url=http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/coe21/publish/no14_ses/contents.html |publisher=Hokudai University Slavic-Eurasian Research Centre |access-date=21 March 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121219005457/http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/coe21/publish/no14_ses/contents.html |archive-date=19 December 2012 |pages=263-280 |format=PDF |date=2007}}</ref>

As of 2019, the [[Kist people|Kist]] [[ethnic group]]  accounted for the majority of the area's roughly 5,000 residents.<ref name="Hauer-2019">{{cite news |last1=Hauer |first1=Neil |title=Pankisi residents find common cause with other Georgians |url=https://eurasianet.org/pankisi-residents-find-common-cause-with-other-georgians |access-date=21 March 2025 |publisher=[[Eurasianet]] |date=15 July 2019 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250321111355/https://eurasianet.org/pankisi-residents-find-common-cause-with-other-georgians |archive-date=21 March 2025}}</ref> The Kists are [[Vainakhs]], usually of [[Chechen people|Chechen]] roots, who have moved to the Pankisi area since the 19th Century. Kist culture combines Vainakh traditions with some influences from surrounding eastern Georgia.<ref name="Sanikidze-2007" />

== History ==
The 17th century geographer and historian Prince [[Vakhushti of Kartli|Vakhushti Bagrationi]], in his book ''[[Description of the Kingdom of Georgia|Description of Kingdom of Georgia]]'', writes that the inhabitants of Pankisi were [[Georgians|Georgian]] nobility of the [[Aznauri]] and [[Tavadi]] classes, although his account makes clear that there were also peasants in the area. <ref name="wikisource.org">{{Cite web |title=აღწერა ჰერეთისა, კახეთისა და კუხეთისა, კუალად თუშეთისა და დიდოეთისა - Wikisource |url=https://ka.wikisource.org/wiki/%E1%83%90%E1%83%A6%E1%83%AC%E1%83%94%E1%83%A0%E1%83%90_%E1%83%B0%E1%83%94%E1%83%A0%E1%83%94%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90,_%E1%83%99%E1%83%90%E1%83%AE%E1%83%94%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90_%E1%83%93%E1%83%90_%E1%83%99%E1%83%A3%E1%83%AE%E1%83%94%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90,_%E1%83%99%E1%83%A3%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90%E1%83%93_%E1%83%97%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A8%E1%83%94%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90_%E1%83%93%E1%83%90_%E1%83%93%E1%83%98%E1%83%93%E1%83%9D%E1%83%94%E1%83%97%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90 |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=wikisource.org |language=en}}</ref> He described them as intelligent, and as "skilled warriors."

Vakhushti described Pankisi itself as forested, with plentiful fruit trees, and [[vineyards]] that produced good [[wine]]. He added that the harvests were good, and the forests rich in [[Game (hunting)|game]]. Fish were also numerous, he wrote, especially "mountain [[trout]]", and there were many cattle, and many pigs, but few sheep.<ref name="wikisource.org"/>

In the 1730s, the Pankisi valley was emptied of Georgian population: part of them were killed as a result of the invasions, and rest of them resettled elsewhere.<ref name=":0" />

In 18th century Georgian legislation, the noble (Aznauri) Kobiashvili family of the [[Kingdom of Kakheti]] are mentioned as the lords of the Pankisi valley.<ref>{{Cite book |last=დოლიძე |first=ი |url=https://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/handle/1234/87555 |title=ქართული სამართლის ძეგლები : ტომი V |date=1974 |publisher=თბილისი : მეცნიერება |pages=288–292 |language=ka}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=მამისიმედიშვილი |first=ხვთისო |title=პანკისის წარსული და თანამედროვეობა |publisher=[[Tbilisi State University]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-9941-13-034-2 |location=Tbilisi |publication-date=2008 |pages=19 |language=ka |trans-title=Pankisi Past and Modernity}}</ref>

Georgia's 1989 census found that the Pankisi Gorge's population was 43% Kist, 29% Georgian, and 28% [[Ossetians|Ossetian]].<ref name="Sanikidze-2007" /> However, during the subsequent two decades the valley's ethnic composition changed again under the pressure of regional wars. Many of the valley's Ossetians fled from the [[South Ossetia war (1991–1992)|South Ossetia War]] and the [[Georgian Civil War]], to settle in [[North Ossetia-Alania]] in the [[Russian Federation]].<ref name="Sanikidze-2007" /> Chechens fled from the [[First Chechen War|two]] [[Second Chechen War|wars]] in [[Chechnya]], which had attempted to secede from the Russian Federation, and some made their homes in Pankisi's villages.<ref name="Sanikidze-2007" /> By 2007, the Kists were the largest ethnic group in the area.<ref name="Sanikidze-2007" /> 

The 2014 census did not report a separate demographic breakdown for Pankisi, but found that the wider Akhmeta municipality was home to 5,471 Kists, who constituted roughly 17% of the municipal population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Data table: Results of Georgia's 2014 census - ethnicity by area |url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic-loc2014.htm |access-date=21 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250302055902/http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic-loc2014.htm |archive-date=2 March 2025}}</ref> By 2019, Kists were reported to be a majority of Pankisi's roughly-5,000 inhabitants.<ref name="Hauer-2019" />

== Etymology ==
According to Mate Albutashvili (also known as Kisti Chobani), the toponym Pankisi is of [[Georgian language|Georgian]] origin. He writes that Pankisi derives from Pantisi which means "land rich in wild forest pears", (P’ant’a-პანტა) (pyrus caucasica) with the Georgian suffix -სი(si).<ref>{{Cite book |last=ალბუთაშვილი |first=მათე |title=პანკისის ხეობა |publisher=გოგი და ნიკო ჯავახიშვილები |year=2005 |location=თბილისი |language=ka |trans-title=Pankisi Gorge}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=მამისიმედაშვილი |first=ხვთისო |title=პანკისი წარსული და თანამედროვეობა |publisher=[[Tbilisi State University]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-9941-13-034-2 |location=თბილისი |pages=17 |language=ka |trans-title=Pankisi Past and Modernity}}</ref>

==Pankisi Gorge crisis and local links to Salafi-jidhadism==
{{main|Pankisi Gorge crisis}}
[[File:Pankisi Gorge, Flag of Ichkeria and Georgia.jpg|thumb|right|The flags of the [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]] and [[Flag of Georgia (country)|Georgia]] flying side-by-side in the Pankisi Gorge]]

The Pankisi Gorge crisis was a 2002 geopolitical dispute that arose as a direct result of the Second Chechen War, and which was shaped by the U.S. Global War on Terror and pre-existing tensions between Russia and Georgia.<ref name="McGregor-2005" /> From 1999, thousands of refugees from the war in Chechnya, 25 miles to the north, congregated in the valley, including some armed rebels.<ref name="Filkins-2003">{{cite news |last1=Filkins |first1=Dexter |title=U.S. Entangled in Mystery of Georgia's Islamic Fighters |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/15/world/us-entangled-in-mystery-of-georgia-s-islamic-fighters.html |access-date=21 March 2025 |publisher=New York Times |date=15 June 2003 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250321173641/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/15/world/us-entangled-in-mystery-of-georgia-s-islamic-fighters.html |archive-date=21 March 2025}}</ref> By 2002, Ruslan Gelayev, a Chechen commander was reported to have gathered hundreds of armed men there.

Russia wanted Georgia to act against Gelayev's band, but Georgia was in dispute with Russia over South Ossetia and [[Abkhazia]], and declined to do so. On the contrary, Gelayev's force allegedly fought on behalf of Georgia in Abkhazia in 2001.<ref name="McGregor-2005" />

Both Russian and U.S. leaders made public claims during 2002 and 2003 that [[Al-Qaeda]] was operating in the valley, and that a "Chechen network" associated with the organisation had learned to manufacture ricin, a lethal nerve agent. In Russia's case, the claims, which were unfounded, may have been made in an effort to persuade the U.S. to put pressure on Georgia to expel Gelayev and his men.<ref name="McGregor-2005" /> In the event, Gelayev led his column out of Georgia and back onto Russian territory in September 2003, after which Georgian authorities conducted an operation in the Pankisi Gorge.<ref name="McGregor-2005" /><ref name="Filkins-2003" /> It netted 15 alleged militants of Arab heritage, none of whom were thought to have been senior.<ref name="McGregor-2005" /> 

Nonetheless, in [[Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council]] in February 2003, the [[Secretary of State]] claimed to know that associates of the Al-Qaeda leader [[Musab al-Zarqawi]] had 

{{Blockquote
|text=been active in the Pankisi Gorge, Georgia and in Chechnya, Russia. The plotting to which they are linked is not mere chatter. Members of Zarqawi's network say their goal was to kill Russians with toxins.<ref name="Powelltranscript-part9">{{cite web |title=Transcript of Powell's U.N. presentation, Part 9: Ties to al-Qaeda |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.transcript.09/index.html |publisher=CNN |access-date=21 March 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20151012150802/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.transcript.09/index.html |archive-date=12 October 2015}}</ref>}}

Powell showed a slide that depicted a purported Al-Qaeda network under the command of al-Zarqawi, including a bearded man named Abu 'Atiya located in Pankisi, Georgia.<ref name="Powell-slide">{{cite web |last1=Powell |first1=Colin |title=Slide 43, February 2006 presentation to the United Nations |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/02/powell-slides/43.html |website=George W. Bush White House Archives |access-date=21 March 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709041048/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/02/powell-slides/43.html |archive-date=9 July 2012 |date=6 February 2003}}</ref> Abu 'Atiya was reportedly arrested in Azerbaijan on 12 August 2003, and deported to Jordan.<ref name="MooreTumelty-2008">{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Cerwyn |last2=Tumelty |first2=Paul |title=Foreign Fighters and the Case of Chechnya: A Critical Assessment |journal=Studies in Conflict and Terrorism |date=April 2008 |volume=31 |issue=5 |pages=412-433 |doi=10.1080/10576100801993347 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10576100801993347 |access-date=21 March 2025 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}</ref>

In 2008, the valley was reported to be peaceful despite the nearby [[Russo-Georgian war]], and substantial numbers of refugees from Chechnya remained living there
<ref>BBC News, Russia's reach unnerves Chechens, Wednesday, 16 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7189024.stm Retrieved September 29, 2010.</ref><ref>UNHCR, 'Chechen refugees in Pankisi Gorge resume normal life after Georgia scare', 1 October 2008. http://www.unhcr.org/48e389e12.html Retrieved September 29, 2010.</ref>

The former senior [[Islamic State]] leader [[Abu Omar al-Shishani|Tarkan Batirashvili]], otherwise known as "Omar the Chechen," grew up in Pankisi, which was still home to some of his family as of 2014.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28217590 | title=Georgian roots of Isis commander| work=[[BBC News]] | date=2014-07-09| last1=Akhmeteli| first1=Nina}}</ref> In 2014, Batirashvilii reportedly threatened to return to the area to lead a Muslim attack on Russian Chechnya.<ref name="Winfrey-2014">{{Cite web | url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-08/how-islamic-state-grooms-chechen-fighters-against-putin |author=Michael Winfrey|title=Islamic State Grooms Chechen Fighters Against Putin|work=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]] |date=October 9, 2014 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20141117073004/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-08/how-islamic-state-grooms-chechen-fighters-against-putin | archive-date=November 17, 2014 | url-status=dead}}</ref> However, the threat never came into fruition, and Batirashvili was killed during a battle in the [[Iraq|Iraqi]] town of [[Al-Shirqat]] in 2016.<ref name="Shishani-dead1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/953236/middle-east|title=Daesh says top leader Omar Al-Shishani killed in battle |date=14 July 2016 |work=Arab News |access-date=2016-07-13}}</ref>

==Notable people==
* '''[[Zezva Gaprindauli]]''', a leader of the 1659 [[Bakhtrioni uprising]] against the rule of [[Safavid Persia]], fortified himself in the Pankisi fortress, but was later captured and executed.
* '''[[Kakutsa Cholokashvili]]''' (1888-1930), commander of an anti-Soviet guerrilla movement, was born in the Pankisi village of Matani. He made his base of operations initially in Pankisi, and later, with the [[Khevsurs]] in Chechnya.
* '''[[Daro Sulakauri]]''' (1985-present), Georgian photojournalist and documentary photographer known for her documentation of Chechen refugees living in the Pankisi Gorge.

===Jihadists and North-Caucasian separatists===

{{main|Pankisi Gorge crisis#List of jihadists and North-Caucasian separatists who have passed through the Pankisi Gorge}}

A number of transnational jihadists and North-Caucasian separatists - especially Chechens - were either born in, lived in, or passed through the Pankisi Gorge. Several fought in the first or second Chechen wars, were implicated in the Pankisi Gorge crisis, or fought in the [[Syrian civil war]].

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Kurtsikidze|first1=Shorena|last2=Chikovani|first2=Vakhtang|year=2008|url=|title=Ethnography and Folklore of the Georgia-Chechnya Border: Images, Customs, Myths & Folk Tales of the Peripheries|location=[[Munich]]|publisher=Lincom Europa|pages=}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*Shorena Kurtsikidze and Vakhtang Chikovani, ''Georgia's Pankisi Gorge: An Ethnographic Survey,'' Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Spring 2002.(http://escholarship.org/uc/item/64d7v9hj)
*Rebecca Ruth Gould, “[https://ssrn.com/abstract=1927686 Secularism and Belief in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge]," Journal of Islamic Studies 22.3(2011): 339–373. 
*[[Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20070814182826/http://www.eucom.mil/english/GSSOP/index.asp]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Valleys of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Geography of Kakheti]]