Trialeti Ossetia

Trialeti Ossetia is a term referred to the former Ossetian exclave in Central Georgia. It is located in Trialeti Range, south of Gori, Georgia. The Ossetians resettled there in the 19th century from South Ossetia. Administratively it is included to Khashuri and Borjomi districts, as well as southern parts of Kareli and Gori districts.

In 1922, after the end of conflict between Georgian Mensheviks and Bolshevik-sympathized Ossetians and sovetization of Georgia, South Ossetian AO claimed for incorporation of Trialeti to Ossetian autonomy, however the Soviet Georgian government refused them. Nevertheless, South Ossetian government controlled culture and education of the Ossetian community in the region during the early Soviet epoch.

In 1989 there were 38,000 Ossetians in the region, living in 134 villages. They were incorporated to the Georgian society and had a high percent of intermarriages with Georgians. After the beginning of 1991-1992 South Ossetia War the ethnic conflict spread to Trialeti Ossetia too. Despite of non-combatant character of the confrontation, the most of the Trialeti Ossetians were forced to seek refuge in South and North Ossetias, fleeing even via Armenia. The rest of Ossetians tend to be assimilated into the Georgians, for example, many of them changed their surnames to Georgian.

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