World Abaza Congress

28 March 2024
12:01
ALEXEY GOGUA:
with thoughts about Abkhazia
On the 90th anniversary of the people's writer Alexey Nochievich Gogua, the Information Portal of the World Abaza Congress has prepared a quote book of the prose writer about Abkhazia and its future.
"WE MUST GET USED TO TELLING THE TRUTH, EVEN IF IT IS ALWAYS DIFFICULT AND SOMETIMES BITTER SO THAT IT HURTS THE JAW. TRUTH IS NEEDED BOTH IN BIG AND IN SMALL THINGS ..."
1
"Our history from ancient times to the present day has been burned by the fire of the war for the motherland, from time immemorial we have been living on our own land, on this picturesque coast, which has always attracted invaders. We have our own language, our own rich culture. However, everything that makes us a people can dry up, as water flows rapidly from a broken jug, and then we will become only a grain of sand in this world. That is when we will understand the price of what we had and lost, but if it comes to this, God forbid, if we can adopt the experience of advanced strong countries and peoples, the experience of all humankind, wisely using modern technologies, then this will not cause any damage to our ethnic identity. However, here we need to have the measure; we must accurately measure the allowable dose for us. If we take too much, it will tear the tissue of our national self-identity to pieces ... "

"Alashara"(«Light») magazine No.5
, 2019
2
"Our fate, which has been trampled and desecrated so many times by enemies, now being in our own hands, has become like a chronicle erased in places. This vast world is intertwined with many different nationalities, states and state formations, large and small, developed and developing, or even enclaves at the embryonic stage, and each such community has its own tastes, preferences, its own unique path, its own characteristics. From this point of view, our world appears as a mosaic, where every detail is unique. In this diversity, we must be small, but necessary pattern, without which the overall picture will be incomplete. At a time when we must think about it more often, discuss, argue in order to choose the most correct direction, we have made many unexpected discoveries. The countries around us are both friendly and hostile. Despite their rich experience, one cannot move forward only by adopting someone else's experience, trying to copy other people's successes. We need our own source of strength, which allows us to deeply root and stand firmly on our soil. Sometimes the solution to a particular problem is at hand, and we are looking for it there where it cannot be ... "

From the "
Milestones" publication
Part 1
"Revision", 2012
3
"The people, who were dependent for a long time, of course, followed the rules and laws of the highest authority, but did not agree with them and did not take responsibility for their implementation. Now we need to look at all this in a different way and take upon ourselves the full responsibility. Previously, we lived, interacting with each other mainly according to the laws of Apsuara. They are good if all observe them strictly and conscientiously. However, we know that even in times when the norms of Apsuara had great power, they were bypassed, not fulfilled to the end. Today these unwritten norms are followed even less. If the voice of conscience is barely audible to you, you will take the easiest path without any remorse and hesitation. However, if you are a deeply conscientious person, you will perceive any involuntary omission in Apsuara's plan almost as a crime, and you will execute yourself more than any court, even without a hint of minimal censure from society".

From the "Milestones" publication
Part 1
"Revision", 2012
4
"Now such concepts as the state, own power and its proper distribution have demanded even greater responsibility before the people and their future destiny, and before the whole world. All these moments must be framed in a legal framework that should . This means that laws should be relevant and timely, strengthen and expand the foundations of the state, reflect the traditions and thousand-year experience of the people".

From the "Milestones" publication
Part 1
"Revision", 2012
5
"Each ethnic group, each society, without ceasing, studies itself in order to identify strengths and weaknesses. This benefits national self-consciousness and strengthens it. We, Abkhazians, have not yet thoroughly studied ourselves, have not mastered all directions by today, but we also know our pros and cons quite well, despite the fact that we were stubbornly and consistently forced to abandon our native language and culture. Even when we lost our statehood and became dependent, the people did not let their self-consciousness fade away, they kept it with the help of Apsuara".

From the "Milestones" publication
Part 2
"Learning new", 2012
6
"No one can dispute the place of the Abkhaz language as the state language, and the people will not allow it. So many lives, so much blood has been shed so that our language has a legal status, and not only for the last war (Patriotic war of the people of Abkhazia - ed.). Since then we have been counting down our history, one of the most important tasks has always been to assign the language its proper role. When the Abkhaz language is fully used in the state, according to its status, and the Russian language will take its place in our society, then the conditions are formed by themselves under which both of them will complement each other, without interfering and not seeking to replace. It will be to such extent that that we can finally no longer worry about the fate of our native language".

From the "Milestones" publication
Part 2
"Learning new", 2012
7
"The one who puts a stone pointer in the mountains, of course, knows the laws and customs of the mountains enough, bypassed all the paths, can walk along the safe path with his eyes closed. However, even he can make a mistake and put the stone in the wrong place, and perhaps even, that this will lead to the death of the next traveler. However, whoever is guilty of this, maybe he hastened, did not see the obvious danger. Only after a while, with the experience gained, all these paths will become clear. Therefore, it is important for history to always seek and find the truth. This will allow in the future not making the same mistakes again. And if the person who made the mistake, or the ones close to him hide the error, keep silent about it, fearing to tarnish the authority or lose the name, and deliberately leave the sign in the wrong place, then he betrayed both his people and servants of the people".

From the "Milestones" publication
Part 2
"Learning new", 2012
8
"Our enemies at all times could not forgive us our valiant history. They could not forgive us, simply because we had it. Moreover, they wanted us not to have it. After all, then it would be much easier to enslave us. Today, when we are free and independent, our history must be restored and written in detail. We must put all our milestones in place so that we do not deviate from the chosen path. This is what the state is built on".

From the "Milestones" publication
Part 2
"Learning new", 2012
9
"Today, when we can openly speak the truth, if we want, we can take on all important matters with clean hands, proclaiming this the highest goal, to which we swear an oath, we are stealing the truth from ourselves in something - making attempts to leave uncorrected all the facts and invented myths invented by pseudo-historians. There are also attempts of unauthorized unfounded rewriting of individual facts of history and revising the meaning of some historical figures for the sake of their own interests, without having any rights to do so. Such actions continue to this day, and historians, on whom we hope, are silent, drawing the attention of the public to this important problem is also a difficult task - everyone is busy with their own affairs. Numerous facts of our history remain distorted, to the delight of the scribblers".

From the "Milestones" publication
Part 2
"Learning new", 2012
10
"The guidelines laid down in the national self-consciousness by generations of ancestors also help in laying down new, scrupulously selected modern vectors. This is how the people, the basis of the state, its "backbone", the genetic memory of generations are born and strengthen. Today's society agrees in something, in other things disagrees, in some ways it argues, in some ways it finds a compromise, in some ways it is divided, and in some ways it is united - but all disagreements are leveled by the inner strength of our self-consciousness as a people, a strong connection between generations still shows us the right path. It is difficult, but it is the path to the top. The path of life always strives upwards. It is not for nothing that the Abkhazians called the brightest constellation the Mountain Path. Each star in it is like a milestone, showing the way to the next generations".

From the "Milestones" publication
Part 2
"Learning new", 2012
© WORLD ABAZA CONGRESS, 2022
Quotes selected by Dyrmit Gabalia
Translated into English by Artur Gaguliia
Photos selected by Amina Lazba
Designed by Amina Lazba