The situation remained tense on November 17 in Georgia’s Russia-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia, with the self-styled president saying no compromise had been reached with the opposition.
SEE ALSO: Embattled Leader Vows To 'Stabilize' Abkhazia, But Protesters Still Hold ParliamentProtesters were still reported to be inside the parliament compound in the capital, Sukhumi, which they stormed on November 15 in protest over an investment deal with Moscow.
The region’s de facto leader, Aslan Bzhania, had said on November 16 that he would resign once protesters left the compound. However, later that day, Bzhania met with his cabinet in his hometown of Tamysh to discuss "ways to stabilize the situation that arose."
There were fears of escalating violence amid the storming of the parliament, which followed weeks of tensions in a region whose independence Moscow has backed since a five-day war against Georgian forces in 2008 over another breakaway Georgian province, South Ossetia.
Opposition leaders have demanded not only the permanent abandonment of a proposed deal with Russia that opponents say would unfairly open the property market to wealthy Russians, but also Bzhania's resignation and those of his vice president and the breakaway leadership's prime minister.
"The situation will be stabilized. We will return everything to the legal framework,” Bzhania's press service quoted him as saying on November 16.
He reportedly added that "the entire country" -- which is overwhelmingly regarded as Georgian territory internationally -- "is controlled by the legitimate authorities, with the exception of the complex of buildings they have occupied."
Tamysh is about 40 kilometers from the region's capital.
Bzhania, a former chief of Abkhazia's state security service, told his supporters on November 16 that "enormous pressure is being exerted on members of parliament so that the parliament makes an unlawful decision to dismiss the president." But he warned that the "2014 scenario will not be repeated," a reference to one of two instances when Abkhaz leaders resigned due to opposition protests.
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Abkhaz Separatist Leader Urges Protesters To Leave Parliament, Pledges Resignation
Abkhazia's Interior Ministry and security service issued statements saying they would obey orders from the president.
Protesters said in a statement that the occupation was not aimed at Abkhazia's close ties with Russia but against Bzhania, who they accused of "trying to use these relations for his own selfish interests [and] manipulating them for the sake of strengthening his regime."
Russia's state-run TASS news agency quoted a representative of the protesters, Adgur Ardzinba, as saying they would remain in place until the president resigned.
Moscow said on November 15 that it was following the "crisis situation" with concern and urged Russian citizens to avoid travel to Abkhazia.