Posted by Amelia Whitehart on February 6, 2020 in Lifestyle
Unrecognized countries tourism with South Ossetia attractions? Red Security Museum (Amna Suraka) – A must. Basically, this is Saddam Hussein’s House of Horrors. It portrays, in a very sobering way, the genocide against the Kurds when Saddam Hussein’s regime invaded Kurdistan. The museum is in what used to be the headquarters of Saddam’s regime and you can still see some of its military tanks and weaponry, as well as the cells where they locked up the Kurds. Moreover, there is a brand-new Islamic State horror section. Despite being quite close to each other, all buses and taxis take the longer mountain route, basically because the fastest road passes by Kirkuk, a not very safe city and, in any case, off-limits for tourists.
Transnistria is a thin strip of land wedged between Moldova and Ukraine. It is home to more than 500,000 people and has a parliamentary government, a standing army, and its own currency. A forgotten remnant of the Soviet Union, Transnistria is an unrecognized country hidden behind a heavily militarized border between Moldova and Ukraine. More correctly known as the ‘Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic’ (or ‘PMR’), Transnistria is one of a number of frozen conflict zones that emerged following the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. One of the most notable things about Transnistria (and Tiraspol in particular) is the prevalence of Soviet symbology. While socialist monuments and busts of Lenin may still be commonplace in other former-USSR nations such as Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, Transnistria goes one step further, actually referring to itself as a ‘soviet state.’ Communist motifs appear everywhere from schools and universities, to the nation’s hammer-and-sickle flag. Find additional details at Iraqi Kurdistan Tours.
Though Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in 1999, there’s no end in sight for its political and economic reliance on Russia, the only major country to recognize the breakaway republic as a sovereign nation. The ruble is Abkhazia’s de facto currency, and—to the chagrin of many native Abkhaz—Russian remains the lingua franca. Russian guards patrol the conflict divide, and as recently as 2016, new Abkhaz-Russian military alliances were being formed, furthering Russia’s sphere of influence in the region and angering Georgia and the international community. But as one learns quickly in Abkhazia, foreign occupation and a burgeoning tourism industry aren’t mutually exclusive: According to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Abkhazia, 3.5 million tourists visited in 2017 alone, some 90% of which were Russian (though many also visit from Turkey, Belarus, and to a lesser extent, Europe).
For example, Abkhazia, Artsakh, Somaliland, Transnistria and South Ossetia, all meet the declarative criteria (with de facto partial or complete control over their claimed territory. They have a government and a permanent population), but whose statehood is not recognized by any other states (with a few exceptions). These territories constitute anomalies in the international system of sovereign states and often present significant challenges to policy makers. This is evidenced by the war in Georgia and the continued debate over the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Find extra details on www.politicalholidays.com.