Editing Aslan Abashidze (section)

== Early life and career ==

Abashidze was born into a renowned [[Islam|Muslim]] [[Ajarians|Ajarian]] family, a branch of the [[Abashidze]] princely house. His grandfather [[Memed Abashidze]] was a famous writer and member of the Parliament of the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] between 1918 and 1921, but was shot on [[Joseph Stalin]]'s orders in 1937. His father was sent to the [[Gulag]] for ten years but survived. Despite a difficult childhood, during the 1950s Abashidze was able to obtain degrees in history and philosophy at Batumi University and in economics at [[Tbilisi State University]]. He worked as a teacher and economist for a period before joining Georgia's regional public service. He was the director of several technical service institutes before being named a regional minister in Batumi, the capital of Ajaria, where he served as Minister of Community Service. He was later appointed the national First Deputy Minister of Community Service and moved to Tbilisi. This was, however, a relatively minor government post.

In spite of his descent from a renowned Muslim family that played a pivotal role in strengthening Georgian and Islamic identities among the Muslims of Ajaria, Aslan Abashidze converted to [[Christianity]].<ref>George Sanikidze and Edward W. Walker (2004), ''Islam and Islamic Practices in Georgia.'' Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies., p. 12, [[University of California]], Berkeley Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies.</ref>

Abashidze is close to {{Interlanguage link|Grigory Luchansky|ru|Лучанский, Григорий Эммануилович|uk|Лучанський Григорій Еммануїлович|de|Grigori Emmanuilowitsch Lutschanski}}, the owner of the [[Vienna]], Austria based Nordex.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Intelligence Online staff |title=The U.S. Connection in Caucasus |work=[[Indigo Publications#Intelligence Online|Intelligence Newsletter]] (No. 401) |url=https://www.intelligenceonline.com/threat-assessment/2001/03/08/the-us-connection-in-caucasus,1699344-ART |date=March 8, 2001 |access-date=26 October 2021 |archive-date=16 November 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201116000000/https://www.intelligenceonline.com/threat-assessment/2001/03/08/the-us-connection-in-caucasus,1699344-ART |url-status=live }}</ref>