On August 20, 1998, representatives of the political bloc Round Table–Free Georgia (referred to in the press as “Zviadists”), led by Manana Archvadze-Gamsakhurdia, launched a sit-in protest at 11 a.m. in front of the Turkish Embassy in Tbilisi. By 5 p.m., the demonstration escalated into a hunger strike.

The protest was triggered by an incident in Turkey: on July 21, 1998, twenty displaced children from Abkhazia were taken to a rehabilitation camp in the city of Samsun, where 150 young people were gathered. On July 31, tragedy struck during a football game when a fight broke out. A Turkish teenager later died in hospital, and Turkish media outlets claimed he was beaten by Georgian peers. Six Georgian boys were arrested, although the group leader insisted it was only a minor scuffle and that the child had died of heart failure without serious injuries.

The demonstrators in Tbilisi demanded the immediate release of the detained children, calling their arrest unjust. Their slogans included: “Release the refugee children from Abkhazia detained in Turkey immediately,” “Stop the humiliation of the Georgian nation by the Turkish media,” and “We demand an official response to the Round Table protest note from the Turkish Embassy.” That note had already been handed to embassy representatives earlier in the day. Protesters vowed to continue their hunger strike until they received official confirmation that their note had been formally registered.

According to press reports, at around 1 a.m., the OMON special police unit violently dispersed the remaining demonstrators using electric shock devices.