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Turkish MPs from 10 parties have called on Ankara to recognize Abkhazian passports and establish direct sea and air links between Turkey and Abkhazia.
These 10 parties include the İYİ Party, New Path, Democracy and Progress Party, New Welfare Party, Future Party, Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, Democrat Party, Workers’ Party of Turkey, Labour Party, and the New Party. Together, these parties hold 206 seats in the Turkish parliament, accounting for about 34% of the legislature.
On Wednesday, the parties held a press conference as part of the “Stop the Isolation of Abkhazia” campaign, launched by members of the Abkhazian diaspora in Turkey in late June.
Ahmet Şık, a member of the Turkish parliament from the Workers’ Party of Turkey, delivered a statement at the briefing, noting that Abkhazia and Turkey share historical, familial, and social ties, and highlighted the presence of a large North Caucasian diaspora in Turkey, formed as a result of Russia’s conquest of the North Caucasus in the 19th century.
More than 500,000 ethnic Abkhaz are believed to live in Turkey, nearly double the population of Abkhazia itself.
In their statement, the MPs cited precedents regarding how Northern Cypriot and Taiwanese passports are accepted around the world.
The Abkhaz diaspora’s campaign to de-isolate Abkhazia gained a public platform in the Turkish parliament in late July, when Selçuk Özdağ, deputy chairman of the New Path party, spoke at a press conference with similar demands.
Abkhazian MP Dmitry Marshania praised the initiative, calling it unprecedented.
“In my memory, this is the first time that Turkish politicians have spoken out so unanimously on the Abkhazian agenda. This is an important signal, and it needs to be taken seriously,” he wrote on his Telegram channel, adding that he invites Turkish MPs to visit Abkhazia “so they can see for themselves how the republic lives and works.”
“The issues raised in Ankara are those that Abkhazia consistently brings up at the Geneva International Discussions. The fact that these issues are now being openly voiced from the rostrum of the Turkish parliament once again confirms the validity of our position on the international stage,” he continued.
Statements by Abkhazia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have consistently included calls for signing a legally binding non-use of force agreement between Abkhazia and Georgia, resolving border delimitation and demarcation issues, and recognizing the Abkhazian national passport as a travel document for international travel.
“This is a matter of freedom of movement and external mobility, which we rightly consider a fundamental humanitarian aspect requiring an urgent solution,” another Abkhazian MP, Inar Gitsba, wrote on Telegram.
For his part, former Minister of Internal Affairs Aslan Kobakhia expressed gratitude to fellow Abkhazians in Turkey “who are trying to break the deadlock on our state’s international isolation.”
“This could only cause discontent in a very shortsighted person or an enemy of our people. I am confident that our strategic partner and people of goodwill from all over the world will unequivocally support us in this matter. For allies, it could not be otherwise,” he wrote.
At the time of publication, Georgia had not yet made any statements on the matter.
Independent Georgian outlet Netgazeti noted that the joint statement was not published on the Turkish parliament’s website.
All place names and terminology used in this article are the words of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the position of the OC Media editorial team.