Daur Kove: more than ever we were close to adopting a joint statement of commitment to the nonuse of force

At a press conference in the Abkhazian Foreign Ministry they told about the results of the 40th round of the Geneva discussions.

Sukhum. 26 June. Apsnypress. Dmitry Basariya. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia informed about the results of the 40th round of the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia at a press conference. Foreign Minister Daur Kove, his assistant Irakli Tuzhba, Deputy Head of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia Lasha Avidzba and Deputy Minister of Culture and Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage Batal Kobakhiya answered the questions of journalists.
 
 As Foreign Minister Daur Cove informed, according to tradition, the discussions were divided into two parts: the first group of discussion on security issues in the region, and the second group - humanitarian issues. "For the first time, a specialist in the field of cultural heritage took part in the discussions: Batal Kobakhiya, deputy minister of culture and protection of historical and cultural heritage of Abkhazia. From the Georgian side there was not such a narrowly specialized specialist, therefore the dialogue did not turn out to be constructive. We demanded the Georgian side to take into account this omission for the next round, " - said Kove.

 In his turn, Batal Kobakhia noted: "It is noteworthy that discussion of humanitarian issues intensified in the last rounds of the Geneva discussions. The Abkhaz side is trying to depoliticize humanitarian problems, but this is not always due to the unsettled conflict. Nevertheless, the Abkhaz side raised the problems of ecology, the restoration of archival materials and preservation of the cultural heritage of Abkhazia. The essence of my speech was that work with archival materials and cultural heritage should be systematized. The Georgian side was interested in the question of including in their verification of archival materials and restoration of cultural heritage objects of their specialists. Our position is that for these purposes Abkhazia will personally select specialists, not on the basis of nationality, but on the level of professionalism. Therefore, it is possible that among such specialists there may be citizens of Georgia. At the same time our position remains unchanged: everything that was created on the territory of Abkhazia by various civilizations and peoples is the cultural heritage of Abkhazia. We will not allow any of this mosaic of cultural heritage to single out at least one object and place it on the cultural heritage of another people. "

 Daur Kove described the priorities that the Abkhaz side advocates in the negotiations: "The main goal of the Abkhaz side was to achieve a joint statement of commitment to the non-use of force, the draft of which was approved by all participants in the Geneva discussions in the first working group. In the course of the discussion we were close to its adoption as never before. But, unfortunately, the Georgian side demanded that the discussion of this agreement be postponed to the next round of the Geneva discussions. At the same time, all the participants in the discussions were at a loss from this gesture of the Georgian side. As for the draft resolution on refugees, proposed by the Georgian side, we unequivocally stated that it is impossible to discuss it in the framework of the Geneva discussions until the parties are provided with equal conditions. Since the issue has been periodically submitted by the Georgian side to other international sites where the Republic of Abkhazia is not represented, we demanded the following: either to start the discussion of the draft resolution on refugees only on the platform of the Geneva discussions, or to allow the Abkhaz side to participate in its discussion at other international venues, - said Kove.

 Also, Kove mentioned the incident at the checkpoint "Nabakia" related to the murder of Georgian citizen Gigi Otkhozoria: "The Georgian side expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of the criminal case, despite the fact that we met and demanded from Georgia the materials of this case. In turn, the Georgian side provided incorrect materials, which were more than a manual on the conduct of the criminal case. These materials can not become the basis for the continuation of the criminal case. Therefore, we stated that this case is used by Georgia for populist purposes, in order to show the actions of the Abkhaz side in a negative light. "

   Lasha Avvizba, Deputy Head of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia, spoke about the discussion of the problems connected to the violation of the right of Abkhaz citizens to travel: "As an argument in our favor we gave an example of northern Cyprus which, despite its partially recognized status has the right of free movement of their citizens. We demanded that the participants in the Geneva discussions jointly study this example and, on its basis, work out an agreement that gives the citizens of Abkhazia the same rights ".

The next 41st round of the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia is scheduled for October 10-11, 2017.