Attaching
great importance to Georgia's problems, Ambassador Ünal Çeviköz, the
Turkish Foreign Ministry's deputy undersecretary for the Caucasus and
Central Asia, will visit Abkhazia after the foreign minister's visit to
Georgia ends, Davutoğlu also said. Davutoğlu arrived in Tbilisi on
Monday for a two-day official visit. Davutoğlu underlined that
Turkey has always supported Georgia since the first day it announced
its independence. “As a friendly and neighboring country, Georgia's
political and economical future, welfare and territorial integrity are
elements to which we attach special importance.” Noting the
significance of cooperation in the Black Sea region and the Caucasus,
regions which both Turkey and Georgia are part of, Davutoğlu added: “We
know very well that having peace and stability in the Caucasus region
without maintaining peace and stability in Georgia is very difficult.
With these thoughts and perspectives, my ministry's deputy ambassador,
Mr. Ünal Çeviköz, will pay a visit to Abkhazia after my visit [to
Georgia]. Turkey will continue showing its best efforts for the
resolution of the Abkhazia conflict as it has done in previous years.” Georgia, Turkey strike deal on jailed captain Georgia
said on Monday it had agreed with Turkey on the fate of a tanker
captain jailed for violating a Georgian embargo on the breakaway
Abkhazia region, hinting at his imminent release. Asked
after meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoğlu, whether
they had agreed on the release of the Turkish captain, who was
sentenced last week to 24 years in prison, Georgian Foreign Minister
Grigol Vashadze told reporters: “I think we've found a solution to this
issue. The final decision will be announced tomorrow after a meeting
with the Georgian president.” Speaking on Friday in Stockholm,
Davutoğlu said, “The captain, Mehmet Öztürk, will be released if a
30,000 lari [11,000 pounds] fine is paid, and the tanker’s operator,
Densa company, has agreed to pay that fine.” Seventeen
crew members were freed on Saturday. Densa says the vessel was seized
at gunpoint in international waters while Georgian coast guard
authorities said they detained the ship in Georgian waters. Ankara Reuters with Today's Zaman |
Georgia
banned all economic and commercial activity in its two breakaway
regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, after last year's five-day war
with Russia, when Moscow repelled a Georgian assault on South Ossetia. Russia recognized both as independent states. Russian troops secure their de facto borders, including Abkhazia's coastline. Last
week, a Russian official warned Georgia that attempts to block ships
from reaching a Moscow-aligned separatist region of Georgia could end
in military intervention. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei
Nesterenko did not make any specific threats in televised comments on
Thursday but said “attempts to install a sea blockade” on Abkhazia
“could lead to a serious armed incident.” Abkhazia says Georgia
has halted 23 ships in Black Sea waters near Abkhazia this year.
Georgia claims they entered the region illegally. Last year, following
the brief war between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway region of
South Ossetia in August, Turkey proposed a Caucasus platform for a
peaceful resolution to regional disputes. The proposal for the creation
of the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform has been welcomed by
all four countries that Turkey says should join: Russia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia. Turkey and Georgia cooperate closely in
energy, transportation and other areas. Georgia is a transit country in
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which ships 850,000 barrels per
day of high-quality Azeri crude oil from the Caspian to Turkey's
Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. A parallel natural gas pipeline, the
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline (BTE), stretches from Azerbaijan to
Turkey via Georgia. Opened in 2007, it will eventually be able to carry
20 billion cubic meters of offshore Azeri gas per year.
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