A
report launched late Wednesday by an Ankara-based think tank highlighted the need for engagement policies toward Abkhazia.
“The
aim of this report is to question isolation policy and promote
engagement by looking to the region as an economic entity,” said Burcu
Gültekin Punsmann, the lead author of the report “Abkhazia for the
Integration of the Black Sea,” which was drafted by the Economic Policy
Research Foundation of Turkey, or TEPAV.
Economic sanctions
are policy tools used by governments to constrain business activity
across borders with intended policy outcomes, according to the report,
which underlined that cooperation was the key factor in ensuring
success.
“Maximum amount of harm was inflicted on the
population of Abkhazia during the period of the Russian Federation’s
full cooperation with the embargo decision. Attempts of Turkish
businessmen from the Black Sea coast to infringe the sanctions, either
guided by profit or moral concerns, could bring a relative degree of
relief,” it read.
In 1996, Abkhazia was virtually cut off
from the outside world. The dire situation of the war-ruined economy
was further exacerbated by the Russian-Georgian maritime and land
blockade, which caused economic and social disruption.
Turkey
responded positively to the call to impose economic sanctions on
Abkhazia and canceled direct cruises between the ports of Trabzon and
Sukhum in 1996. Today, the maritime link between Turkey and Abkhazia is
officially closed. Turkey is justifying its compliance with the
isolation regime as respect for the territorial integrity of Georgia.
“Turkey
can become an important actor to end the isolation of Abkhazia,” said
Punsmann, stressing the fact that Turkey was as important for Abkhazia
as Russia in terms of foreign economic relations.
“It is time
for both the Turkish and Georgian governments to find practical ways to
open up to Abkhazia and promote more active, more pro-engagement policy
toward Abkhazia,” she said.
Abkhazia, a political entity on
the eastern coast of the Black Sea whose status is disputed, declared
independence in the wake of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, but is
recognized only by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Nauru and by South
Ossetia and Transnistria, whose statuses are also disputed. Georgia
considers Abkhazia to be part of its own territory.
“We have
no other choice but re-integration,” said Güven Sak, managing director
of TEPAV. He underlined TEPAV was not taking a position toward
political problems, but instead offering economic opportunities that
could prepare the ground for a settlement to political disputes at the
end of the day.