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.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-should-open-up-to-abkhazia-report-unveils-2009-12-16
