Sokhumi De Facto Foreign Minister Visits Syria Amid Calls to Reverse Recognition
Abkhazia’s de facto foreign minister, Oleg Bartsits, arrived in Syria for a working visit, the de facto foreign ministry reported on June 25. He met with Syrian officials, including Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani. Bartsits is accompanied by his so-called acting deputy, Irakli Tujba.
During the June 26 meeting with al-Shaibani, the sides discussed closer cooperation between Syria and the Russian-occupied region. According to the de facto ministry, both parties expressed interest in expanding ties in trade, culture and the economy. “Given Abkhazia’s transit opportunities,” they also discussed developing transport and logistics infrastructure through seaports, which the de-facto ministry claimed could support trade and business growth.
The ministry said Bartsits thanked his Syrian counterpart for “a clear and unambiguous position” by Syria’s leadership on strengthening ties with the occupied Abkhazia.
Syria is one of the few countries that recognize Abkhazia’s independence. Under Bashar al-Assad, Syria recognized both Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region as independent states, establishing diplomatic ties with Abkhazia in 2018. But following the fall of Assad’s rule in December 2024, calls emerged for the new, interim government to withdraw recognition of Georgia’s occupied regions.
On January 31, Georgia’s four opposition forces appealed to the new Syrian leader to revoke the recognition, noting only a “handful of Russia-backed authoritarian regimes” are recognizing them as independent states.
In February, the U.S. Representative Joe Wilson, a staunch critic of Georgian Dream, called on Syrian Foreign Minister Shaibani to reverse what he described as a “wrongful decision” by the Assad regime to recognize Georgia’s occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign territories.
Most recently, on June 18, the Georgian Dream parliament reported that Nikoloz Samkharadze, chair of the foreign affairs committee, asked his Turkish counterpart, Fuat Oktay, during a meeting in Turkey, for “assistance in mediating with the newly formed Syrian government to secure the recall of the recognition” of the occupied regions.
The visit of Abkhazia’s de facto official also comes against the backdrop of the 64th round of the Geneva International Discussions – talks between Tbilisi, Moscow, Sokhumi, and Tskhinvali, and chaired by OSCE, EU, and UN, established after the 2008 Russo-Georgian war.
Note: This news was updated on June 26 at 18:00 to include information about the meeting between Oleg Bartsits and Asaad al-Shaibani.
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- 25/08/2022 – Syrian Foreign Minister Visiting Abkhazia
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