Abkhaz Official: Sokhumi Ready for Talks Despite Navy Incident

The Abkhaz side will hold planned talks with the Georgian side in Geneva, despite a naval incident which took place near the Abkhaz capital Sokhumi on March 15-16, Foreign Minister of breakaway Abkhazia Sergey Shamba told the Russian online news service Kavkazky Uzel on March 21.

Shamba was referring to an incident, which according to the Abkhaz side, took place on March 15, wherein the Abkhaz border patrol prevented the Georgian coast guard from detaining a Turkish fishing boat. Defense Minister of breakaway Abkhazia Sultan Sosnaliev said the Georgian coast guard vessels retreated after the Abkhaz artillery division fired two shots.

In another incident on March 16, the Abkhaz side reported that a Georgian coast guard vessel did not respond to Abkhaz ships and left the “territorial waters of Abkhazia” after an Abkhaz military helicopter opened fire on it.

The Georgian side, however, has denied both of these incidents.

The de facto Abkhaz Foreign Minister said that these incidents aimed at ?thwarting the negotiation process? scheduled in Geneva for April. ?But [the Abkhaz side] did not yield to this provocation and intend[s] to take part in this meeting,? Shamba added.

?Talks in Geneva will mark the beginning of a new stage of the negotiation process, which has already been frozen for a long time,? Sergey Shamba stated.

Georgian-Abkhaz talks under the aegis of the UN will be held in April with the participation of the UN Secretary General?s Group of Friends for Georgia, involving representatives from France, Germany, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.

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