Abkhaz opposition leader on Georgia: “For those who don’t know geography, we’re neighbors”

One of the opposition leaders in Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, commented on his position on a dialogue with the Georgian side during an interview with Apsua TV / Abkhaz TV on the evening of January 27.

Bzhania answered a journalist’s question about an interview that the opposition leader gave to Georgian TV channels a few days ago.

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• More on the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict

Explaining what kind of dialogue he had in mind, the politician quoted an interview with the first president Vladislav Ardzinba on Georgian television in 1997:

“I believe that Georgia and Abkhazia will develop normally and there will come a time when we can reach out to each other. I have never seen the image of the enemy in the Georgian people. We need to sit down together and refine what is not finished. I am always ready to meet with the Georgian leadership.”

Aslan Bzhania says that these words “are an order for those who are involved in politics in Abkhazia – how to build relations, including with the Republic of Georgia”.

“I was called on the phone by someone who introduced himself as a Georgian publication and asked if I was ready to give an interview.  Of course I’m ready. I do not intend to discuss with anyone the issues of the independence of Abkhazia or territorial integrity. This issue has been resolved once and for all. But we are neighbors for those who do not know geography. We have a lot of different contacts with them, we have economic contacts, including the IngurHPP [ed. Hydropower station straddling Georgia and Abkhazia]”.

Aslan Bzhania begins talking about dialogue with Tbilisi starting at 14:21:

This was the first big interview of Aslan Bzhania with the State Television of Abkhazia.

Now the leader of the Abkhaz opposition is in the Sochi sanatorium, where he is undergoing treatment.

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