Abkhazian passports issued to Georgians declared ‘invalid’
Tweet 
Share
About 26,000 Georgians living in breakaway Abkhazia will not be allowed to participate in the upcoming de-facto presidential election after their passports were declared invalid by local leaders.
De-facto Abkhazian opposition leader Raul Khajimba said Georgians living in Gali, Tkvarcheli and Ochamchire districts were illegally granted Abkhazian passports by then-President Alexander Ankvab in 2013.
"These passports were issued by illegal commissions,” Khajimba said at a briefing yesterday.
"These people will not take part in the presidential elections until the problems regarding their passports are solved.”
Georgian authorities said the upcoming election in Abkhazia was not legitimate and they would not recognize its results, but feared declaring Georgian-allocated passports invalid violated the rights of Georgians living in Abkhazia.
"This decision might violate the right to live, right to move or other key rights of the ethnic Georgians who live in these three Abkazian districts,” said Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Reconciliation Ketevan Tsikhelashvili.
She claimed this issue would be discussed at the next Geneva Talks and Georgia would provide the international society with all necessary information.
Political experts in Georgia said this action could be assessed as hidden ethnic cleansing of Georgian in Abkhazia.
Expert Mamuka Areshidze said under Abkhazian law, non-Abkhazian citizens do not have the right to have private possessions.
"So this decision might cause the Georgians leaving in Abkhazia to leave their ancestor’s homes,” he said.
Abkhazia is one of two Georgian regions that are currently occupied by Russia.
In Alexander Ankvab’s final address to his people on Sunday, he said: "For the purpose of preserving stability in the country, I am tendering my resignation as Abkhazian President.”
Georgia's Defence Minister Irakli Alasania believed the "occupant regime were responsible for the escalating situation in Abkhazia.
Georgia is calling on the world to act in response to the emerging political crisis in Abkhazia.
Georgian authorities are discussing what they need to do to help resolve the tense situation in Abkhazia, one of Georgia’s occupied territories.
The leader of Abhkazia, Georgia’s breakaway region, was forced to flee his post after armed opposition protestors stormed the presidency in Abkhazia.
Georgia has assessed the recent decision of the de-facto president of the country’s breakaway Abkhazia region about planning to fortify its so-called administrative border with Georgia as a "violation of human rights”.
A Kremlin proposed new treaty on ‘Alliance and Integration’ with Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia and Russia will be signed by the end of this year, Abkhazia’s de-facto leader Raul Khajimba announced.
Georgian authorities condemned the proposed treaty believed such an agreement was a "violation” of the fundamental principles of international law and commitment.
A Kremlin proposed treaty on to enhance the relationship between Russia and Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia has been condemned by Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili.
International community supports Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, US Ambassador to Georgia Richard Norland while commenting the issue of Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia in Batumi.