Georgian FM responds to claims of de facto Abkhazia that two Turkish banks started servicing their cards
The de facto National Bank of Abkhazia stated that APRA cards were accepted by two Tukish banks.
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The Georgian Foreign Ministry has responded to the claims of Russian-occupied Abkhazia region that two Turkish banks, Isbank and Ziraat Bank, have started servicing their Apra cards.
The de facto National Bank of Abkhazia stated that Apra cards are currently valid in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Turkey.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said earlier today that they are aware of the issue and are taking ‘all necessary steps.’
In reality these are Russian Mir cards and this is Russia’s attempt to popularise Apra cards which are made by them and expose Georgia’s occupied regions as independent states,” the ministry said.
The ministry stated that Russian Mir cards were just renamed Apra cards in the occupied Abkhazia and that the de facto Abkhaz authorities are trying to expose them as Abkhaz bank cards.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry stated that they have already contacted Turkish colleagues regarding the issue. Photo: Foreign Ministry press office.
The ministry said that ‘technically it is very complicated to identify where the cards were produced.’
Our Turkish colleagues have also stated this. We have already contacted them,” said the ministry.
Russia recognised the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent states after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
Since then only Venezuela, Nikaragua, Nauru and Syria have recognised the regions as independent states, while the rest of the international community is unanimous that the regions are occupied by Russia.
More than 10 individuals have died due to a poor medical aid in the Tskhinvali region since early 2020 as they were prevented from entering Tbilisi-controlled territory.
89-year-old Georgian Data Vanishvili, whose house and agricultural lands have been divided in two by occupying forces, is in critical condition and is not being allowed to enter Tbilisi-controlled territory to receive medical assistance, the Voice of America reports.
De facto President of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region Aslan Bzhania says that the creation of a common defence and security system with Russia ‘is a primary goal for Abkhazia.’
Georgia has condemned the adoption of a plan to create a common socio-economic space between Russia and the Russian-occupied Abkhazia region of Georgia which comes after the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and De-facto President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania on November 12.
Occupying forces have installed a lookout tower at the Khurvaleti village, near the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region to “exercise higher pressure on locals and check how many people are trying to cross illegal barriers,”, Georgian Reconciliation Minister Ketevan Tsikhelashvili says.
Russian-controlled occupation forces have erected new, illegal barriers and barbed-wire-fences near Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, the Georgian State Security Service has reported earlier today.
The US Ambassador to UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield has stated that Russia continues to occupy 20 per cent of Georgian territories ‘while supporting or systematically ignoring abuses of Georgian citizens living in or near Georgia’s Russian-occupoied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.