Abkhazia for the Integration of the Black Sea

The business minded population of the Turkish Back Sea cities, helped by the geographical and cultural proximity, started penetrating into their rediscovered neighborhood. In the 90’s, Abkhazia rose as a major destination for people and commodities originating from the Turkish Black Sea coast. A bus connection was established between Trabzon and Sukhum. Some 3000 Turkish businessmen, most of them of ethnic Abkhazian origin, left in the early 90’s for Sukhum. The establishment of a direct maritime connection between Sukhum and Trabzon in 1994 sustained a continuous flow of passengers. A ferry called Ritza operates twice a week between Trabzon and Sukhum till 1996. The ferry was usually fully booked.

Turkish businessmen of the Black Sea coast and members of the Diaspora recall that the journeys were comfortable and enjoyable. Chains of forced and sometimes semi-voluntary mass migrations formed the present day North Caucasian Diaspora in Turkey. Today, there are more Abkhazians in Turkey than in Abkhazia and more North West Caucasians than in the North West Caucasus. The Georgian-Abkhaz war helped to transform the Diaspora into a political factor in the context of relations between Turkey and Abkhazia. A modern, post-Cold War wave of cultural and political awareness has been developing among the Diaspora sustained by the increased cultural, political and economic relations with Abkhazia.

In 1996, as a result of the CIS decision, the unrecognized republic was virtually cut off from the outside world. The dire situation of the war-ruined economy was further exacerbated by the Russian-Georgian maritime and land blockade which caused a total economic and social disruption. Turkey responded positively to the CIS call for imposing economic sanctions on Abkhazia and canceled direct cruises between the ports of Trabzon and Sukhum in 1996. Today the maritime link between Turkey and Abkhazia is officially closed. Turkey is justifying its compliance with the isolation regime by respect for the territorial integrity of Georgia.

Economic sanctions are policy tools used by governments to constrain business activity across borders with intended policy outcomes. The economic sanctions against Abkhazia are punitive as they denounce the “destructive position of the Abkhaz side” and purposeful since they aim at settling the conflict, securing the return of refugees and IDPs and restoring the territorial integrity of Georgia. Conforming to the embargo decision becomes a gesture of solidarity with the Georgian government and of attachment to the principle of its territorial integrity. Cooperation is the key factor in ensuring success. Maximum amount of harm was inflicted on the population of Abkhazia during the period of Russian Federation’s full cooperation with the embargo decision. Attempts of Turkish businessmen from the Black Sea coast to infringe the sanctions, either guided by profit or moral concerns, could bring a relative degree of relief. However, even during this period characterized by the cooperative stance of Russian Federation and the administration of high damage, the sanctions didn’t bring any tangible policy outcome.

Today Abkhazia is fully open on Russian Federation and is integrating at high speed into the Russian economic zone and reaching to a lesser extent the outside world through Russia. It seems hard to imagine how the sanctions could have any more efficiency than what they had in the period when Russia was fully supportive of Georgian decision. Russian Federation started eroding this regime of sanctions in 2001 by easing its regulations on the Abkhaz border. The prohibition for men of military age to cross the border was lifted in 2000, citizens of CIS have been authorized to enter the territory of Abkhazia. In April, 2006, Russian Federation authorized non CIS citizens with a double entry Russian visa to cross into Abkhazia. This measure will facilitate tremendously human to human contacts between Abkhazia and Turkey. More than 70% of the Abkhaz population is holding a Russian passport which basically ensures the freedom of movement. The idea of being locked up inside Abkhazia while other people have the chance to move across the world appears especially to the young generation profoundly unfair.

Russia, at the beginning of the Putin administration in early 2000 has started eroding the sanctions regime against Abkhazia. Administrative units of the Russian Federation started in September 2003 signing cooperation agreements with the Abkhazian authorities. Legal entities of Russian Federation were authorized to cooperate with appropriate bodies and businesses in Abkhazia. The ambiguity and unpredictability of the Russian approach decreased with its official withdrawal from the sanctions regime in March 2008, which will be followed by the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia. The Russian authorities decided only in March 2008 to give an international visibility to their unilateral lifting of the sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 6 March 2008 announcing the country's withdrawal from the CIS treaty imposing sanctions on Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, citing "changed circumstances."

Georgian officials decried as "immoral and dangerous" Russian Federation’s decision to end the economic embargo on Abkhazia and interpreted Russian Federation’s move as step towards the formal annexation of Georgian territory. However the legalization process of the economic relations is underway. On the Abkhaz side, much hope is placed in Russian capital to revive abandoned orange groves, tea fields, and vineyards, revamp the region’s transportation infrastructure and restore its textile and canning industries. However, the impression that Abkhazia should negotiate the agreements very carefully in order to retain as much of independence as possible is widespread.  Abkhazia, emerging slowly from isolation, has started integrating into the Russian Federation’s economic zone.

The Adler/Psou has become the main gate for ordinary travelers to Abkhazia, namely tourists, petty traders and Abkhazians from the Diaspora. The integration process with Russian Federation has been transforming the Adler/Psou post into a relatively friendly one, the renovation of the road to Sukhum is facilitating movements. In contrast the administrative border is remaining a ceasefire line, the road crossing the Gali region and connecting to Sukhum is in a very poor condition.

Ending the isolation, opening up Abkhazia and integrating the Black Sea region should be the priority. Linkage with political issues blurs the overall positive impact of opening communications links. Georgia has a stake in a policy of pro-active engagement with Abkhazia. Past efforts at isolating Abkhazia politically and economically had not gotten Georgia any further in negotiations. However, even during the period characterized by the cooperative stance of Russian Federation and the administration of high damage, the sanctions didn’t bring any tangible policy outcome. Observers described the regime of sanctions as counter-productive for the settlement of the conflict. The insistence on retaining the sanctions as a bargaining chip for progress on refugee and IDP return and is ousting completely Abkhazia from the Georgian economic and social sphere. The maritime blockade becomes a symbolical way of defending its territorial integrity which as a matter of fact lets to Abkhazia only one vector of movement. Turkey can play a major role in overcoming the isolation of Abkhazia. However it is unthinkable that Turkey unilaterally decides to resume the direct transportation links with Abkhazia while the Georgian coastguard is keeping on detaining Turkish ships. The connection has to be legalized, or at least formalized.

The opening of the ferry link between Trabzon and Sukhum will be indeed a confidence building measure for the settlement of the conflict. Abkhazians will start looking southward, towards Turkey. Turkish-Georgian borderland is fully open to human and trade interactions. The Sarp/i village once divided by the security fence of the Cold War, is being reunified through intense cross-border cooperation. Adjaria is integrating with the Turkish Black Sea coast. The closed village of Gogno is hosting dinners between Turkish and Georgian business partners. Inspired by the European experience, Turkish and Georgian authorities have been working at making the border dividing them meaningless. Turks and Georgians can visit each other without visa. Georgia is currently the only former Soviet country to have waived the visa requirement for Turkish citizens. The Batumi airport, which was built and is being managed by the Turkish company TAV is being used for domestic flight connections of Turkish Airlines between Istanbul, Hopa and Artvin. The practices at the Geneva airport have been transferred to Batumi. The Sarp/i border crossing will also start functioning under Swiss standards with a unique customs point. The pragmatism and willingness to cooperate behind the move aiming at transcending the common border should guide Georgian and Turkish efforts to resume the ferry link.

The Trabzon-Sukhum ferry link will allow Abkhazians to have a direct access to a second country. Furthermore, the restoration of the in-land transportation axis has the potential to boost regional integration. The Turkish entrepreneurs from the Black Sea region bitterly recall the time when they could reach Sochi by road through Batumi in 6 hours; the maritime connection takes 12 hours.

»» * Dr. Burcu Gültekin-Punsmann with Argun Başkan and Kemal Tarba, Foreign Policy Analyst at TEPAV

»» For Full Text: http://www.orsam.org.tr/tr/raporgoster.aspx?ID=484