Georgia Ready to Resume Relations with Syria on Condition of Retracting Recognition of Abkhazia and Ossetia

The Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Georgian Parliament, Nikoloz Samkharadze, requested the Turkish government to mediate with the Syrian government to retract its recognition of the independence of the regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).

This came during an official visit to Ankara, where Samkharadze expressed that his country is ready to resume relations with Syria on the condition that the latter withdraws its recognition of the separatist regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, which Georgia considers as "occupied territories" by Russia.

The Georgian official mentioned, "We asked the Turkish side to mediate with the new Syrian government to retract its recognition of the independence of the two regions, and only then we will be open to resuming diplomatic relations."

The Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Georgian Parliament stated that his country severed diplomatic relations with the ousted President Bashar al-Assad's regime in 2018, after he declared recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, a step that Georgia considered a blatant violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.