ORSAM-TEPAV Conference

3 minute reading time

On 16 December 2009 at TEPAV Meeting Hall, a meeting titled “Untapped Potential for Regional Engagement, Looking at Abkhazia” was held with ORSAM-TEPAV cooperation.

After the opening speech of TEPAV Director Güven Sak, on the first part of the meeting, TEPAV Foreign Policy analyist Dr. Burcu Gültekin Punsmann presented the report jointly published by ORSAM and TEPAV titled “Abkhazia for the Integration of the Black Sea”.  Dr. Gültekin Punsmann shared discoveries of his report while providing information about the content of the report.

After the short break, a panel was carried out moderated by Erol Taymaz from the Middle Eastern Technical University with the participation of Peter Semneby, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Irakli Alasania, the President of Our Georgia – Free Democrats Party, Nikolay Trapsh, Rostov-on-Don University Dean of the Faculty of History and Mitat Çelikpala from TOBB Economy and Technology University as panelists.

Firstly, Peter Semneby touched upon the importance of Abkhazia and in general South Caucasia for the European Union. After that, Semneby who talked about the role of the EU in the region, explained the perspective of the EU with regard to Abkhaz-Georgian conflict and emphasized the multidimensionalism of the current conflicts. In this respect, he mentioned that the inter-communal dimensions of the conflicts in the Caucasia must not be disregarded. Irakli Alasania talked about the Historical dimension of Abkhaz-Georgian conflict which dates back to 1990s.  Alasania who emphasized the need to look at the future, underlined the need to avoid the transformation of the current incongruity into bloodshed. Alasania who talked about the inter-communal relations as well, mentioned that Abkhazia is a part of Georgia. Nikolay Trapsh touched upon the regional and international dimensions of the current incongruities and conflicts. In this regard, Trapsh who expressed how the roles and the policies of the EU and the US are evaluated by Russia, mentioned Russia’s perspective towards the conflicts in Caucasia. Mitat Çelikpala, inspired by the previous speeches and evaluations, emphasized three important discussion points. Çelikpala who examined, whether inter-communal interaction could be reached or not in Abkhaz-Georgian conflict and on which common positions can the EU base and promote its role in the region, as the third point, talked about potential Turkish role that can be played between Abkhaz and Georgian administrations.

The meeting ended with the discussion and brainstorming regarding the points emphasized in the meeting on the conflicts in South Caucasia and especially Abkhazia. It is possible to find the whole text of the speech delivered by Peter Semneby, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus regarding the perspective of the EU towards the conflicts in South Caucasus and developments in Abkhazia.

A Speech Delivered by Peter Semneby, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus