06 July 2004, 23:27
Abkhazian minister denies liberation of Turkish 'slaves'
The Georgian media published information on July 6 about the "delivery to the Georgian side of four Turks who had allegedly come to Abkhazia in hope for a good job, but had to work hard on farms." This information does not match reality, Abkhazian Internal Affairs Minister Beslan Beiia told Caucasian Knot's correspondent. There are not Turkish nationals illegally working in the republic, according to him. "There are several building companies and coal mining firms here which chiefly employ Turks coming to Abkhazia. They all have visas and work only on obtaining permission to live and work here from the Internal Affairs Ministry," the minister specified.
In saying so, he mentioned the very information published by the Georgian media was contradictory. Some sources say the farm hands were kept in Tkvarchal, while others say in Kochara. Beiia called "absolute nonsense" the information of Levan Kiknadze, State Security Minister of Autonomous Abkhazia in exile (this structure operates in Georgia's Zugdidi district), that there are a lot of so-called farm hands in Abkhazia who work on Abkhaz "plantations" for next to nothing. The internal affairs minister reminded that the Turkish ambassador to Georgia had been to Abkhazia a while before, but nothing of the kind had been discussed at meetings with representatives of the Abkhazian leadership.
Author: Anzhela Kuchuberiya, CK correspondent
