SUKHUM. Dec 6 (Interfax) - The Abkhazian parliament has unanimously ratified the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with Syria.
Syria formally recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in May 2018. The Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed on September 4, 2018, by Abkhazian president Raul Khadjimba and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, during the visit of an Abkhazian parliamentary delegation to Damascus.
"Syria's recognition of independent Abkhazia in May of this year was a landmark event in the modern history of the republic," Abkhazian Parliament Speaker Valery Kvarchia said.
According to historians, "Abkhazia started to establish relations with Syria and the Arab World as a whole in the early Middle Ages, especially in the golden age of the Abkhazian kingdom in the 9th-13th centuries," he said.
Some Abkhazians who fled their home country in the 19th century as a result of the Caucasian War found themselves in Syria and other countries, Kvarchia said.
"The Arabs sympathized with refugees from the Caucasus, and the Abkhazian-Adyghe community did as much as it could to establish and develop the Syrian Arab Republic," he said.
"Now Abkhazia sympathizes with the people of Syria who are facing a serious threat. The people and administration of Abkhazia support Russia's assistance to the Syrian lawful authorities in the fight against international terrorism. We are grateful to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who recognized the independence of Abkhazia at a very difficult time for his country," Kvarchia said.
Dmitry Shamba, the Abkhazian president's representative to the parliament, presented the ratification bill and said that it envisaged cooperation in foreign policy and peacekeeping matters.
"Under this treaty, Abkhazia and Syria will develop relations of friendship based on the principles of mutual respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity, equality, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs," Shamba said.
"Abkhazia and Syria undertake not to join military and military-political blocs whose activity may be targeted against either of them," Shamba said.
The sides agreed to establish diplomatic relations and expressed a desire to cooperate in matters of the economy, trade, science, art, and culture.
The treaty will be in effect for ten years, with automatic extension for another five unless either side decides otherwise.