SUKHUMI. Sept 15 (Interfax-AVN) - The self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia will not accept Georgia's proposal to add Turkey to the Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General on Georgia, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said on Monday.
Shamba was asked by Interfax-Military News Agency to comment on the themes that are addressed at the talks that Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is holding in Tbilisi on Monday and Tuesday. Gul has arrived in Georgia for an official visit.
"Turkey, Ukraine and Greece have declared their wish to join the Group of Friends," but the Abkhaz authorities do not think that an increase in the number of participants in the talks will be useful, Shamba said.
The Group of Friends currently comprises the U.S., France, Great Britain, Russia, and Germany.
In addition, "Abkhazia and the nearly 500,000-strong Abkhaz Diaspora are Turkey is concerned with active military aid that Turkey is providing to Georgia, and Sukhumi has voiced its negative attitude to this many times," the minister said.
"Expansion of the composition of peacekeeping units in Abkhazia through addition of Turkish units is not acceptable for Sukhumi either," he noted.
"Sukhumi will welcome Turkey's economic aid," Shamba said.