Representatives of ex-Soviet breakaway regions seek recognition,
closer ties with Russia

.c The Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) – Representatives of four ex-Soviet breakaway regions
reiterated their intention Wednesday to seek international recognition
and closer ties with Russia, and a Russian lawmaker said it was high
time the provinces were recognized as sovereign states.

Officials and academics from Georgia’s breakaway provinces of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh disputed by
Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the Trans-Dniester region of Moldova met
at a conference in Moscow and pledged to pursue independence efforts.

Igor Akhba, Abkhazia’s envoy to Russia, said his region was determined
to become independent from Georgia and seek closer ties with Russia.

“The people of Abkhazia have voted for an independent republic of
Abkhazia, … we are building an independent, lawful state in
accordance with international law,” Akhba said.

Taimuraz Kokoyev, dean of the South-Ossetian University, said his
province also had similar aims and hoped one day to become part of
Russia.

“The people of South Ossetia have decided their destiny long ago
… the Ossetian people will keep seeking to join Russia,” Kokoyev
said.

Representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh and Trans-Dniester also said
they relied on Russia’s help in their efforts to win international
recognition.

All the regions broke away from central governments in separatist wars
in the early 1990s, cultivating close ties with Russia.

Konstantin Zatulin, a lawmaker from the Kremlin-backed United Russia
party, called the sovereignty of these entities a reality that should
be accepted. “Fighting with reality is as complicated as peeing
against the wind,” Zatulin said.

Modest Kolerov, a member of the Russian presidential administration
charged with regional relations, said all the ex-Soviet republics
needed to ensure freedom of speech, religion and citizenship to their
citizens.

“We are acting to provide these fundamental rights to our fellow
countrymen in the former Soviet republics,” the Interfax news agency
quoted Kolerov as saying.

09/14/05 10:01 EDT