Gakharia For Georgia: The illegal transfer of the Sokhumi airport to Russia and its exploitation have not resulted in any reaction by the Ivanishvili regime - we call on Western partners to give due assessment to the Kremlin's step

Yesterday, the first Russian aircraft landed in test mode at the Russian-occupied Sokhumi airport, which was illegally transferred to Russia in 2023 for 49 years, - the Gakharia For Georgia party says in a statement.

According to them, this fact once again proves the scale of the threat posed to the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity by the "Ivanishvili regime".

The party appeals to Western partners and friends and calls on them to give due assessment to the Kremlin's another step against Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"The aforementioned fact represents another blatant violation of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which also violates the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), since the Sokhumi airport no longer has a corresponding code from this organization. Accordingly, the assignment of ICAO codes to the Sokhumi airport raises an additional question, which excludes the use of the Georgian code in the current status quo.

Despite our numerous appeals, the illegal transfer of the Sokhumi airport to Russia and its exploitation have not resulted in any reaction by the Ivanishvili regime.

This fact once again proves the scale of the threat to the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity posed by the Ivanishvili regime, which declared the country's strategic partners as enemies, while completely ignoring the operation of direct flights by the occupying state's airlines to occupied Abkhazia, so that not only did it not make a formal statement to protect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, but it also did not appeal to Western partners, on whose efforts the policy of non-recognition of the occupied territories and support for the country's sovereignty has been based all this time.

Therefore, we appeal to our Western partners and friends to give a proper assessment to the Kremlin's another step against Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

We also appeal to our fellow citizens to give due assessment to the fact of the deliberate violation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity by the Ivanishvili regime," reads the statement.