'Church' of Abkhazia Refuses to Accept Icon Presented by Patriotic Alliance Leader

The 'Orthodox Church' of Georgia's Russian-occupied Abkhazia region das refuses to accept the icon presented by the 'Alliance of Patriots of Georgia' party leader Irma Inashvili during her recent visit to the region, and intends to return it to the Georgian side.

"The Abkhazian Orthodox Church does not accept the icon presented by Georgian MPs with the participation of an Adviser to the Abkhazian President, and is going to return it. The mission took place without the permission of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church, which is unacceptable," they claimed in a statement. 

How and under what circumstances the Abkhazian church intends to return the icon is not mentioned in the statement.

Adviser to the de-facto president of occupied Abkhazia, Lasha Sakania,resigned following his meeting with the Georgian political party.

Information about the meeting between Aslan Bzhania's adviser and representatives of the 'Alliance of Patriots of Georgia' on the territory of Abkhazia was spread in the Georgian media. Initially, Sakania denied the information about the talks with the Georgian politicians, however, later he admitted that a meeting with the 'Alliance of Patriots' was actually held.

Sakania also mentioned that the visit by the Patriotic Alliance to Abkhazia was only for humanitarian purposes. He further added that the Georgian political party presented the Ilori monastery with an icon of the Virgin Mary. 

“Due to the given situation on August 18, 2020, to not further increase the temperature within society, I have decided to leave my post and write a letter of resignation of my own free will. I want to emphasize that I was always protecting and will protect the interests of our people and our nation,” he wrote.

By Ana Dumbadze 

Image: Irma Inashvili, the Leader of 'Alliance of Patriots' 

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