Sergey Shamba, the foreign minister of breakaway Abkhazia, was in Turkey for a private visit this week, the Abkhaz and Turkish press reported.

The English-language Turkish newspaper, Today’s Zaman, reported on June 5 that Shamba visited Turkey at the invitation of the Caucasus-Abkhazia Solidarity Committee. Shamba did not meet any Turkish officials. He did, however, meet Russian embassy officials in Ankara, the Turkish newspaper reported.

At a meeting with a group of Turkish reporters on June 4, Shamba rejected Turkish mediation in Georgian-Abkhaz talks. He said that Turkey supported Georgia’s territorial integrity and gave no recognition of the Abkhaz people's right to self-determination.

The Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress, reported that Shamba also held a meeting with the Abkhaz community living in Turkey.