We have taken note of the text of the Istanbul Declaration adopted following the meeting of the heads of the foreign ministries of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, in which, in particular, "the paramount importance of restoring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders" was once again asserted.
We are compelled once again to recall that the notion of "Georgia's internationally recognised borders" is outdated and does not reflect the realities that have taken shape since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the subsequent events.
South Ossetia has no relation whatsoever to the so-called territorial integrity of Georgia. It is a sovereign State whose independence has been recognised by the Russian Federation and a number of other States, which came as the outcome of our people's many years of struggle for freedom and for the right to live on their own land.
We call upon the proponents of such revisionist approaches to abandon their illusions and their attempts to restore outdated geopolitical constructs.
In South Ossetia, the tragic pages of its history are well remembered, when the Georgian authorities sought to impose their will by force, resorting to ethnic cleansing and military action. The South Ossetian people made their choice long ago, and that choice is irreversible.
10 June 2026