Georgian PM: Azerbaijan suspends construction of road near Gareji monastery to avoid tension
David Gareji is a sixth century monastery complex of 22 rock-hewn monasteries and more than 5,000 sanctuaries and cave-cells. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has stated that Azerbaijan has suspended the construction of a road near the David Gareji monastery complex in Georgia’s south-east, on the conditional border between Georgia and Azerbaijan ‘to avoid complications’ during the negotiations between the two countries to agree on the border.
Despite the fact Azerbaijan was constructing the road, actually, on its own controlled territory beyond the slope, the process has been suspended,” Bakhtadze said.
He stated that the decision came after the meeting of the Georgian-Azerbaijani commission working on the border issue in Baku this week.
The commission agreed that its members, together with experts, would see the construction areas and study existing maps and other documents to bring the negotiation process to an end in a timely manner.
David Gareji clerics stated earlier this week that Azerbaijan was constructing a road on the disputed territory and the road was 700 meters away from one of the monasteries of the complex.
In April, Azerbaijani borders guards did not allow visitors and clerics into the monastery. However, the problem was resolved shortly after negotiations.
Georgia has an agreed upon border only with Turkey. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia has been trying to agree its borders with Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The joint commission working on the demarcation of the Georgia-Azerbaijani border resumed its work today. Chaired by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia Lasha Darsalia and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Deputy FM Khalaf Khalafov, the Commission held it first meeting in Baku.
The Georgian Patriarchate has stated that positive steps have also been taken during the “active negotiations” of Georgia and Azerbaijan regarding Georgia’s 6th century monastery complex David Gareji located at the conditional border between the two countries.
Azerbaijani border guards have now allowed clerics and visitors to enter the medieval Georgian monastery David Gareji, Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said. The president’s administration stated that it is important that the commission working on the demarcation of the Georgia-Azerbaijan border renew work on the issue.
Clerics of the mediaeval David Gareji monastery complex at the Georgia-Azerbaijan border area say that Azerbaijani border guards are not allowing them into the Udabno Monastery of the complex and are also preventing visitors and pilgrims from entering the oldest sections of the monastery complex.
Georgian clerics and public groups are holding a peaceful rally in Georgia’s David Gareji monastery complex, at the conditional border between Georgia and Azerbaijan. The rally comes amid negotiations between Georgia and Azerbaijan on the border, which has not been agreed upon since the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991.
Georgian and Azerbaijani defence ministers have signed a bilateral military agreement for 2019 during the trilateral ministerial of Georgian, Azerbaijani and Turkish foreign ministers being held in the Azerbaijani city of Gabala. Georgia-Turkish cooperation in terms of the NATO -Georgia Substantial Package and Black Sea security were the top two topics of the meeting, the ministry reports.
Parish and tourists will be re-allowed to the Chichkhituri and Easter monasteries of the David Gareji monastery complex before the end of the week, Deputy Head of the Georgian Border Police Teimuraz Kupatadze said.
Archimandrite Kirion says that Azerbaijani border guards have opened a tent on the territory of Georgia’s 6th century monastery complex David Gareji, which is located at the conditional border between Georgia and Azerbaijan.The cleric cites Azerbaijani border guards as saying that the tent is “a temporary measure and will be removed as the situation becomes stable.”
Expert groups from Georgia and Azerbaijan are jointly studying sections of the state border between the two countries that have been left undefined since the mid-1990s, as the neighbouring states continue to work on resolving the issue of their entire state boundary.
Azerbaijan’s State Border Service has opened a new border post on the territory of Georgia’s 6th century David Gareji monastery complex, which is located on the conditional border as the border between the two countries has not been agreed since the collapse of Soviet Union back in 1991.