Renewed Georgia-Azerbaijani border demarcation commission resumes talks
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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 parties discussed the border delimitation process, noting that 2/3 of the border has been agreed on and now it needs further communication over the remaining sections.
- Talks on resuming the work of the Commission started after Azerbaijani border guards did not allow clerics and visitors to enter the medieval Georgian monastery David Gareji for a couple of days last month.
- David Gareji is a complex of 22 rock-hewn monasteries and more than 5,000 sanctuaries and cave-cells, located in Georgia’s south-east, at the conditional border with Azerbaijan.
- Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia has only demarcated the border with Turkey, while the borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia still need to be agreed upon.
Georgian Foreign Ministry reported after the meeting that that both parties stressed the importance to avoid provocations around the issue and agreed to act with the “spirit of strategic partnership”.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry also stated that they expect “the delimitation of the state border between Azerbaijan and Georgia will be finalised shortly”.
The Commission members agreed to meet again next week.
The joint commission working on the demarcation of the Georgia-Azerbaijani border will resume its work next week. Georgian Foreign Minister Davit Zalklaiani announced at yesterday’s news briefing that the commission, which will be composed of new members, will be chaired by his deputy Lasha Darsalia.
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 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.
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 President Salome Zurabishvili and the country’s Foreign Ministry have sent their kind wishes to Azerbaijan on their Republic Day today.
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.
Georgian clerics in the 6th Century David Gareji monastery complex, which lies on the conditional border with Azerbaijan, have reported the construction of ‘two huge barracks by Azerbaijan right near the monastery complex.’
Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava has met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev today to discuss economic, transport and trade issues.