Georgian FM confident agreement will be reached with Azerbaijan on border demarcation
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani made remarks about the border demarcation process with Azerbaijan earlier today. Photo: Georgian Foreign Ministry press office
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Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated earlier today that Azerbaijan ‘has been and will remain a strategic ally and a friend of Georgia’.
Neither the launching of the investigation… not the fair process of finding solutions, within which we will try to review the preliminary agreements related to the demarcation of the border, will damage our bilateral relations”, he said.
FM Zalkaliani also noted in his remarks that he had a ‘detailed’ discussion with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in Tbilisi in late September about the border demarcation process and both agreed to find a solution that would be beneficial for their respective countries.
Zalkaliani said they will now try to revise the preliminary border demarcation agreements, however, he said Georgia 'neither has, nor can have any claims' against Azerbaijan and its political leadership.
I want to get this message across very clearly, because every responsible and patriotic government does its utmost to uphold the interests of its own country and it is absolutely normal”, FM Zalkaliani said.
Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office launched investigation on August 17, 2020 into the alleged unlawful giving of land to a foreign state. As a result two former members of a state commission that worked on demarcation of a border between Georgia and Azerbaijan have been detained.
Prosecution claims the two hid an original map issued in 1937-38 and instead used other maps based on which the border sections between the two countries were agreed ‘against the interests of Georgia and history'.
Meanwhile today civic activists and opposition politicians gathered in front of the Prosecutor’s Office in Tbilisi to protest the detention of two former members of a state commission the detention of Iveri Melashvili and Natalia Ilichova is politically motivated.
Civic activists and opposition politicians gathered in front of the Prosecutor’s Office in Tbilisi to protest the detention of two former members of a state commission that worked on demarcation of a border between Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Two former members working on a state commission charged with demarcating Georgia’s border with Azerbaijan have been detained earlier today by the country’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor’s Office claims that the detainees hid an original map issued in 1937-38 and instead used other maps based on which the border sections between the two countries were agreed ‘against the interests of Georgia and history.’ The detainees are the head of the department for border relations with neighbouring countries of the Ministry of Foreigh Affairs of Georgia Iveri Melashvili and a senior inspector in the border protection department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Natalia Ilichova.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office has announced the launch of an investigation into the alleged unlawful giving of land to a foreign state. The Prosecutor’s Office says that the investigation has been launched according to information provided by the country’s Defence Ministry on August 17, 2020, referring to the activities of the Georgian, governmental commission working on the demarcation of the Georgian border with Azerbaijan.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani says that new map materials found by Georgia may bring changes to the Georgian-Azerbaijani 2006-2007 agreement on border issues. On several occasions, the unagreed border has caused tension around Georgia’s 6th century David Gareji monastery complex which is located at the conditional border between Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has stated that the ongoing investigation into the Azerbaijan-Georgia border case will never affect the strategic partnership and friendly relations between the two countries, urging politicians to refrain from politicising the issue.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili says that Georgia-Azerbaijan made no border agreement when she served as Georgia's foreign minister between 2004 and 2005, under the United National Movement leadership.
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Darsalia says that Azerbaijan has provided no arguments against the 1938 map which was recently obtained by Georgia to resolve border issues between the two states.
Two former officials in the high-profile Georgia-Azerbaijan border case, Iveri Melashvili and Natalia Ilichova, have been denied bail earlier today by Tbilisi City Court despite the presence of 214 guarantors, including politicians. Melashvili and Ilichova have been accused of withholding materials from a border agreement with Azerbaijan that, according to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, led to the forfeit of about 3,500 hectares of lands against Georgia’s interests.