President Zurabishvili dismisses allegations of connection to Azerbaijan-Georgia border deal
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili served as the country’s foreign minister between 2004 and 2005 before going into the opposition of then-President Mikheil Saakashvili. Photo: President’s press office.
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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.
Zurabishvili says that the border agreement with Azerbaijan was made in 2006-2007 when she no longer served as foreign minister, adding that allegations made about her alleged participation in the agreement aim to ‘discredit the institute of the presidency.’
Zurabishvili said that as the country’s foreign minister she did her best to facilitate the demarcation of the border, but no agreement was reached.
Two officials and former members working on a state commission charged with demarcating Georgia’s border with Azerbaijan were detained last week for hiding evidence which led to the forfeit of 3,500 ha of land during the deal.
The Prosecutor’s Office claims that detainees Iveri Melashvili and Natalia Ilichova 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’ in 2006-2007.
The Prosecutor’s Office says that the 3,500 ha of lands also included areas of Georgia’s 6th century David Gareji monastery complex, where the situation due to land claims flares up several times a year.
The detainees plead not guilty, and say their detention is related to the upcoming October 31 parliamentary elections and the rivalry between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the United National Movement opposition (which ran the country between 2003 and 2012).
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.
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.
The lawyers of two detainees who have been accused of withholding materials from a border agreement with Azerbaijan that ended ‘against the interests of the state’ will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the refusal of a court to grant them bail.
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.
The prosecution says that a motive has been identified in the high-profile Georgia-Azerbaijan border case, which saw two former officials detained last year for allegedly withholding materials from a border agreement with Azerbaijan under the United National Movement government in 2006-2007.
Two detainees in the Georgia-Azerbaijan ‘land forfeit’ high-profile case Iveri Melashvili and Natalia Ilichova have been released on 20,000 GEL bail each earlier today. The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office requested the bail, stating that there was no need for pretrial detention. Melashvili and Ilichova will not be able to leave the country before the court delivers a verdict in the case.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria says that there is no genuine evidence that former officials Iveri Melashvili and Natalia Ilichova had the intention to transfer sections of Georgian territory to Azerbaijan back in 2006 under the United National Movement government.