Georgian-Azerbaijani Border Commission to Meet August 19-23
Baku / 07/31/19 / Turan: The first meeting of experts working on the issue of the David Gareji monastery complex will be held August 19-23. This was announced to journalists by Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Darsalia on Tuesday.
The work on the uncoordinated parts of the border has not been carried out for eight years. This year, the first talks were held in Baku on May 23-24. The next meeting should be held in Tbilisi. Until then, experts from both countries are exploring the disputed parts of the border on the spot.
Darsalia recalled that on July 14, on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border, there was a confrontation between local Georgians and Azerbaijani border guards. "De-escalation and neutralization of tensions occurred as a result of joint and immediate actions by the border services of the two countries," he noted.
"After this incident, the Azerbaijani side increased the number of border guards and deployed temporary infrastructure on their territory under control. In parallel, the number of Georgian border guards has increased in this area. At the same time, based on security objectives and to avoid further incidents, a temporary limit has been set for pilgrims and tourists," said Darsalia.
"At this stage, there are active negotiations between the border agencies in order to completely defuse the situation and return it to normal. In parallel, it is unacceptable to artificially aggravate the situation," Darsalia stressed.
The situation around the David Gareji monastery (Keshikchi Dag) escalated in late April, when Azerbaijani border guards blocked the way to Udabno monastery, part of the David Gareji complex located on Azerbaijani territory, for several days. This happened after the statements of Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who visited the monastery complex. Her statements were regarded in Baku as provocative.
Immediately after the resumption of the work of the joint commission on delimitation and demarcation of the border, Azerbaijan began to build a road to David Gareji.
The Georgian authorities, in turn, called on the population to refrain from emotional assessments and to give the authorities of the two countries time to conduct negotiations in a calm atmosphere. -02D-
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