Georgian FM Zalkaliani Comments on the Davit Gareji Dispute

“We are working on a second official meeting. Of course, the dates will be agreed, and everything should be developed in the context of our strategic partnership,” Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani told reporters while commenting on the issue of David Gareji.

According to the Foreign Minister, it is essential to start talks with Azerbaijan on returning to the status quo.

“The work of the commission has been restored. The first working meeting has been held, and experts also arrived when the measurement activities were carried out. We are working on the second meeting. Of course, the dates are agreed upon, and everything has to be done in the context of our strategic partnership. During the visit of the Georgian Prime Minister to Baku, the issue was discussed. We think it is necessary to talk about the return of the status quo. We hope that our Azerbaijani partners will understand this. This issue must be resolved in the interests of our strategic partners and no one should be able to bring any kind of resistance to our bilateral relationship," FM Zalkaliani said.

The situation at the Georgia-Azerbaijan border has been tense over the last several months. 

On May 23, a local guide published photos in social media, saying that the Azerbaijan side was constructing a road to the Chichkhituri Church at the David Gareji Monastery Complex.

The Georgian-Azerbaijan commission working on border issues met in Baku in May. The Foreign Ministry explained that works were definitely being conducted on the territory of Azerbaijan.

In May, Georgian clerics and public groups held a peaceful rally at the Davit Gareji Monastery Complex. It came amid negotiations between Georgia and Azerbaijan on the border, which has not been agreed upon since the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991. The Georgian protestors claimed that the sixth-century Gareji monastery complex is the country’s cultural heritage and the border issue must be settled so that the whole complex can be located within Georgia.

In April, Azerbaijani borders guards closed the road and did not allow visitors and clerics into the Monastery. However, the problem was quickly resolved after negotiations.

Davit Gareji is a rock-hewn Georgian Orthodox monastery complex located in the Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia, on the half-desert slopes of Mount Gareja, some 60–70 km southeast of Georgia's capital Tbilisi. The complex includes hundreds of cells, churches, chapels, refectories and living quarters hollowed out of the rock face.

Part of the complex is located in the Agstafa region of Azerbaijan and has become subject to a border dispute between Georgia and Azerbaijan.

By B.Alexishvili