To hang about the churches into the Georgian region, Tbilisi has recommended giving Azerbaijan an up to now in public unspecified section from Georgian land nearby the Azerbaijani edging
An unresolved edging ranging from Georgia and you can Azerbaijan have place not as much as concern one of many Southern Caucasus’s most significant social and you will spiritual landmarks, this new medieval David-Gareja monastery cutting-edge, based in Georgia and you may Azerbaijan.
Place in semi-wilderness some 70 miles the southern area of away from Tbilisi over the Georgian edging having Azerbaijan and within Azerbaijan right, the brand new state-of-the-art, which contains an abundant line of cavern frescoes, has been a site to have argument and also for contemplation, since that time framework first started in the 6th millennium.
A lot more monasteries, particular almost unreachable and mainly wrecked, also are on Georgian area. Azerbaijan gets the monastery out-of Bertubani, which features frescoes of your own legendary twelfth-13th millennium Georgian Queen Tamara and her son, Giorgi IV.
However, which is to control brand new David-Gareja monastery? If the Soviet Union laid out the limitations within following Soviet republics away from Azerbaijan and Georgia, the fresh new monastery state-of-the-art was separated in two. New edging between them now independent countries possess remained unchanged while the 1991. An element of the edging passes through the top the 813-meter-high Udabno ridge (understood during the Azerbaijan because the Keshishdag), which harbors cavern monasteries toward their better as well as have for the north (Georgian-controlled) and you will south (Azerbaijani-controlled) mountains.
The fresh new monastery complex, which has encountered attacks by the Tamerlane and you will Shah Abbas the exact same, keeps strategic importance both for Azerbaijan and you may Georgia. From the Udabno ridge, both Azerbaijani and Georgian area can be simply monitored. “Regarding army point of view, which condition possess benefits both for nations,” said Uzeir Jafarov, another Azerbaijani military specialist in Baku and a retired colonel. “Theoretically, in the example of military conflict, the side which keeps control of such levels gets a great big advantage.”
Edging conversations, constant once the 1991, recently reentered the news headlines whenever Zviad Dzidziguri, good Georgian person in parliament into opposition Conservative Team, and you will chairman of your own Democratic Front faction, claimed that Azerbaijan had went its edging that have Georgia so among the complex’s monasteries, Chichkhituri, is today within Azerbaijani area, placing at stake the rest monasteries not as much as Georgian manage.
This new Georgian foreign ministry provides denied the newest declaration. For the an interview that have EurasiaNet, a high-level Azerbaijani County Border Control Solution certified, who questioned to stay anonymous, together with reported that Azerbaijan got never moved their border. But really, still, the fresh new discussion continues.
A knowledgeable-identified a portion of the advanced, the new Udabno cave monastery, which contain frescoes relationship just as much as throughout the 8th on 13th years, plus the monastery headquarters at the Lavra, can be found contained in this Georgia
“The we should instead carry out is to get try here a common vocabulary with your Azerbaijani acquaintances,” Georgian Deputy Overseas Minister Giorgi Manigaladze, exactly who manages the official Commission towards Edging Delimitation and you may Demarcation, told reporters for the Tbilisi on Oct 30.
“There is absolutely no space having territorial change [having Georgia]. There are not any negotiations over this issue,” Deputy Overseas Minister Khalaf Khalafov, co-chairman of one’s intergovernmental commission to the border delimitation which have Georgia, said at a hit briefing within the Baku to your November 2. Azerbaijani authorities declare that prior to now three-years Georgia enjoys double given chapters of Georgian area in return for identification of the modern edging division of David-Gareja monastery, but one to Baku has declined this new now offers one another minutes.
“So it territory [Azerbaijan’s a portion of the monastery] possess proper characteristics for Azerbaijan. So we don’t have any intention of offering it so you can some body,” Garib Mammadov, president of Azerbaijani County House and you may Cartography Panel, told you for the a job interview with the Azerbaijani each and every day papers Reflect. “This is a strategic overlook. The entire South Caucasus could be tracked using this neglect very better. Why should i have aside?”
