Georgia, Azerbaijan argument control over ancient monastery’s area

To hold on to the places of worship toward Georgian region, Tbilisi possess suggested providing Azerbaijan an up to now in public unspecified area from Georgian property nearby the Azerbaijani border

An unsolved edging ranging from Georgia and you will Azerbaijan possess put around question one of many South Caucasus’s most significant social and you can religious attractions, the latest medieval David-Gareja monastery cutting-edge, based in Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Place in semi-wilderness some 70 kilometers the southern area of out-of Tbilisi across the Georgian border that have Azerbaijan and you will within this Azerbaijan right, brand new state-of-the-art, which has an abundant line of cavern frescoes, could have been web site getting dispute as well as contemplation, since that time design began from the 6th millennium.

Extra monasteries, certain almost inaccessible and you may largely ruined, are with the Georgian area. Azerbaijan has got the monastery away from Bertubani, featuring frescoes of the legendary 12th-13th 100 years Georgian Queen Tamara along with her boy, Giorgi IV.

However, which would be to manage brand new David-Gareja monastery? If the Soviet Relationship defined the new boundaries between your upcoming Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and you will Georgia, this new monastery advanced is actually split up in two. The brand new edging among them now independent regions possess remained undamaged as 1991. The main border experiences the top the new 813-meter-high Udabno ridge (understood when you look at the Azerbaijan once the Keshishdag), and therefore slots cavern monasteries toward the ideal and also have with the north (Georgian-controlled) and southern area (Azerbaijani-controlled) slopes.

The newest monastery state-of-the-art, which includes encountered periods from the Tamerlane and you can Shah Abbas alike, holds strategic benefits for Azerbaijan and you may Georgia. Regarding Udabno ridge, each other Azerbaijani and you may Georgian territory can be simply tracked. « Throughout the military viewpoint, which updates provides strengths both for regions, » told you Uzeir Jafarov, another Azerbaijani army expert from inside the Baku and a retired colonel. « Theoretically, in the example of army conflict, the medial side and this has actually control over these levels becomes a good big advantage. »

Edging conversations, ongoing since 1991, recently reentered the news whenever Zviad Dzidziguri, an effective Georgian person in parliament towards the opposition Traditional Class, and you will chairman of Democratic Front faction, advertised that Azerbaijan had gone the edging that have Georgia making sure that among the complex’s monasteries, Chichkhituri, is today within this Azerbaijani territory, getting at stake the rest monasteries not as much as Georgian control.

Brand new Georgian international ministry keeps declined the brand new declaration. From inside the a job interview which have EurasiaNet, a leading-height Azerbaijani State Edging Handle Service certified, which questioned to keep unknown, together with reported that Azerbaijan had never gone their edging. Yet, nevertheless, new argument continues on.

An educated-recognized a portion of the advanced, the fresh Udabno cavern monastery, which contain frescoes dating everything in the eighth on the 13th years, in addition to monastery headquarters within Lavra, are found within Georgia

« All the we need to would is to get a familiar code with the help of our Azerbaijani colleagues, » Georgian Deputy Overseas Minister Giorgi Manigaladze, which oversees the state Commission with the Border Delimitation and you can Demarcation, advised journalists when you look at the Tbilisi to the October 31.

« There is absolutely no space getting territorial exchange [that have Georgia]. There are no negotiations more this problem, » Deputy International Minister Khalaf Khalafov, co-president of one’s intergovernmental percentage to the edging delimitation with Georgia, told you at the a press briefing when you look at the Baku to the November dos. Azerbaijani authorities say that in the past 3 years Georgia have twice given sections of Georgian region in exchange for identification away from the present day edging department of your own David-Gareja monastery, but that Baku enjoys denied the brand new has the benefit of one another minutes.

« This region [Azerbaijan’s a portion of the monastery] provides proper characteristics getting Azerbaijan. So we don’t have any aim of offering they to individuals, » Garib Mammadov, chairman of the Azerbaijani County Home and you may Cartography Panel, said inside a job interview on Azerbaijani everyday paper Reflect. « That is a strategic what are the best hookup apps overlook. The complete Southern area Caucasus might be tracked using this overlook really really. Why must we give it aside? »