Georgia, Azerbaijan Discuss Border Delimitation Process
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, May 16
Chairmen of the Border Demarcation Commissions of Georgia and Azerbaijan held a meeting on May 14 in Baku.
Despite the good relations in different fields, like culture, energy and economy, the Georgian-Azerbaijani border still has yet to be clarified. Especially contentious is the Georgian Orthodox David Gareja monastery complex, which is partially located in Azerbaijan’s Agstafa region and has become a subject of dispute many times between the two countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has released a statement about the meeting between the special representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Daraselia and the special representative of the President of Azerbaijan, Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov.
The ministry reports that the sides discussed the delimitation of the state border and discussed the future steps. As noted, approximately 2/3 of the state border is agreed by the relevant commissions and active communication is necessary to settle the positions of the parties on the disputed sections.
The sides agreed that the official session of governmental commissions of the two countries will be held next week.
“The representatives of the two countries stressed the importance of the issue and noted that any provocations around the issue are unacceptable. The sides agreed that they will be guided by the spirit of strategic partnership,” Georgian MFA reports.
The ministry added that both sides believe that the good neighborly relations and strategic partnership between the two countries need to be taken into consideration in the working process.
After the meeting, Lasha Darsalia told the reporters that the sides aim at reaching an agreement that will be acceptable for the people of the both countries. He assessed the meeting as “constructive.”
“We talked about how to set up the working process. Both sides are guided by the spirit of strategic partnership and the main task is to achieve an agreement that will take into account the interests of both countries and which will be acceptable for the public of both countries,” said Darsalia.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry also released a statement regarding the meeting, saying that the border between Azerbaijan and Georgia was first regulated by the Soviet Union. After the independence of both countries, the state commissions on the delimitation and demarcation of the border were established.
“Up to now, 11 meetings of the commissions have been held. Within the framework of this process, an agreement on the delimitation of 480 km part of the Azerbaijan-Georgia border was reached. At this time, experts are working on the rest of the 166 km section,” the statement reads.
The ministry expressed hope that the process will be concluded soon.
