26 May 2019, 11:16
Georgian Patriarchate reports end of works at "David Gareja" Complex
On May 25, road equipment was removed from the disputed section of the Georgian-Azerbaijani border near the "David Gareja" Monastery Complex, Archpriest Andria Djagmaidze, the head of the press service of the Patriarchate of Georgia, has informed.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the construction of a road near the monastery had increased tensions on the Azerbaijani-Georgian border.
The dispute over the David Gareja monastery complex, the most important cultural and religious attraction of Georgia, continues because of the incomplete demarcation of the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan. Political analysts and historians of Azerbaijani rule out the possibility of giving up the Azerbaijani part of the monastery complex.
On May 25, in the afternoon, the road construction works near the "David Gareja" were finished, Archpriest Andria Djagmaidze has stated.
A meeting of a bilateral commission of the two countries on border demarcation issues was held in Baku, where it was decided to jointly inspect the disputed sections, the Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has stated. The position of the Georgian party is that no works should be carried out in the territory of the complex until the above commission completes its work.
Mr Djagmaidze has also noted that the road was brought very closely to the Chichkhituri Monastery, adding that the Georgian Patriarchate is ready to participate in negotiations about the border section near the "David Gareja" Complex.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 25, 2019 at 08:03 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
