Nino Kalandadze: “The Territory, Which Has Been Actively Discussed Recently, Belongs To Azerbaijan”

According to the www.news.ge

Azerbaijan customs officers patrol in Davit Gareji Monastery, particularly in the Monastery Udabno [desert] since May 6, 2012. The territory where parishioners and tourists easily entered before is now blocked.

Brother Kirioni from the Davit Gareji Monastery reported that on May 6, St. Giorgi’s Day, monks were at the prayers when parishioners informed them that Azerbaijani customs officers did not allow them to enter the Udabno Monastery. The monks informed the Georgian Patriarchate who informed the Foreign Ministry of Georgia about the incident.

According to the monk, the Udabno Monastery is located next to the Davit Gareji Monastery on the ridge. Azerbaijani soldiers do not allow anybody except monastery monks to enter the area. Georgian customs officers just patrol in the territory and are deployed close to the Gareji Monastery; they periodically arrive at the state border line and then go back.

When commenting on the issue, the Foreign Ministry unexpectedly stated that part of the Gareji Monastery Complex, which lately has become a problematic issue, has been outside of Georgian territory since Soviet times. It is in fact Azerbaijani territory. Deputy foreign minister Nino Kalandadze said a working group has been set up and is still working on the demarcation of the Georgian-Azerbaijani border line. She said both parties are eager to immediately resolve the problem and finally settle all delimitation issues.

“Nevertheless, this part of territory, which has been discussed recently, is not disputed at all and it belongs to Azerbaijan,” Nino Kalandadze.

Simultaneously, Azerbaijan claims that it is its territory and that Udabno Monastery is an Albanian culture monument. “Azerbaijani customs officers and the Azerbaijani government promote their interests and policy. What are we doing? Why are we not taking care of our property and why do we not take a principled position?! Our state and government are not taking any measures to protect this holy place on historical land where six thousand nuns from Gareji monastery were killed,” Brother Kirioni said.

He added that the government should take urgent measures to resolve the problem and engage civil society and the public in the process. “In the past, when the military was deployed in Gareji, we complained that explosions damaged the monastery building. We opposed the entire empire [Soviet Union] to protect it. Today, Gareji Monastery is not being damaged, instead we are losing it all,” Brother Kirioni said.

The monk thinks that unless the problem is properly addressed, Azerbaijani customs officers will ban even the monks from entering the monastery.

The leader of Davit Gareji Monastery, Father Ilarioni, only recognizes the legitimacy of the border-line delineated in 1921 and sees the currently declared “border” as high treason.

According to Father Ilarion, the main problem is that Azerbaijan’s government decides who can enter the monastery territory even though it belongs to Georgia.

Father Ilarioni added that a minister should not make statements alleging that the territory always belonged to Azerbaijan. “It is a pity that other ministers repeated the statement of Ms. Kalandadze as if the territory belongs to Azerbaijan. Ministers must not make such irresponsible statements,” Father Ilarioni said.

According to him, monks can move around the monastery territory without any problem; however, parishioners cannot enter the Udabno Monastery today. Many unique frescos of the “Gareji School” are located in that particular monastery.