How Georgian Prime Minister Garibashvili danced to someone else's tune in Baku

Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili visited Baku yesterday at the invitation of the head of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. This is the first official visit of the Georgian prime minister after his appointment. The negotiations took place against the backdrop of political differences between the two countries.

Georgian political scientist Shota Akhaidze talks about this in his author’s column for PolitNavigator.

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Even during the time of Mikheil Saakashvili, the idea of ​​uniting Georgia and Azerbaijan into a confederation was voiced (consider it - in order to then end up together under the flag of Turkey). Of course, both in Tbilisi and in Baku itself there are many opponents of this project. Now it looks absolutely unrealistic, given the accumulated problems in bilateral relations.

One of the most painful topics is the fate of the David Gareji monastery complex. In Soviet times, its lands were part of the territory of the Georgian SSR. But during the reign of Saakashvili, the Azerbaijanis bribed the commission and changed the maps. As a result, part of the complex was transferred to Azerbaijan. Last year, proceedings began in Tbilisi, a criminal case was opened, and the perpetrators were convicted.

The so-called “cartographer case” involved high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Border Department - a total of 8 people. The Tbilisi City Court, given the gravity of the crime, gave the perpetrators fairly substantial prison terms. However, a few months later, under pressure from Ankara, Baku and the Saakashists, the Georgian authorities were forced to pardon the convicts.

Another pain point is economic expansion. Under Saakashvili, the Azerbaijani oil company Socar, which belongs to the Aliyev family, began to own most of Georgia's strategic assets.

Since the 90s, there has been a serious problem of infringement of the rights of ethnic Georgians living on the territory of Azerbaijan - the autochthonous population of Kakhi and Zagatala. Here Georgian churches are in a deplorable state, facts of desecration are often recorded, and the Georgian Church is not given the opportunity to hold services.

And this happens when in Georgia itself the number of ethnic Azerbaijanis exceeds 350 thousand people. And the number of ethnic Turks is 120 thousand people. Over the past 10 years, the demographic growth of the Azerbaijani population in Georgia is 70%. Turkish - 55%. But in Azerbaijan over the past 30 years the number of ethnic Georgians has decreased by as much as 90%. Of the 30 ethnic Georgians (autochthonous population), only 000 people remain!

There are 68 Azerbaijani mosques and Shiite madrassas in Georgia. But the Azerbaijani authorities, in fact, destroyed ancient Georgian temples on the territory of historical Gereti; Georgian priests are not given the right to worship in Kakhi, Belakani and Zagatala.

There are 280 Azerbaijani schools in Georgia. There is not a single Georgian school in Azerbaijan! There are 3 Azerbaijani theaters, 4 museums and 5 cultural centers in Georgia. There is not a single Georgian theater, not a single center, or a museum in Azerbaijan.

Ethnic Azerbaijanis living on the territory of Georgia can freely bear Azerbaijani names and surnames, as well as profess Islam. Ethnic Georgians living on their historical land in Azerbaijan are becoming outcasts; the Azerbaijani authorities oppress them on ethnic and religious grounds. Georgians in Azerbaijan do not have the right to bear Georgian names and surnames, nor to profess Christianity.

However, Garibashvili did not dare to publicly express any of this in Baku. In the presence of journalists, Garibashvili and Aliyev radiated friendliness. “I am proud that Azerbaijan has been in first place among Georgia’s investor countries for many years,” Aliyev said. The Georgian prime minister responded by feigning joy at having such a neighbor and invited Aliyev to visit Tbilisi.

What is the reason for Garibashvili’s indecisiveness? Georgian-Azerbaijani relations are strongly influenced by Ankara, which, after demonstrating its strength in Karabakh, is putting even more direct pressure on Tbilisi.

And Georgia is economically too tied to Baku and Ankara (mainly by energy projects for transporting Azerbaijani resources to the Turks via a pipeline through Georgian territory).

This is how Tbilisi remains up to its neck with unresolved problems, with Saakashvili’s sad political legacy and still dancing to someone else’s tune.