Georgian Prosecutor's Office investigating alleged 'unjust transfer of territory' to Azerbaijan

The General Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia is studying the issue of an agreement on the state border with Azerbaijan to the detriment of Georgia.

The department’s statement from September 29 notes that they have launched an investigation into the transfer of part of the territory of Georgia to a foreign state. The investigation is carried out on the basis of a crime provided for by part 1 of Article 308 of the Criminal Code of Georgia.

“The investigation was launched on August 17, 2020 on the basis of written information received from the Ministry of Defense of Georgia regarding the activities of the Government Delimitation and Demarcation Commission of the state borders of Georgia.

According to the information received from the Ministry of Defense, the commission illegally negotiated certain sections of the state border between Georgia and Azerbaijan to the detriment of the territorial interests of our country,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.

The statement does not specify which agreement or period is in question, but it is noted that after a meeting with the Azerbaijani FM on September 24, Georgian FM David Zalkaliani said that the Georgian side received new cartographic materials about the David Gareji monastery complex – the area around which is the subject of a dispute between the two countries. Accordingly, the 2006-2007 Georgian-Azerbaijani agreement may be revised.

According to the Mtavari Arkhi TV channel, the maps of the Georgian-Azerbaijani border were handed over to the current government of Georgia by the oligarch David Khidasheli living in Russia, who brought documents from Moscow archives.