Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Giorgi Manjgaladze will meet his Azerbaijani counterpart Khalap Khalapov in Baku on March 6-7 to discuss border delimitation issues, the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported.
 
The two countries have already agreed on the delimitation of the 300-kilometer long section of the Georgian-Azerbaijani border, but a disagreement remains over the portion of border which includes part of Davit Gareji, a complex of cave monasteries located in the Gareji semi-desert. This complex, established in the 6th century, is enlisted among Georgia’s cultural and religious heritage sites.

When asked to comment on this “border dispute” with Azerbaijan, President Saakashvili responded at a news conference on February 23 that “this is not a dispute.”

“There are consultations [between Georgia and Azerbaijan]… and we will hopefully be able to find a solution,” Saakashvili said, adding that Georgia and Azerbaijan have “brotherly relations.”

He also said that the during Soviet times the Davit Gareji monastery complex was divided by the administration border between by-then Azerbaijan and Georgian Soviet Republics. Saakashvili said that “it has caused legal problems” which are now being solved through consultations.