15 October 2007, 11:49
Azerbaijani authorities are accuse of closing a Georgian church
According to Ucha Nanuashvili, leader of the Georgia-based Centre for Defence of Human Rights, the authorities of Azerbaijan want to shut down a Georgian church in the north of the country.
"The doors of the only working Georgian church of Azerbaijan in Saingilo have been blocked," Mr Nanuashvili has reported.
According to his story, the doors of the St George Church have been closed for two weeks already, and the reasons of the actions of the Azerbaijani party are still unknown to the local population. "Azerbaijanis have taken the church keys away from the Georgian churchman and would not give them back," human rights activists are quoting the GHN (Georgian Home News).
Ucha Nanuashvili has noted that the problem has arisen in the region not so long ago but then the necessity to repair the Church was moved as the main reason for closing it.
It is also reported that the Centre for Defence of Human Rights demands from the government of Georgia to correspondingly react to the problems of Saingilo believers.
It is necessary to remind you here about the dispute between the authorities of Georgia and Azerbaijan on the ownership of ancient monuments. Thus, by the version of the Azerbaijani party, the monastic complex David Garedzhi is of Albanian origin and has the name of "Keshikchi." However, under the statement of Zurab Tskhovrebadze, deputy head of the press centre of the Patriarchy of Georgia, the information of the Azerbaijani party that the David Garedzhi complex is a monument of the Albanian culture has no grounds.
Saingilo is the territory of Azerbaijan where ethnic Georgians live; it was transferred to Azerbaijan in Joseph Stalin's days.
