AZERI PAPER URGES GOVERNMENT TO STAND UP FOR COMPATRIOTS IN GEORGIA

Hurriyyat, Baku, Azerbaijan
Dec 19 2006

The Azerbaijani opposition newspaper Hurriyyat has urged Baku to
use its influence on Tbilisi to resolve problems faced by ethnic
Azerbaijanis living in Georgia. The paper said that pressure was
being exerted on them to make them leave the country. Azerbaijanis
are not represented properly in local government and do not benefit
from Georgia’s land reforms, Hurriyyat went on to say. The paper
contrasted this with the situation in the Armenian-populated regions
of Georgia. The following is an excerpt from Avaz Qurbanli’s report
by Azerbaijani newspaper Hurriyyat on 19 December headlined "The
truth about Borcali… Silence is a historical crime" and subheaded
"The problems of Azerbaijanis living in Georgia have reached the
maximum level of tension". Subheadings as published:

The incumbent government of Azerbaijan has stressed more than once
that establishing relations with neighbouring states is a priority
in its foreign relations. But in fact, no real steps are being taken
to secure the establishment of these relations. If this were not the
case, the problems of our compatriots in neighbouring Georgia would
not have reached the current level.

True, Georgia is not Armenia, but the state of Azerbaijanis there
is also very bad. Problems that have accumulated for many years are
growing day by day instead of being tackled. If we do not solve those
problems in a timely manner, Georgia will become like Armenia for us.

Some may reproach me for these words, but as the saying goes – never
buy a pig in a bag. Regrettably, our failure to demand our rights
often leaves us face to face with injustice. For this reason, we
should not turn a blind eye to the fate of our compatriots in Georgia,
shed light on their problems instead of hiding them by any means and
discuss ways of solving them. We wonder what those problems are? We
shall try to focus on some of them.

Our placenames are being betrayed

One of the painful problems is the change of ethnic placenames. The
process of changing Azerbaijani placenames in Georgia started during
the Soviet period, i.e. in the 1950s. Our compatriots save geographical
names only orally. For example, Dmanisi is a self-styled name, we
all now that this district’s previous name was Baskecid which means
Azerbaijan’s last entrance to Turkey from the west. The names of 35
villages were changed under the rule of Eduard Shevardnadze. His
successor Saakashvili pledged to redress the injustices done to
Azerbaijanis, but he also failed to take steps in this direction.

Azerbaijanis are not being promoted

The removal from power of our intellectual countrymen has led to
bitter consequences. It is no secret to anyone that there are serious
obstacles to the adequate representation of ethnic Azerbaijanis
in Georgia’s local government. There are 48 government agencies in
Gardabani [southeastern Georgia] alone. Although the district has
the biggest population of ethnic Azerbaijanis in Georgia, none of the
government agencies is headed by an ethnic Azerbaijani. Telman Hasanov,
an Azerbaijani, has been imprisoned on charges of separatism for asking
"why none of those agencies is headed by an Azerbaijani?", even though
the question was fair and the Georgian government had to answer it. The
answer to this question belies many vital issues for our countrymen.

Unfair land policy

"The land policy that was very unfair to Azerbaijanis", to quote
Georgian President Saakashvili, was carried out in 1996. During
those reforms a vast majority of Azerbaijanis lost their land. The
districts where many ethnic Azerbaijanis lived – Dmanisi, Bolnisi,
Marneuli and Gardabani – produced 38 per cent of Georgia’s agricultural
produce in the 1970s. This is another indicator that our compatriots
are productive workers. For locals, land is not a profession, it is
a source of life because no manufacturing facilities were set up
here under the Soviet government. Locals depend on land for their
livelihood. In these conditions, very wealthy individuals come to
the region, buy thousands of hectares of land and lease it to ethnic
Azerbaijanis. Can you imagine what it means? Naturally, this increases
the cost of the produce and makes life more difficult for the locals.

However, similar problems are nowhere to be seen in the
Armenian-populated Javakheti region. It is because Armenians resorted
to pressure during the land reforms. They ended up being on a par
with Georgians in terms of land ownership. But Azerbaijanis are
treated as the lowest category ethnic group. True, some progress
has been made on the matter since Mikheil Saakashvili came to power.
Ethnic Azerbaijanis started voicing their concerns at rallies. Rallies
proved that democracy existed only in terms of freedom of speech,
but little was actually done. What is most important, a new law on
land was not adopted. According to the Saakashvili government’s bill,
preference had to be given to those who used the land, but the law
was not implemented. On the contrary, it gave rise to some problems.

Fighting smugglers, or …

Georgian TV shows the country’s security agencies and masked
men carrying out an "operation against drug smugglers" in the
Azerbaijani-populated villages. Are these operations and TV footage
from them so necessary? Is this not stoking fears and disturbing the
public? Naturally, this irritates Azerbaijanis who watch it on TV
and certainly has no positive impact on relations between Georgia
and Azerbaijan. If this is indeed a fight against smugglers, then
why is it waged in villages rather than on the border? This forms a
perception that the Georgian border troops guard the national borders
poorly. A more serious question: are all smugglers Azerbaijanis? How
come there is no fight against smugglers in Javakheti? The border with
Armenia in Javakheti Region is porous and there is plenty evidence
of smuggling there. How many people in Javakheti have been charged
with smuggling drugs? Why is this not publicized?

Are Azerbaijanis being deported?

In this matter, the state and national interests need to be
coordinated. Deportation from Georgia is different from the deportation
of our countrymen from Armenia as it is not carried out on the same
mass scale. Our countrymen have been deported [from Georgia] for a
period of time and in a planned way. For instance, various methods
were used to force ethnic Azerbaijanis to leave the districts densely
populated by them. Conflicts between Georgians and our countrymen were
engineered and implemented. We have already described the pressure
exerted through "the fight against smugglers".

For the reasons we have described, as well as for the ones we have
not, ethnic Azerbaijanis in Georgia, especially the well-to-do ones,
leave their native land. This paves the way for the deportation of
Borcali [Azerbaijani name for the Azerbaijani-populated northeastern
part of Georgia].

The Azerbaijani authorities have to monitor the deportation of our
countrymen more closely.

Azerbaijanis abide by the law better than others

Azerbaijanis have always recognized Georgia’s territorial integrity
and given priority to the principle of citizenship. Never in the
history of Georgia have Azerbaijanis engaged in separatism. They form
an ethnic group that abides by the law better than others. Azerbaijan
has always called on the ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Georgia to be
good citizens in order to keep relations with Tbilisi warm. We have
never made calls similar to those urging autonomy for the Armenians
in Javakheti. It is the result of such calls that the Armenians
now demand autonomy. Yerevan is behind this demand and the Georgian
government knows this very well.

When ethnic Armenians in Tbilisi asked the Armenian foreign minister
[Vardan Oskanyan] whether he had raised the question of autonomy for
Javakheti, he said that it was their business and they had to decide
it for themselves. But behind the scenes, Yerevan encourages them
to make demands for autonomy all the time. It is easy to see that
neither the ethnic Armenians in Georgia, nor the Armenian authorities
want to think about Georgia’s territorial integrity.

What issues do Azerbaijani officials raise with regard to our
countrymen when they go to Georgia? We do not have enough evidence
in this regard.

Special government care for Armenian-populated districts

The meeting between the Armenian and Georgian foreign ministers in
late June revealed that as much as 200m dollars from US assistance
received by Georgia from the Millennium Challenge programme will be
spent on Javakheti. How much will be spent on the Azerbaijani-populated
areas? This question has yet to be answered, although these districts
need funds as badly as Javakheti. The 25-km road connecting Marneuli
with the Red Bridge [on the Azerbaijani-Georgia border] is in such
a bad condition that locals are forced to go to the Red Bridge via
Tbilisi. The locals have to choose the road which is much longer only
because the short one has not been repaired.

[Passage omitted: Georgian textbooks say Azerbaijanis came to the
area in the 16th century, much later than Armenians]

What should Azerbaijanis do?

We would like to note in conclusion that in this report, we only
scratched the surface of the problems facing ethnic Azerbaijanis in
Georgia. However, there are some issues which would, however painful
they are, be interpreted as an "attempt to damage bilateral relations"
if we raised them. Therefore, such issues must be resolved at the
state level.

It is a fact that Georgia is our strategic ally and we are linked by
many economic projects of international importance. In all of those
projects Georgia is a transit country. This means that Azerbaijan has
all kinds of leverage vis-a-vis Georgia. At least in exchange for the
profit we bring them Azerbaijan could raise the question of resolving
the problems of our countrymen with Georgia. Unfortunately, action
and inaction on the part of some inept Azerbaijani state officials
has almost made Azerbaijan dependant on Georgia.

We should not forget that if we do not care about the problems of our
countrymen, no-one else will. Times have changed and Azerbaijan has
made some economic progress. Baku has to pay more attention to the
problems of our countrymen living abroad and in many cases, must help
tackle those issues. Azerbaijan should not remain indifferent to them.