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Borders Without Defense

January 12, 2011
Lela Khechoshvili

According to the border police data, the length of the Georgian border with Azerbaijan is 446 km. But in reality, the border between these two states has not been determined. The bilateral governmental commission on the border delimitation has been operating for 17 years now. According to the Deputy Minister of Georgian Foreign Affairs, Davit Gareji and the village Erisimedi remain  disputed territories.

According to a letter from the Georgian Foreign Ministry issued on October 21st of 2010, in the process of border delimitation, the parties basically used  Soviet topographical maps that indicated the administrative border line.

According to the statement of the deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources (letter 08-14/3863. 22.10.2010), in the service of geodesy and cartography of the Ministry, there are maps on a 1:10 000 scale in an old Soviet form which do not present public information and are intended for state work.

190 km of Georgia-Azerbaijan border follows river Alazani. The river Alazani is characterized by meanders. There are several peninsulas connected to the land by 40-70 meter land piece. It is surrounded by the river. The gorge of the river is hit by the waves from the both sides thus ruining its foundation. Meanders are gaining significance at the Georgian-Azerbaijani border.

According to Nikoloz Alkhazashvvili, who was performing the head of the national agency of the environment’s duty, the real problem at the border originated long ago: “In the surrounding territory of the village Erisimedi Alazani made a meander gorge and established a new river-bed. As a result, the border between the two Soviet Republics that passed the axis of the river-bed on the topographical maps was replaced. The river-bed of the river Belakanchai got connected to Alazani by the channel. In the upper part of the former meander, the Azerbaijani river was founded, in the lower part – village Erisimedi where the eco-migrants from Adjara region were inhabited.”

Erisimedi

The village Erisimedi is situated 65 km from the village of Sighnaghi. The village was founded in 1989. Officially, Erisimedi belongs to the Sighnaghi municipality, thus falls in Georgian jurisdiction. However it is prohibited to enter the village without going through the border control. The border police operate at approximately 1 km distance before entering the village. The obligation of border control does not concern only the permanent residents of the village.

Resan Tsestkhladze, resident of Erisimedi: “I have been living in Erisimedi since 2000. We have never had such problems with the border. Even we, the local residents are asked to show passports and go through registration when coming back to the village. Not too long ago, my cousin from Aspindza region visited me. He was not allowed to enter the village since he did not have a passport. There is a farm in the field away from the border police checkpoint. I found shelter for him there.”

The border control intensified since April 13 of 2010. On April 13, an Azerbaijani border-guard killed 16-year-old Akhmed (Ibragim) Gaurgashvili who was driving away cattle from the field to his home. The Azerbaijani border-guard shot him carelessly. Despite numerous promises of the Georgian government, this incident still has not been investigated. Georgian border-guards are prohibiting video and photo recording in Erisimedi since this incident occurred. .

While working on the journalistic investigation we went to the village of Erisimedi along with cartographical and geodetic specialists and saw the place where the careless murder occurred. There is a fence made of trees put up at the place of the incident. The fence has been put up by Erisimedi residents to keep their cattle from entering Azerbaijanian territory. According to the witnesses, Akhmed Gaurgashvili was lying under the fence, on the Georgin side. GPS observed, according to the topographical map of the Soviet Union, that the place of the murder is Georgian territory.

Anzor Bolkvadze, the witness of the murder: “Akhmed had approached the fence and was trying to bring the cattle back beyond the fence. We built this fence with trees to keep our cattle from entering Azerbaijani territory. The fence is made in our territory, approximately 8-10 meters away from the border. We were afraid of shooting and that is why we built it here. The Azerbaijani border-guard shot Akhmed mercilessly, right in the head. Akhmed fell right away. However, he was conscious asking for help. Azerbaijani border-guards did not let us go near him. They pointed their guns on us threatening that if we dare to go near, they would shoot us. Georgian border-guards were not there by that time.”

On December 6 of 2010, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandze stated at the briefing that “the village Erisimedi is on the disputed territory.”

“This village is situated in the territory which is in the process of delimitation and represents a disputed territory. Hence, if there is any restriction on entering and transportation, that is because it is situated in the disputed territory,” – noted Kalandadze.

According to GPS data, there are 15 houses, a school and an ambulatory in Azerbaijani territory.

According to Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Elkhan Polukhov, the Azerbaijani side is not discussing the case of exchange of Erisimedi and other territories of Davit Gareji as well.

According to Erisimedi residents, the Georgian government has been absolutely indifferent to those territories which belong within  Georgian jurisdiction, but in reality have been controlled by Azerbaijani border-guards for years.

Dato Makharadze, resident of Erisimedi: “After the settlement, there is more than 100 hectares of pasture but we cannot use it. That land belongs to Georgia, but Azerbaijan frontiers control it and the cattle of neighboring Azerbaijan villages pasture there. We cannot approach them; Azerbaijan border police officers threaten us with imprisonment. We used to use those lands when we were settled here. We do not know when such a huge territory became the property of Azerbaijan. If our cattle accidentally enter that territory, they do not return them back to us.”

Erosion

The River Alazani has been washing away the bank on the Georgian side for several years.. According to the Caucasian Environmental NGO Network (CENN), as a result of the erosion, the agricultural land on the Alazani Embankment has significantly reduced.

Nino Pkhovelishvili, farmer in Sighnaghi district: “The Alazani River is moving up and takes away our territories every year. It happens mostly in spring during intensive rains; the river takes away about 25-30 meters of land per day. Five years ago, the Alazani River was flowing in the area of that forest. When we built a farm, the distance between the farm and the river was 300 meters but now there is only 80 meters. For example, the width of the bay in the village of Anaga was 180 meters but now it is only 30 meters. The Alazani River has already destroyed two bays and more than 70 hectares of the land remained on the other bank of the river. Neither we the farmers, nor the Georgian frontier police officers can go there. Azerbaijan people use that land and their frontier officers control the territory. The Alazani River intensively washes away the banks on the Georgian side. The river now threats one more bay.

-Did you inform the state institutions about the problem?

-I have petitioned to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources several times as well as other institutions like the Frontier Department. Their representatives arrived and checked the situation. They said the situation is alarming but did not do anything.

-Is not the river destroying the bank on the Azerbaijan side?

-It is destroying it there too, but the Azerbaijan government fortifies the bank on their side. They throw stones and blocks there; they change the river-bed; they put about 100 tracks of blocks every day. It is fact that they are working on this problem very intensively. About 6 year ago, one of the bays was under serious threat on the Azerbaijan side. The government fortified the bank and saved about 70 hectares of land from disappearance. At that time, the Alazani threatened another bay on their side – the river destroyed the meander and left its bed of about 45 hectares on the Georgian side. Unlike the Georgian government, the Azerbaijan authority did not lose the island – they built a bridge and their frontier police officers still control that territory; in parallel to it, Azerbaijan has occupied our territory.”

According to the Border Security and Control Chamber of the Frontier Police Department of Georgia, the Azerbaijan side really builds bridges to control the land left on the Georgian embankment of the Alazani River. “Alazani is a border river and everything shall be agreed; however Azerbaijan has not made any agreements yet,” said the representative of the department.

Environment specialist Chichiko Janelidze said he was in the Sighnaghi district to examine the situation in Alazani embankment four years ago. “Four years ago, during the serious flood, the river washed away the territories and we arrived there from the department to study the situation and dynamics of the river-bed. Our territory remained on the Azerbaijan side because the Alazani River changed its bed. The Azerbaijan frontier police officers did not allow us into that territory.”

“Erosion is the natural process of the river. Our country is in a bad situation because waterfull rivers are falling from the Caucasus Range; they bring more ruins and make the Alazani River to change its bed. It is difficult to carry out preventive measures on our side because the river is washing away old, loose clay and sand. Gabions and concrete walls shall be constructed on the bank to stop river erosion. However, those constructions sink and get buried in such situations. Consequently, similar preventive measures were inefficient. The governmental institutions were informed about the disaster. The border demarcation process shall hurry up and afterwards, Georgia will resolve the problem by straightening of the river-loops; thus the river-bed will flow directly,” said Chichiko Janelidze.

He added that several dozen hectares of land is in each meander and in total, about 100 hectares of land remained on the Azerbaijan side because the Alazani River changed its bed.

According to the National Environmental Agency, the problem of erosion in the Alazani River is urgent for the distance of 10 kilometers and it cannot be eradicated with the budget we have.

“In 2010, the bank-fortifying activities in the Alazani River were not carried out. Due to our financial sources, we preferred to fortify the embankment close to residential areas. Nowadays, it is urgent to preserve the stability of the meanders that could prevent destruction of the meanders on the right bank and further misunderstandings in the estimation of the border. Besides, the problem is in Juma Bay as well, which is located in Dedoplistskaro district. The narrowed passages shall be covered by rigid boards and the holes shall be filled in with corresponding substances,” said the interim head of the National Environmental Agency Nikoloz Alkhazishvili.

According to the Agency, the fortifying activities of the Alazani River are not planned in 2011 either.

International Law recognizes the so called Estoppel principle. In accordance to this principle, when a state owns, cultivates and uses territories of another state for several years and the legal owner state of the territory does not complain about it, the user state starts claiming for the territory and tries to get it under its legal jurisdiction on the official level.

The head of the Border Security and Control Chamber of the Frontier Police Department of Georgia, Colonel Vakhtang Datunashvili said: “It is the most dangerous topic between Azerbaijan and Georgia.”


The article was prepared within the project “Investigative Group of Journalists in Kakheti” with financial support of the “Eurasian Partnership Foundation” in the framework of the EU funded project - “Strengthening the Media’s Role as a Watchdog Institution in Georgia”.
The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the Kakheti News Center and cannot be taken as to reflect the views of the European Union and Eurasian Partnership Foundation.

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