The Geyrat (Honor) movement has held a press conference at the Baku media center today to address ethnic Azerbaijanis social, economic and cultural problems in Georgia. Specifically, movement members addressed issues of education, land tenure, employment, etc., reports kavkaz-uzel.ru.

“The high-level bilateral relations do not have any impact on the socio-cultural life of the Azerbaijani population in Georgia,” said the movement member Zumrud Gurbanov. He pointed out that the land reform has been completed in Georgia, but the Azerbaijani population’s interests have been disregarded. The Geyrat movement sees a way out of the situation in Azerbaijan’s investments in the Georgian regions densely populated by Azerbaijanis.

The Geyrat leader Alibala Askerov accused the Caucasian Muslim Board of being indifferent to the Azeri population’s problems, particularly to their religious rights.

He sees a solution to the problem in “joint projects at a government level.” Among the most serious problems are, according to Azkerov, unemployment and Azerbaijani-language education, which is not so easily available now as before. “As result, 60,000 young Azerbaijanis left Georgia,” Askerov said.

Another serious problem is also Azerbaijanis not being involved in the state government system.

Askerov believes the State Committee for Diaspora and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan are not taking any practical steps to ensure the Azerbaijanis’ rights in Georgia.

Azerbaijanis densely populate a number of eastern Georgian regions bordering on Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Azerbaijani population of Georgia reached 300,000 to 400,000 thousands by the time the USSR collapsed.

Activities intended to protect Azerbaijanis’ rights in Georgia have often been organized in Azerbaijan over the recent period.

The source reports that the roundtable Place and Historical Role of Borchaly (Azerbaijani name of a Georgian region with a dense Azerbaijani population), which was held at the Baku media center on June 24, discussed ethnic Azerbaijanis’ problems in Georgia.

Nasib Sasibli, an Azerbaijani Parliament member of the Musavat party, pointed out the need for amending the Azerbaijani Law on Migration, which would grant privileges to the Azerbaijani immigrants from Georgia. “In this matter, Azerbaijanis from Georgia must not be equaled to immigrants from other countries,” he said. O the other hand, Fazil Gazanfaroghly, the Chairman of the Great Creation Party believes the law must be made even more stringent. “Otherwise, immigrants will flow to Azerbaijan from Georgia, which is inadmissible,” the parliamentarian said.

Esteri Astemirova of the Georgian Embassy in Azerbaijan objected to the term “Borchaly” used in reference to the Kvemo-Kartli region of Georgia, which ranks the region as part of the Turkic territories. She also voiced her discontent with the fact that Georgians are called Ingiloits in Azerbaijan, “though such a nation does not exist.”

Astemirova pointed out that Azerbaijanis’ education problems are in the focus of attention of the Azerbaijani and Georgian Ministries of Education. According to her, the Azerbaijani press often publishes “provocative articles”, which suggests “scheming of a third party”, namely, “Russia.”

Interestingly, Ingiloits are Muslim Georgians residing in the northern-western regions of Azerbaijan, Gakhk and Zagatal. They adopted Islam during Persian invasions.