Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry accused the Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarchate of an approach that “entails territorial claims” after the latter raised concerns over reports of “works” at the Azerbaijan-located church, which it said was a “crucial monument” of historic and spiritual heritage of Georgia and its Church.
The Patriarchate, in a statement issued a day earlier, said it had received no information on the “works” reportedly conducted by Azerbaijani state agencies at the “Cathedral of St. George in Kurmukhi, in historical Hereti,” raising concern over the purpose of the works and the lack of coordination with the Georgian side. The statement also included photos of different sections of the church cordoned off with red-and-white barrier tape.
Azerbaijan’s MFA, in response, said it was unacceptable to refer to place names on Azerbaijani territory “by other names” and cautioned against “repetition of the known approaches of the Armenian Church.”
Located in Azerbaijan’s Qakh region, the church has been the subject of diverging historical narratives from Georgian authorities and the Georgian Orthodox Church on the one hand, and the Azerbaijani state on the other.
The Georgian Orthodox Church refers to the site as the “Kurmukhi St. George Cathedral” and considers it an important monument of Orthodox heritage in the historic Eastern Georgian province of Hereti, while recognizing that the site is located in present-day Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani state sources refer to it as the Kurmuk Temple and describe the site as dating to the period of the ancient Caucasian Albanian kingdom. Azerbaijani state sources say the site was restored by Tsarist Russia in 1892 as a Russian church based on an earlier Albanian church.
Statement by the Patriarchate of Georgia
In a September 24 statement, the Georgian Patriarchate called “alarming reports and photo and video materials circulating about “the Cathedral of St. George in Kurmukhi, in historical Hereti, and on its surrounding territory.” The statement said that while the church is now located on Azerbaijani territory, “it remains one of the most significant monuments of the historical and spiritual heritage of our country and church.”
The developments had caused “a sharp reaction and justified concern” in Georgian society, the Patriarchate said, warning that it might “negatively affect the process of strengthening good-neighborly relations and cooperation between the two neighboring states and peoples.”
The Georgian Orthodox Church, it continued, “views with particular concern any intervention carried out both in the church itself and on its adjacent territory,” adding that “numerous questions arise both from the unclear purposes of the work and from the fact that the rehabilitation of this monument of Georgian cultural heritage has not been agreed with the Georgian side.”
The Patriarchate said it had received no information on the works “from the relevant state agencies of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” calling it important to “establish what kind of work is under way on the church’s territory, on what studies it is based, who is carrying it out, and how the protection of this Georgian cultural heritage monument is being ensured.”
It then said that “it is urgently necessary to involve the relevant Georgian state agencies in the process and to ensure an appropriate response, within their competence and the framework of existing international cooperation formats,” underlining that “it is important that these agencies take an interest in the matter, obtain official information, and facilitate the involvement of representatives of the Patriarchate of Georgia and Georgian specialists in the field in its consideration.”
“We believe that only through timely and coordinated cooperation is it possible to properly protect and preserve this monument of Georgian spiritual and cultural heritage,” the Patriarchate concluded.
Azerbaijan’s MFA Statement
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement the next day that the Patriarchate’s recent remarks on the “Kurmukh Temple, located in the territory of Azerbaijan,” are “contrary to the spirit of friendship, partnership and good-neighborly relations” between the two countries, and that its “unacceptable to refer to geographical and historical toponyms located in the territory of Azerbaijan by other names.”
The ministry said Azerbaijan has “always respected the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia,” adding that “the Georgian side’s demonstration of the same respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan constitutes an important foundation of the strategic partnership relations established between the two countries.”
“It is precisely in this regard that the approach of the Patriarchate of Georgia, which entails territorial claims concerning the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, is incomprehensible,” the statement said.
Azerbaijani MFA noted that it is important that “religious institutions refrain from approaches that could undermine the historical bonds of friendship and good-neighbourhood that have developed between the peoples of Azerbaijan and Georgia over the centuries.”
“In this regard, repetition of the known approaches of the Armenian Church or following its path is not recommended,” it said.
The statement concluded that all historical, cultural and religious monuments located in Azerbaijan “constitute an integral part of the national heritage of the Azerbaijani people and the Azerbaijani state.”
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