Friendship should not—and cannot—be one-sided – Grigol Gegelia
Grigol Gegelia, one of the leaders of "Lelo – Strong Georgia," has responded to the statement issued by Azerbaijan regarding the Kurmukhi Church.
According to Gegelia, "Lelo – Strong Georgia" shares and supports the questions raised by the Patriarchate of Georgia concerning the ongoing work at the Kurmukhi Church.
"It is significant that the Patriarchate’s questions were grounded in both respect for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and an appreciation of the importance of our spiritual and cultural heritage monuments.
Unfortunately, we do not see a similar level of respect and understanding in Azerbaijan's statement, which even calls into question why the Patriarchate refers to this church as the Kurmukhi St. George Church—a name it has borne since at least 1310," stated Gegelia. He stated that Georgia values its good-neighborly relations with the Azerbaijani state and people; however, in his view, friendship and partnership should not entail abandoning questions regarding one's own national, historical, and cultural heritage.
"Friendship should not—and cannot—be one-sided. Friendship and partnership cannot mean refraining from raising questions about our country's national, historical, and cultural heritage, nor accepting a tone of address that is unacceptable to us," he noted.
Gegelia linked the issue of the Kurmukhi Church to the policies of the "Georgian Dream" government, stating that under this administration, "demeaning attitudes toward the Georgian state have become increasingly frequent." "Naturally, we cannot expect the protection of Georgian cultural heritage monuments from a regime that caused the destruction of Gelati and the blasting of Sakdrisi. The public also well remembers that the authorities—who for years cynically manipulated the issue of David Gareji—have still not told the public what they have actually achieved in this regard, beyond propagandistic bluster," noted Gegelia. "Lelo welcomes strategic partnership and friendship, though not at the expense of compromising our national dignity and positions," stated Gegelia.
It is worth noting that the Patriarchate of Georgia expressed concern regarding ongoing works near the St. George Church of Kurmukhi, located in Azerbaijani territory; the Patriarchate stated that, despite the church currently being situated within Azerbaijan, it stands as a significant monument of the historical and spiritual heritage of Georgia and the Georgian Church.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan responded to the Patriarchate's statement. According to the Ministry, the recent statements by the Patriarchate of Georgia regarding the Kurmukhi church run counter to the spirit of friendship, partnership, and good-neighborly relations existing between Azerbaijan and Georgia.