Georgia’s Azerbaijani Residents Demand Presidential Advisor’s Resignation

Georgia’s Azerbaijani residents are worried by Advisor to Georgia’s President Van Baiburt’s August 12 interview with Georgian daily Akhali Taoba. A number of NGOs in Georgia have sent a letter to the country’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, stating that Baiburt, a Georgian MP of Armenian origin, has begun an anti-Azerbaijani campaign, and has used terms that discriminate against minorities, reports 1news.az, quoting Borchali.Net.

“We are of the opinion that many of Baiburt’s statements don’t correspond with the truth; in particular, that there’s separatism in Kvemo-Kartli [a province and region in southern Georgia]. This is a provocation, a lie, directed against Azerbaijanis. Statesmen shouldn’t be permitted such expressions. Georgia’s Azerbaijanis are deeply concerned about this problem. 

“We inform you that the Azerbaijani nation has never been in support of separatism. It has always been in favor of Georgia’s territorial integrity.

“That statesman, who wants to sow national hostility, has no place among Georgia’s government. Please remove him from his post. His ideologies don’t correspond to the interests of the Georgian state,” it reads in the letter.