Zaza Vashakmadze, Chairman of the State Agency for Religious Issues, Giorgi Ukleba, Deputy Chairman, and Gvantsa Tskhovrebadze, Protocol Manager, met with Valeh Hajiyev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Work with the Diaspora of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Valeh Hajiyev briefed the members of the delegation on the state policy of Azerbaijan in matters of relations with the Diaspora and expressed gratitude to the Georgian state, where ethnic Azerbaijanis feel safe and secure, have access to education and information in their mother tongue, their religious rights are protected and which is why they consider Georgia as their homeland. However, in order to better integrate, it is desirable for Azerbaijanis living in Georgia to pay more attention to the study of the Georgian language. He expressed hope that the friendship between Georgia and Azerbaijan will continue in the future and expressed the unwavering support of the state of Azerbaijan for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia.

The Chairman of the  Agency underlined the long tradition of Georgian-Azerbaijani relations and noted the unique character of Georgian Islam proof of this was the service of Shiites and Sunnis in one mosque. Zaza Vashakmadze inquired about the rights of ethnic Georgians living in Azerbaijan in terms of their ethnic, cultural and religious rights. The chairman of the Agency in order to get better acquainted with the situation expressed his desire to arrive on the spot.

The meeting was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Republic of Azerbaijan Zurab Pataradze, Adviser to the Ambassador Giorgi Buachidze, First Secretary of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Georgia Anar Rasulov and staff of the State Committee on Religious Associations.