Georgia, Tbilisi, 4 February / Тrend corr N. Kirtskhalia / The Georgian diaspora in Azerbaijan has the same living conditions as Azerbaijanis. "The Georgians living in Azerbaijan do not differ from the Azerbaijani citizens and they have the same living conditions," the Georgian State Minister for Diaspora Yulon Gagoshidze said to Trend on 4 February.
"There are three categories of Georgian diaspora in Azerbaijan - the Ingiloys historically residing in their territory, migrant Georgians, and the Meskheti Turks," the Minister said. "All these categories require different approaches from the Georgian state. Ingiloys live on their own land. They turned out to live beyond Georgia's borders as a result of political processes. We can help them only in development of language and cultural skills, as well as enable their rights for religious freedom. We can supply Georgian textbooks to them, and assist their local Orthodox Church."
According to the Minister, attention should be paid to the new wave of emigration mainly involving the Georgian Azerbaijanis.
"A special issue is the Meskheti Turks, who were evicted from Middle Asia with whom our country pledged to assist in their return to their land. We have to tackle all these issues in near future," Gagoshidze said.