Georgia, Tbilisi / Trend corr N. Kirtskhalia / The residents of the Samtatskaro village of Dedoplitskaro region in Kakhetia densely populated with the Azerbaijanis, held a protest demonstration demanding opening of the Azerbaijani-Georgian border and the bridge connecting the two countries nearby the village.
The people stated they would like to establish direct contacts with their relatives residing on the other side of the bank. The Georgian frontier guards stopped the operation of the bridge in 2006 and urged that the residents of Samtatskaro should pass to Azerbaijan through the official check-point, located several tens km far away from the village.
The bridge was shut down for prevention of trafficking, the frontier guards said. According to the guards, the local residents take an active part in trafficking from Azerbaijan to Georgia.
The residents of the village applied to the Tbilisi City Court on 22 April. However, the matter was not considered by the court. The possibility of breaking through the border is not ruled out. The previous demonstrations were broken up by spetsnaz.