Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.21 / Trend T. Hajiyev /
The information recently disseminated on Russian websites about the alleged violation of the rights of ethnic Georgians residing in Azerbaijan is untrue, Ali Babayev, the chairman of the Georgia - My Homeland Public Association, told Trend.
"The third party that wants to destroy the friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia is interested in distributing such information. The articles entitled "The rights of ethnic Georgians living in Azerbaijan are violated" posted on some websites have no references to sources and don't indicate the authors of publications. Instead of covering certain social problems of Georgians living in Azerbaijan, these websites report about non-existent problems. The Armenian websites show excessive zeal in disseminating these articles," Babayev said.
Regarding the information that it is not permitted to give Georgian names to babies born in Georgian families residing in Azerbaijan, Babayev noted that he has repeatedly visited Gakh, Balakan and Zagatala regions and is interested in the local population's problems.
"Information on the ban to give Georgian names to babies is untrue. Parents give Azerbaijani names to their children on their own choice. There is no compulsion and prohibition. For example, Georgian names are often given to newborns in Azerbaijani families residing in Georgia," he stressed.
Babayev said that he has repeatedly offered to create a working group that will deal with study of problems of the Azerbaijanis residing in Georgia and Georgians residing in Azerbaijan.
"This initiative is very urgent. A working group consisting of MPs and members of the public will prevent the dissemination of subversive information. Reports about the existing problems can be presented to the Azerbaijani and Georgian society," he said.