Ivanishvili does not Comment Georgian Foreign Minister's Statement, Concerning Azerbaijan

• Wednesday, January 16, 11:33

 ArmInfo-BLACK SEA PRESS. On Tuesday, January 15, Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili refrained from comments on information, disseminated by Azerbaijani Mass Media, concerning a statement by Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze about Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

Earlier, Azerbaijani Mass Media reported that Panjikidze allegedly stated during her visit to Lithuania, at the meeting on January 10, which was organized by the Lithuanian Parliamentary European Group, that "Karabakh conflict may be settled only in favor of territorial  integrity of Azerbaijan".  On the eve, the Georgian Mass Media disseminated information that Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili had made a remark to the head of MFA and his official visit to Armenia, scheduled for January 17, was on the verge of frustration. 

"Maia Pasnjikidze will return to Georgia today and will make a comment herself", Ivanishvili told journalists  before the sitting of the government.

While commenting on the abovementioned information, Tedo Japaridze, a chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee, expressed doubt that it corresponded to reality and that Panjikidze would have serious troubles at work.

"I have not seen this information, but I do not think that even if it is true, it may become an occasion for a scandal and the issue of the minister's responsibility", Japaridze told journalists.

In turn, Armenia  Mass Media wrote that Azerbaijani colleagues had disseminated misinformation.  Namely, according to the Armenian Mass Media, the Georgian Foreign Ministry stated to them that at the meeting Panjikidze had noted that "she respects Azerbaijan's territorial integrity", but she had not mentioned Nagorni Karabakh at all. According to the given Mass Media, the foreign political department provided them with a video record of the meeting in Lithuania and everything became clear from it. The Georgian Foreign Ministry has not made an official comment on Panjikidze's statement.