In a September 24 statement, the Georgian Patriarchate said it was concerned by reports, as well as photos and videos, of ongoing works at the church and its surrounding area in Azerbaijan’s Qakh region. According to the Georgian Patriarchate, although the site is located in Azerbaijan, the church remains an important part of Georgia’s historical and spiritual heritage.

The Patriarchate noted that it had not received information from Azerbaijani state agencies about the nature or purpose of the works and questioned why the rehabilitation had not been coordinated with the Georgian side. It called for the relevant Georgian state agencies to obtain official information and for representatives of the Patriarchate and Georgian specialists to be involved in assessing the works.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry responded on September 25, emphasizing that the Patriarchate’s remarks were contrary to the “spirit of friendship, partnership and good-neighborly relations” between the two countries. The ministry stressed that it was unacceptable to refer to geographical and historical place names in Azerbaijan by other names and described the Patriarchate’s approach as implying “territorial claims” over Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Azerbaijani statement also urged religious institutions to refrain from approaches that could harm relations between the two countries, warning against repeating the “known approaches of the Armenian Church” and maintaining that all historical, cultural and religious monuments on Azerbaijani territory form part of the country’s national heritage.

The dispute concerns competing historical interpretations of the church. The Georgian Orthodox Church refers to it as the Kurmukhi St. George Cathedral and places it within the historical region of Hereti, while Azerbaijani state sources refer to it as the Kurmuk Temple and associate the site with the heritage of Caucasian Albania.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on September 27 that the dispute had not affected relations between the governments. “We have no tension; we have a friendly relationship with the Azerbaijani government,” he said, adding that issues between the two sides were being handled through friendly dialogue.

The exchange followed a September 25 phone call between Kobakhidze and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who congratulated the Georgian prime minister on his birthday. According to the Azerbaijani presidential administration, the two leaders also exchanged views on developing their strategic partnership and good-neighborly relations.

The Kurmukh church issue represents part of a broader history of sensitivity surrounding religious and cultural heritage sites along the Georgia-Azerbaijan border, including the David Gareji monastery complex.