 Finally, the fact that the Azeri language for a long time enjoyed the status of the language of interethnic communication (see "Language") reduced the need of knowing languages of the neighbours, preventing eventual language shift.Volkova noted that as of 1976, cases of assimilation of Azeris even in the smallest communities were unheard of.Georgia's Azerbaijani population traces its roots to the events following the Seljuk invasion in the second half of the eleventh century, when Oghuz tribes settled in southern Georgia.