 Unlike other minority groups, many remaining Azeris cited attachment to their home communities and unwillingness to leave behind well-developed farms as their reason to stay.Furthermore, Georgian-born Azeris who immigrated to Azerbaijan at various times, including 50,000 Georgian-born spouses of Azerbaijani citizens, reported bureaucratic problems faced in Azerbaijan, with some unable to acquire Azerbaijani citizenship for nearly 20 years.After the overthrow of Gamsakhurdia, the new president Eduard Shevardnadze refused to pursue nationalist policies, and his good relationship with his former fellow Politburo member Heydar Aliyev, then president of Azerbaijan, ensured safety for Georgia's Azeri community.