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ECRI says some problems in Georgian Azerbaijanis integration into society

12 June 2007 16:41 (UTC +04:00)

European Commission against Racism and Intolerance has released the 2nd report on Georgia, APA reports quoting the Council of Europe press service:â€œAccording to the 2002 census ethnic minorities account for 16.7% of the population of Georgia. Among a large number of minorities, the Azerbaijani minority (6.5%) and the Armenian minority (5.7%) are the largest. The census indicates that Georgia also has other minorities such as Russians (1.5%), Ossetians (0.9%), Yezids (0.4%), Greeks (0.3%) and other smaller groups. Ethnic minorities are distributed throughout Georgia but there are parts of the country where there are particular concentrations of them. Examples are the Azerbaijanis in the Kvemo-Kartli region of south-east Georgia, on the border with Armenia and Azerbaijan, where they form a sizeable proportion of the population and even, in some places such as Marneuli, outnumber Georgians and form the majority.
The realities of daily life have very little to do with the legislation, notably in the regions of Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo-Kartli, which have, respectively, large Armenian and Azerbaijani communities. It is generally acknowledged that, outside the capital, and in particular in the regions where they have large concentrations, ethnic minorities do not speak Georgian or speak it very little. For historical reasons a large proportion of them speak Russian, which for a long time was the lingua franca between ethnic groups in Georgia. That state of affairs is on the way out, however, and the younger generations of ethnic minorities, no longer really learning Russian but not necessarily learning Georgian instead, now tend to speak only their mother tongue.
The language barrier likewise makes information less available about what is happening in the country and in national society, which isolates ethnic minorities, in particular those highly concentrated in certain areas. Armenians and Azerbaijanis in border areas apparently make more use of the media in their respective kin countries, while other minorities follow the news in the Russian media. ECRI notes with satisfaction that the Georgian authorities are aware of the problem and have recently made it compulsory for the state television channels to broadcast some programmes in minority languages. As a result national television now puts out short news programmes in several minority languages. There are also some private local initiatives allowing viewers to watch Georgian television news with simultaneous translation into a minority language. These measures are of course moves in the right direction but would appear to fall a good way short of solving the problem of access to information, rescuing ethnic minorities from the isolation in which they find themselves, and motivating and helping them to integrate into Georgian society.
Several sources have stated that some members of ethnic minorities, particularly the Azerbaijanis living close to the border, were treated unfavourably when land was apportioned after the collapse of the Soviet Union./APA/