Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Javakheti's rough road to integration

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Javakheti's rough road to integration

    The Messenger
    Friday, October 1, 2004, #187 (0711)

    Javakheti's rough road to integration

    Residents cite economic depression, poor transportation and education
    issues as major concerns

    By Keti Sikharulidze

    Integration: while Tbilisi uses the word to describe Georgia's future
    relations with Europe, ethnic Armenian residents in the region of Javakheti
    are debating what it means for them and their future in Georgia.
    Last week the European Center for Minority Issues (ECMI) made a presentation
    of a project called "The integration of Javakheti region" into Georgia. The
    center took journalists out to Akhalkalaki in Javakheti so they could see
    first hand the issues of the impoverished area.
    The Javakheti region has been identified by the government and international
    organizations as one of the regions least integrated into the economy,
    politics and society of the rest of the country. One result is that
    residents live in serious poverty.
    One of the largest economic activities is the Russian military base and as a
    result the currency of choice is the Russian ruble instead of the lari.
    Now ECMI hope to support the integration of the Javakheti region and its
    major cities of Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda to the country's center and
    produce a network of national and regional specialists.
    ECMI member Oscar Pentikiainen told The Messenger that last weeks meeting
    was designed to form a forum of Javakheti inhabitants. The forum would work
    on economic, social, informational and technical matters that mostly concern
    all the inhabitants of the Javakheti region.
    "Our project is at the very beginning and in several weeks we will formulate
    concrete plans on what we exactly intend to do in the future. There are too
    many problems in the region, and we are not magicians that can solve all the
    problems, but we will try our best," he said.
    The manager of the ECMI project Mikael Hertoft added that "because of the
    hard situation, lots of people leave the region."
    Hertoft also talked about other leading problems, such as telephone
    communication problems, road problems and the language barrier.
    "The main purpose of this project is to help the Javekheti region and other
    parts of the region as well. As in most parts of Georgia there is a hard
    economic and political situation, problems with electricity and roads. But
    the main problem that still exists here is the language problem because
    Armenians are heavily located in this region and the main language is
    Armenian. It is very important to solve the language problems to share their
    interests and ideas with the other parts of Georgia," stated Hertoft.
    The reality of 'not speaking the same language' is apparent throughout the
    region: analysts say that 85 percent of the population is Armenian and the
    rest Georgian, Russian, Greek and other ethnic minorities. According to
    local residents, Georgian is the third language in the region after Armenian
    and Russian.
    Most of the legal documents are in Georgian, which means they cannot be
    understood by most of the people. One of the main demands at the meeting was
    to translate these documents into Russian because "people have a right to
    know the law," as one participant at the forum stated.
    But integration is a complex issue and the head of Akhalkalaki gamgebeli
    Melik Raisian explained that people have no need to use Georgian language in
    everyday communication.
    "People are very irritated by the word 'integration:' we do not need any
    integration," he told The Messenger, "because we are a part of Georgia and
    the word integration causes provocation for the Armenian population.
    Georgians and Armenians are friendly."
    But as NGO leader Mamuka Bekauri said, integration means that a lot is at
    stake. "When we are talking about integration, it means that everyone should
    take part in the formation of the state and in order to form it, we should
    know Georgian," stated Bekauri.
    There are government efforts to help resolve this problem and a language
    center called 'Georgian House' has recently started offering classes. The
    main aim of this program is to teach Georgian to those officials who do not
    know Georgian.
    "It is very nice and friendly for everybody who wants to learn Georgian
    language. We have lots of books, dictionaries and encyclopedias," said
    Georgian teacher Dali Astromeladze. "We have unique films that are rare in
    Georgia and also Georgian press. The local population got very interested
    and our main aim is to teach Georgian language not only to officials, but to
    children too. We want to involve everybody from different ages in this
    program."

    At this time of year residents say their most important issue is preparing
    for the notoriously brutal winter in the region. Snow and poor roads cut off
    major transportation and residents say they need at least GEL 400 to survive
    the winter.
    For some residents, integration first means solving these economic issues.
    "First we must solve these problems and then discuss the problems with
    languages," said Akhalkalaki resident Mikhail Kulikidzi.
    Still other residents, like resident Levon Leonian, say education is a
    sensitive issue and children should be able to learn more about Armenia.
    Studying only Georgian history, he said, "has a negative influence on
    children since they do not know the history of their own homeland, Armenia.
    Our children know more about the history of Georgia then their own
    homeland."
    The leaders of the project state the first stage will occur from September
    2004 to December 2005 and project leaders will examine the economy, social
    issues, education, access to information and the media.
    In a briefing paper given to journalists, the ECMI explained why they think
    integration is necessary: "There is a seriously low standard of living,
    there are also problems with corruption and the lack of law and
    administrative standards create the precondition of tense situation because
    of the social and economic situation. And this may aggravate the situation
    and cause an ethnic conflict."
Working...
X