On 4 September 2015, the Council of Europe, in co-operation with national and local authorities as well as other local partners, organised an information meeting in Bolnisi on the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) for the speakers of the Azerbaijani language residing in the area of the Bolnisi and Marneuli municipalities.
When acceding to the Council of Europe in 1999, Georgia committed itself to signing and ratifying the Charter. As one of the key conventions of the Council of Europe, the Charter aims to protect traditionally used minority languages as part of the country’s cultural heritage.
The event aimed at informing representatives of the local authorities and Azerbaijani speaking population about how the Charter will help to promote the Azerbaijani language. It also provided an opportunity for the Azerbaijani speakers to present the current situation of their language in Georgia.
During the discussions, representatives of the Azerbaijani national minority and the local authorities voiced support for the ratification of the Charter by Georgia.
Giorgi Meshveliani, Governor of Bolnisi Municipality, pointed out that Bolnisi is multi-ethnic and 65% of its population is Azerbaijani. He noted that people are living peacefully in the region where not only Orthodox Christian churches, but also mosques can be found in most villages.
Zaur Dargali, the State Minister's representative in the Kvemo Kartli region said that there are positive attitudes towards the Charter and that Georgia will continue working on fulfilling its international commitment regarding the signing and ratification of the Charter.
Dorota Dlouchy-Suliga, Deputy Head of the Political Section at the EU Delegation to Georgia, said that the EU supports the process of ratification of the Charter, as minority rights and the maintenance of minority languages are very important. She expressed her hope that Georgia will sign the Charter soon.
Manana Vardzelashvili, Head of the International Relations Service, National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia, and Oliver Reisner, Chair of the Association for the Maintenance of German Cultural Heritage in the Southern Caucasus, explained how cultural sites of national minorities can contribute to the development of local tourism in Georgia. Ms Vardzelashvili informed the participants about important projects being implemented by her agency aimed at cataloguing and rehabilitating monuments belonging to the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani and German national minorities traditionally residing in the region.
The meeting took place in the framework of the EU/Council of Europe Joint Programme “Civic Integration of National Minorities in Georgia and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages”.
Similar events will be organised in Batumi and Tbilisi for the speakers of the Abkhazian, Ukrainian, Kurmanji/Kurdish, German, Estonian, Russian, Polish and Greek languages as well as for the local authorities later in September and October 2015.
TV news report on the meeting (in Georgian)