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.”