MDF
#9, 1 October - November 30, 2020

PRE-ELECTION MONITORING 2020 - Anti-Western Messages, Hate Speech, Fake News

A total of 140 comments containing discrimination and hate speech were made during the pre-election period by politicians, with the largest share accounting for xenophobic comments (87), followed by homophobic (47) remarks. The Alliance of Patriots and Georgian March parties are leading with hate speech comments. The Pre-Election Monitoring report released by the Media Development Foundation provides detailed information about the remarks made by political stakeholders.  

Xenophobia

Politicians

News Front, November 27
Enri Oniani, Georgian March: “Globalists are achieving their goals. A lot of people are leaving the country and only few of them are returning. Personally for me, it is a catastrophe. Just imagine, if such situation continues in the country, in 10 years, there will be very few ethnic Georgians; subsequently, national self-awareness will disappear and only the name of our country will remain... Foreign culture is gradually gaining its foothold in our country and people are beginning to fanaticize about it; everything Georgian will lose its value…”

Civil society organizations

Asaval-Dasavali, November 2-8
Lali Moroshkina, Strong Woman – Strong State: “The interests of other countries, including the Arabic world and Turkish enclave are quite obvious in Georgia today. Like the National Movement, they also are working against Bidzina Ivanishvili. They had been obstructed in many respects – from drug trafficking to money laundering.”  

Turkophobia

Politicians

Obieqtivi, Gamis Studia – Kvelas Gasagonad, November 24
Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi, Alliance of Patriots: “Turkey has not originated in the Caucasus and nobody will allow it to enter. It has been a long time since Turkish generals first appeared in Azerbaijan. Turkish generals have been training Azerbaijani troops as well as Georgian troops for a long time. This is one thing, but Turkey itself is not either there or here. It is doing its best to invade Adjara, carrying out any form of expansion; Turkey’s economic presence in Georgia is obvious, but from military point of view, nobody will allow it to enter either Georgia or Azerbaijan. As soon as it happens, Russia will unleash the war against Turkey on the next day.” 

Media

Georgia and World, October 7
Davit Mkheidze, author: “The South Caucasus was the only place where the situation had been relatively stable, and the NATO member Turks managed to fuel up tensions there through Baku. It is difficult to say what geopolitical games are underway behind the scenes. But I am deeply convinced that Turkey’s present impudence is the continuation of its previous acts, when Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated publicly that ‘Turkey’s ultimate goal is to restore the so called Great Turan, the Empire from Batumi to Sarajevo, and we will do it without tanks.’ Since our “friendly” country, Turkey, has already invaded Adjara from political and economic points of view, Turkey’s intensified efforts in the South Caucasus may be considered yet another step towards implementation of the plan voiced by Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.” 

Sakinformi, October 8
Arno Khidirbegishvili, editor-in-chief of Sakinformi news agency: “It would be Georgia’s turn following Nagorno-Karabakh. “Two peoples – one pain” – this formula had not been promoted among Georgians unintentionally, promising them assistance in regaining control over Abkhazia and Samachablo immediately after the Nagorno-Karabakh issue was solved. “Considering the Treaty of Kars, it will not be difficult to seize Adjara as well as Borchalo compactly populated by Azerbaijanis - as [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan plans – and then it will be possible to think about Armenia.” Only mentally ill people will fail to understand what will happen to Georgia, if Georgian troops, backed by Azerbaijani, Turkish and Syrian fighters, try to enter Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region, where Russian military bases are deployed!” 

Georgia and World, November 17
Armaz Saneblidze, journalist: “Racial advantage of Turks has no alternative! And it is “a theoretical” basis. This policy is pursued by Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party with a slogan calling for Turkey’s unification. Now, let’s look at our southern neighbor from this angle, whose traders gained foothold in Batumi first and then invaded Davit Agmashenebeli Avenue in Tbilisi. COVID-19 pandemic has slightly slowed down this expansion, but has not stopped it completely.  

Civil society organizations

Asaval-Dasavali, November 2-8
Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, Union of Human Rights’ Defenders: “Bastard Saakashvili granted Georgian citizenship to thousands of Turks; entire Adjara has been Turkified and why do you think that Turkey or Azerbaijan, whom he promised David Gareji, are not interested in National Movement’s coming to power?!” 

Armenophobia

Politicians

News Front, November 11
Ermile Nemsadze, Georgian March: “Slobbery Saakov [referring to Georgia’s ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili] ceded Kodori Gorge and David Gareji, following Samachablo, and nobody had ever been held accountable for it.” 

Media

Asaval-Dasavali, November 16-22
Giorgi Gigauri, journalist: “[Headline] Georgia should not accept even a single refugee from Karabakh! [Text] It can in no way be considered an anti-Armenian position! It is the only correct position upheld by millions of nationally-thinking Georgians! It’s enough to provide accommodation to Georgia’s enemies under false hospitality!”

Former government

Asaval-Dasavali, November 23-29
Giorgi Baramidze, former chairman of the government of Abkhazia Autonomous Republic: “If they accept Armenian refugees to Georgia, we will lose occupied Abkhazia forever.”

Islamophobia

Politicians

Obieqtivi, Gamis Studia, October 30
Giorgi Kasradze, Alliance of Patriots: “They tried to carry out various provocations in this region on multiple occasions, among others to build the Aziziye Mosque in the center of Batumi, and 70,000 people, including 15,000 Muslims resisted the construction of this mosque with Turkish money, while Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi took the lead in this resistance.” 

Discrimination on the grounds of religion

Media

Georgia and World, November 17
Giorgi Gachechiladze, journalist: “All arguments of Orthodox believers, who do not want to tolerate ecumenism and philocatholicism, to say nothing about Papism, are beyond any dispute. Therefore, any “theological dialogue” held by the Orthodox Church with Satanist Vatican serving globalist “elite” should be considered collaborationism.” 

Clerics

Georgia and World, October 27
Giorgi Razmadze, cleric: “The Catholic Church subordinated to the current Pope actually is not the church, but rather a usual corporation that spares no efforts to suppress the Christianity globally. As for the statement about legalization of homosexuality, many perceived it as propaganda, and this is definitely so. But I think that such statement made by the figure like the Pope does not have only propaganda purposes… They actually send a signal to the entire Christianity and, first of all, the Orthodox world that step by step, everybody should think about compromising on the requirements of the so called liberal democracy.”

Society

Alia, November 2-8
Yuna Shapatava, actress: “We are still in a lockdown, people stay in the streets, failing to pay rents and this man [Donald Trump] is standing with an impudent smile and preaching how to make our majestic country great again, this Jehovah’s Witness…”

Homophobia

Politicians

Asaval-Dasavali, November 2-8
Sandro Bregadze, Georgian March: “Georgian Dream offered us Georgia of Girchi! Georgia of homosexuality, drugs, godlessness! Georgian Dream struck a criminal deal with the National Movement, European Union, Girchi, enemies of Orthodoxy!” 
Tvalsazrisi 

Asaval-Dasavali, November 9-15
Soso Shatberashvili, Leftist Alliance: “Its [Girchi] leaders do not think that use of marijuana is an illness. Drug addiction is quite normal for them, like same-sex marriage, polygamy, prostitution and so on. It is alarming that pseudo-liberal televisions serve to propagandize it.” 

Media

News Front, November 1
Editorial board: “A gene of sexual perversion does not and cannot exist. Scientists from the Psychiatric Research Center at Harvard University closed the history of “homosexual gene” through one of the largest research of recent years and confirmed – though it was known to all honest psychiatrists of the world – that a gene of sexual perversion does not and cannot exist. Any sexual perversion, from pederasty to pedophilia or coprophagy, is the result of mental disorder, or propaganda and depravity. 99% of homosexual behaviors are caused by social or ecological factors.” 

Georgia and World, November 10
Zurab Tsutskiridze, author: “If not colossal financial and political support, ugly LGBT organizations would not have managed to terrorize the majority of population in many countries. It seems that soon gays, lesbians, bisexuals, their brothers and sisters will make the public admit that they are normal and heterosexuals are not normal. The first signs have already emerged after the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the list of illnesses and declared love as a disease!.. When you are compelled to admit that gay marriage is good, is not it a victory of falseness over truth, immorality over morality? Moreover, it is an attempt to transform a Sodomist sin into a good behavior.” 

Asaval-Dasavali, November 23-29
Giorgi Gigauri, journalist: “Besides his own mafia, Kobiashvili [president of the Georgian Football Federation] sacrificed Georgian football to being an LGBT activist, when he shielded Kashia’s armband depicting an LGBT symbol like a fig leaf and even received an award from FIFA for such behavior!” 

Anti-Western sentiments

Media

Asaval-Dasavali, November 9-15
Dito Chubinidze, journalist: “The results of the U.S. presidential elections were unexpected and Biden was imposed on the United States and entire world! Biden’s ultraliberal views and tolerant attitude towards LGBT community creates a dangerous expectation that Georgia’s LGBT people and their patrons will hold a gay pride parade in Tbilisi on May 17, 2021, if not earlier!”

News Front, November 5
News Front’s editorial board and Demur Giorkhelidze, economist: “Sarah McBride, 30, the first transgender, was elected in the Senate from Delaware State. She defeated Republican Steve Washington… Now, Ms. Sarah is the top transgender official in the United States! Taylor Small, 26, won House seat to become first transgender member of Vermont Legislature; moreover, Ritchie Torres is the first Afro-American gay and New York City Council member who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and so on. 
P.S. That’s not all! It’s only the beginning! 

Georgia and World, October 7
Davit Mkheidze, author: “For 30 years already, entire so called liberal world has been fighting against Orthodox Russia, which is the Third Rome under the rule of the Antichrist. It is no exaggeration, because the rule of the Antichrist does not mean seeing a creature with hoofs and horns in reality. LGBT parades, same-sex marriage and many other depravities offered by the “educated” West – progressive values they failed to impose on “wild” Russia (and Georgia so far) – are nothing but the rule of the Antichrist.” 

Clerics

Georgia and World, November 17
Giorgi Razmadze, cleric: “… The issue of legalization of same-sex marriage, in any form, will definitely be raised in this Parliament. No matter how they will wrap or name it, one thing is quite clear – they forget that if Georgian people lose control and uncontrolled processes develop - that will definitely happen - Europe’s concerns will no longer help them.”

Newsletter was developed by Media Development Foundation (MDF) within the frameworks of the Promoting Integration, Tolerance and Awareness Program in Georgia, supported by USAID and implemented by UNAG

Opinions and ideas provided in this newsletter are those of the Media Development Foundation (MDF) and do not represent the official position of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the UN Association of Georgia.

Media Development Foundation

http://notophobia.ge/

http://www.mdfgeorgia.ge

info@mdfgeorgia.ge

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