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Maestro, Kontaqti 20:00, May 25
Irma Inashvili, Alliance of Patriots: “The process of land grabbing is underway in Georgia; mostly representatives of Asian countries are grabbing Georgian lands. These are mostly those countries, let me remind you, Arabic countries, where the risk of terrorism is high. We do not know, who enters Georgia with the status of so called investors, because by admitting them into our country, we may provide safe haven to terrorists. So, the security issue should be put on the agenda.”
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Marshalpress, May 23
Dimitri Khundadze, Georgian Dream: “Due to your [Lela Keburia] attitude, ten and hundred times more foreign nationals will live [in Georgia] tomorrow. Just therefore, I say that we need a clear wording to be regulated by organic law… When we receive data [on how many Chinese live in Georgia], it will be already too late.”
Source: TV Pirveli
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Sakinformi, May 24
Gigla Baramidze, Democratic Movement: “The state, which is selling its own lands in order to replenish the budget and attract investments, will not be able to exist or be established as a country. The money received from land sale will turn into Judas’ thirty pieces of silver and nobody will profit by it… Quite soon, Arabic, Indian, Chinese, Turkish, Korean settlements will emerge in Georgia, especially in border regions; and it happens in a situation when 1.2 million of Georgian citizens have left the country to earn their livelihoods. Instead of thinking about their return, the state is ready to let foreign tribes settle down in Georgia.”
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Alia, May 1-7, Alia, May 8-14
Jondi Bagaturia, Georgian Troupe: “Turkish, Arabic, Chinese and Indian villages are emerging in Georgia!!! Mass resettlement of foreign nationals with their families, multiple wives and children is underway in Georgia. Lands are sold to them, where they settle down densely and create “communities.” These are mostly the Turks, Arabs, Chinese and Indians. All those nations, which no longer exist today, lost their homelands this way and became extinct as nations.”
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Alia, May 22-28
Sandro Bregadze, Nationals: “We are aware about the example of the Chinese in Kharagauli. They have bought some lands there; they hire Georgians and treat them like slaves. Not even a single day passes without beating and mutilating any Georgian by the Chinese. We remember the fact of beating several Georgian workers. In Kharagauli, Chinese are masters and Georgians are slaves.”
Sakinformi, May 2
Editorial board: “Will [Giorgi] Kvirikashvili’s government and the ruling Georgian Dream party, which is led by him, be held accountable in case of a terrorist act at the Tbilisi International Airport? How should Georgian security officers determine, whether there is an explosive under hijab? How can a decent female citizen of Iran be distinguished from a shahid?”
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Sakinformi, May 22, Asaval-Dasavali, May 22-28
Arno Khidirbegishvili, editor-in-chief: “Largely due to an unclear ambition, a duo of moderators – Parliamentary Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze and Chairman of the Georgian Dream faction, Mamuka Mdinaradze – did not take into account the tense background of the above mentioned two demands; in particular, the inflow of foreigners – Arabs, Turks, Indians, Chinese – to Georgia, who buy lands and best facilities in Georgia, exploit local population, make them work under slavish conditions, taking advantage of poverty and unemployment of the majority of Georgian citizens.”
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 29-June 4
Dito Chubinidze, journalist: “Mostly, the Chinese will be employed at tea plantations grown on 12 thousand hectares. It means that if not entire western Georgia, at least one half of Guria, Samegrelo and Imereti will start speaking Chinese in 12 years… Batono [a polite form of addressing men in Georgian] Davit [Saganelidze], the Chinese will do nothing good in the tea shrubs planted on 12 thousand hectares; they will make us extinct; so, be careful, give up this dangerous business; do not make our enemies laugh; with this Chinese project, the Partnership Fund will serve us a trick so that only the Chinese will remain in Georgia for gathering tea and then drinking it.”
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Alia, May 15-21
Editorial Board: “It appears that they plan to turn the country into the property of foreign bankers, resettled Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Turks and so on. Now imagine, what a disaster our small and unprotected homeland faces: Chinese, Indians, Turks, Arabs and so on, will freely purchase lands; due to corrupt government and in exchange for a big money they will easily gain the right to build multi-storey buildings. Chinese quarters, “China towns”, Indian, Arab (we already have Turkish) settlements will emerge and quite soon, we will even have no place to bury our deceased… So, due to today’s mistakes and inaction, we will definitely turn in our grave after a century and what we will see: we will turn our heads to one side, a “brotherly” Chinese is buried; we will turn to another side and a “brotherly” Indian “is smiling” at us.”
Maestro, Tsetskhlis Khazi (Fire Line), May 23
Vaka Gorgiladze, host: “We frequently hear that nobody will carry this land on his back and take it away. But we have our experience: Samachablo. There is a Serbian, or more correctly, a Kosovar experience. This is how they managed to take these lands away… and [potato farmers, participating in the focus group] are forced, Batono Iago, to lease hectares of lands from Indians and cultivate these lands. I was shocked to hear that a Georgian farmer leases land from Indian.”
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Georgia and the World, May 17
Gulbaat Rtskhiladze, Eurasian Institute: “Resettlement of foreigners in the villages is more dangerous than in the cities, because there are higher risks to enter into conflict with locals. The situation is alarming at Agmashenebeli Street in Tbilisi, where all serious facilities are owned by foreigners, who are involved in doubtful activities.”
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Alia, May 29 – June 4
Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, Union of Human Rights Defenders: “Today Georgia is full of Arabs, Indians, Turks, Chinese and people of various religions, who occupy our abandoned villages… My heart breaks when I see, how Arabs, Turkish, Indians and Syrian refugees are wandering here.”
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 15-21
Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, Union of Human Rights Defenders: “When the Georgian lobby was strongest in Russia, Georgia was firmly standing on its feet. Today, neither Armenian, nor Azerbaijani lobby is interested in normalization of relations between Russia and Georgia! Number of Azerbaijanis in Georgia has exceeded 800 000, while number of ethnic Georgians in the country is only 1.5 million. Why are they building these highways, if Georgians will no longer live in Georgia?”
Soso Tsiskarishvili, political analyst: “… for example, the fact that a huge land, as far as I know, has already been sold in Adjara, near Gonio, and the Arab world is gaining strength there citing the planned construction of a coastal town. But our constitutional experts do not or cannot talk about this issue and it indicates that if anyone shows interest in buying our land, first and foremost, it will be Russia.”
Asaval-Dasavali, May 29 – June 4
Mikheil Tsagareli, astrologist: “… We should treat the Azerbaijanis and Armenians living in Georgia the same way they treat Georgians in their respective countries. Georgians will not be able to live in Azerbaijan if they do not know their [Azerbaijani] language. They even demand their renaming. Just arrive in Akhalkalaki and Kvemo Kartli. You will miss hearing the Georgian language. The Azerbaijanis and Armenians living in Georgia do not even try to speak Georgian. Considering mass resettlement of the Turks and Arabs, do you imagine what will happen? Georgian, as an ethnicity, and Georgian language, which is already on the verge of becoming a dead language, will no longer exist after 50 years.”
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Obieqtivi, Night Studio, May 6
Gigi Maglakelidze, Alliance of Patriots: “I visited Batumi quite recently and I was disappointed to see whole streets owned by the Turks … and Georgians do not even enter there, they do not even use them… I think, we should state that serious Turkish political and even financial expansion is underway; it enjoys huge support from the Turkish authorities and government.”
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Kavkasia, Barieri, May 16
Temur Maisuradze, National Forum: “You know what happened in Batumi, don’t you? Do you know who owns businesses in Batumi, its main systems? Who rules Batumi? You know it very well. It fully belongs to Turkish businesses. The entire coastal line, all hotels, all services belong to the Turks… What did we do? Some clever men immediately granted [Georgian] citizenship to Turkish citizens… ”
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Sakinformi, May 30
Tamaz Mechiauri, Tamaz Mechiauri – For United Georgia: “… What is happening in our country? Russians have gained foothold in one part of Georgia; Turks are gaining strength in Adjara, trying to move to Samtskhe-Javakheti; Turks have actually captured Tbilisi peacefully. These processes will bring nothing good to Georgia. They did not let us mark Didgoroba. Our government stepped back. The issue of mosques is also very active. Mass media focuses on how Muslims, who already have mosques but want to build new ones, are oppressed. In Batumi, the Turks have occupied one side of the Kutaisi Street, pretending to pray in the street… It is a conspiracy against our country.”
Source: sazogadoeba.ge
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Georgia and the World, May 5
Beso Barbakadze, journalist: “We have already officially sold the Agmashenebeli Avenue to the Turks and you will rarely hear Georgian conversation there. Now you will tell me that it is an investment – show me the country, at least one country, where the central street in the capital is completely occupied by the representatives of only one country; show me the country, where locals are not admitted into the facilities located on this street; the country whose Prime Minister [Giorgi Kvirikashvili] would say that ‘Georgians are not allowed to enter the bars and teenagers are subjected to forced prostitution’ and no reaction would follow… There is no such country except Georgia.”
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 29 – June 4
Giorgi Gigauri, journalist: “Of course, PM Kvirikashvili did not say even a word when courting with [Murat] Yıldırım about hatred towards Georgians in Turkey and their slavish life there. Even after the reported murder [of a Georgian citizen in Turkey], he did not bother himself to complain to the Turkish government about this fact. This is our liberast Georgia, where neither the government nor elite-intellectual “darkness” cares about Georgians, because they also hate Georgians, like the Turks do.
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Alia, May 29 – June 4
Editorial Board: “Personally for me, Turkey is the same occupant as Russia. Now, imagine how much these “friendly” neighbors are insulting us by demanding the construction of mosques here in exchange for restoration of the churches and monasteries built by our ancestors on the territory of Tao-Klarjeti.”
Alia, May 29 – June 4
Editorial Board: “Several months ago, PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili congratulated Turkey’s unilateral ruler, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on officially seizing power through the so called referendum, in a way as if democracy is flourishing there… The plans of ambitious Erdoğan, among them return of Batumi and Adjara, are far-reaching, quite dangerous and aggressive… Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze calls this neighbor, having such an aggressive policy, a strategic partner and meets the delegation led by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in the airport with great honor and red carpet.”
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Alia, May 1-7
Merab Shatirishvili, For New Reality: “It is improper and absolutely unjustified, so called democratic loyalty towards a neighboring country [Turkey], the county, which has grabbed Georgian lands, the country, which during PM’s [Giorgi Kvirikashvili] visit hangs the both flags to demonstrate a pompous nature of its own state and fully neglects us…”
Rezonansi, May 31
Aleko Natsvlishvili, Professor at the Georgian Technical University: “Since Turkey is already ruled by Sultan, nothing is ruled out; just imagine what will happen if Turkey decides to occupy Adjara, especially as it keeps it eyes on this region for a long time already.”
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 8-14
Gia Korkotashvili, Georgian Mission: “I will not begin to praise Russia; its own sins are quite enough for it, but do you remember whom Adjara belonged to before the Treaty of Georgievsk? How many Georgian lands has Turkey grabbed? Read history and assess the developments rationally. We have five minutes left before Adjara becomes part of Turkey!”
Marshalpress, May 29
Gia Macharashvili, composer: “These people are leaving for Russia to earn some money. If we judge so, then why do we embrace Turkey? The Turks have captured one half of Georgia beautifully, without any struggle. Walking and singing on the territory of Russia does not mean betrayal. They earn money this way.”
Source: The Whole Week
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 15-21
Priest Ieronymos, Orthodox cleric: “You may call me either xenophobe or inhuman, but I cannot look at how the Turkish nationals are gaining foothold in my country and how much arrogance and hatred they demonstrate towards Georgians, especially clerics. When you are treated like this in your own country, it is disgraceful for our country!”
Source: PIA.GE
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Discrimination on religious grounds
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Sakinformi, May 30
Tamaz Mechiauri, Tamaz Mechiauri for United Georgia: “They blame me for all phobias, but how can Orthodoxy, which is the foundation of our country, be aligned with other religions?”
Source: sazogadoeba.ge
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Rustavi 2, Kurieri, May 12
A local from the village of Mokhe: “Of course, I am against [building a mosque]; it is not pleasant and I am against it. There are a lot of places in this village. This is a backyard, there are children here and I did not know anything about planned construction of a mosque in the vicinity.”
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Marshalpress, May 17
Vazha Otarashvili, Alliance of Patriots: “Let me tell you that today’s Georgia has been brought to the 21st century by Georgian families and not by those homosexuals and pederasts. The firmness of Georgia is based on the firmness of Georgian families. Similar topics are imposed from outside, no matter whether they are imposed by Russia, Europe, the United States or other countries, in order to degrade a small nation, to kick down Georgian consciousness. Georgia is the country allocated to the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit and it should defend Christianity. It is disgraceful, when such indecent people, fallen in the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, hold such a rally [on May 17] in the oldest Christian country and its capital, outside the Kashveti Church, near the Parliament. It is weakness of our national consciousness. We should categorically reject it.”
Source: TV Pirveli
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Sakinformi, May 18
Sandro Bregadze, Nationals: “Bravo, Vasiko Maglaperidze – you even dared to block the Patriarch’s sermon and against this background, you propagandize pederasty – well then paint Channel One in the colors of a rainbow, or a blue color. Are not you ashamed to show only several seconds from the Patriarch’s speech, simultaneously providing twice more airtime in your news program to a certain homosexual? The Georgian Public Broadcaster aired a rally of depraved pederasts as its first story, while the story on introduction of the Family Day by the Georgian Patriarch was briefly aired as the last story. Only several sentences were shown from the Patriarch’s speech, while a certain pederast spoke much more than the Patriarch.”
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 22-28
Giorgi Gigauri, journalist: “After you [PM] hosted a gay parade outside the State Chancellery on May 17, how can you look into the eyes of the Patriarch, or how can you look in the face of Georgian people, whose government you lead? Do not you, the Georgian Prime Minister [Giorgi Kvirikashvili], have enough information about the fact that the absolute majority of Georgians is categorically against this gay sect’s arbitrary behavior in Georgia and considers it a huge sin?!”
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 1-7
Dito Chubinidze, journalist: “The Ruis-Urbnisi Church Assembly specially discussed the sin of Sodom and separated it from other sins as a phenomenon directed against the nature. It should also be noted that according to the chronicler, majority of those persons, who were anathematized and cursed, and whose heels were cut off, were just homosexuals and lesbians.”
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Georgia and the World, May 25
Nika Korinteli, journalist: “Upon the Georgian Patriarch’s initiative, May 17 was introduced as the Day of Family Purity and Respect of Parents, but Georgian TV channels reported almost nothing on the families and respect of parents. They only propagandized homosexuals as excellent designers and reported on the oppression of LGBT people. But nobody thought whether the rights of normal people, especially teenagers, were violated through this outrageous propaganda of homosexuality.”
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 22-28
Davit Isakadze, archpriest: “First and foremost, this terrible anti-discrimination law should be abolished; second, the society should launch mass protest rallies in the country against this depravity. LGBT people went out on May 17 and gathered outside the Chancellery with posters against the Church and the State. It is admissible for them. But if we express protest against the depravity of LGBT community, is it inadmissible? Read what is written in [Michael] Swift’s Gay Manifesto published in American “Gay Community News” journal in 1987. It directly says that ‘we will burst into your families, rape your children, establish Sodom’s sin!"
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Rustavi 2, Kurieri, May 19
Davit Isakadze, archpriest: “We try not to yield to the provocation planned by them [screening of a British film Pride in Mziuri], because screening of this film in its current form is an attempt to incite confrontation in the society. I have read the script and I know that it propagandizes homosexuality.”
Netgazeti, May 17
Davit Kvlividze, archpriest: “Should not you wake up until they [LGBT people] knock at your door and make your son put on tights?”
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Alia, May 15-21
Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, Union of Human Rights Defenders: “They spare no efforts to promote such non-governmental organizations, which make the following calls: “Do not get married”, “I am a sex organ” and so on. Today Georgia faces Sodom and Gomorrah! We should not look at whether we will be able to change, whether we have enough force – If Georgian people do not fight against these Ordzhonikidzes [Georgian Bolshevik], we will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah did. A TV serial is currently aired and it propagandizes pederasts! What can I say about the country, where praying is considered provincialism, while pederasty and prostitution are considered good manners.”
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Marshalpress, May 17
Guram Palavandishvili, philologist: “They [LGBT community] have the right to do everything, but they should not have the right to teach our children at schools, to serve in the army, to work in public agencies, Parliament… If a drug addict has no right to teach at school, why should a homosexual have the same right?”
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 1-7
Giorgi Andriadze, expert in international law: “Yes, all initiatives proposed by Girchi are anti-Georgian and anti-Orthodox. They are instructed to change Georgian youth’s orientation and portray the greatest sin for the mankind – homosexuality - “as a natural development.”
Georgia and the World, May 10
Armaz Saneblidze, journalist: “Citizens’ attitude towards pederasty is not as unequivocal as the statistical data show: one thing is theoretical support of anonymous homosexuals and lesbians and another thing is seeing them in reality and adaptation to such depravity.”
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Georgia and the World, May 5
Tamaz Mechiauri, Tamaz Mechiauri – for United Georgia: “Europe and the West try to destroy those basic values, which have been obtained by us through a great struggle, in particular, our religion, which has preserved our national traditions. Of course, it will be an act directed against all these. Legalization of same-sex marriage is absolutely inadmissible.”
Asaval-Dasavali, May 22-28
Jondi Bagaturia, Georgian Troupe: “We should understand one thing: we do not have the government, we have enemies! Look what is happening on TVs, where homosexuality is openly propagandized; look, gay activists are flying their banners outside the government’s chancellery; they are screening films in children’s town Mziuri propagandizing homosexuality. And it is largely determined by the fact that Georgia is not ruled by Georgian people; we are ruled by the directives received from Washington!”
Asaval-Dasavali, May 29 – June 4
Giorgi Gigauri, journalist: “Let me say that during NATO’s 70-year history, it is the first occasion, when the NATO member state is ruled by a pederast and “a male-wife” [Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel’s partner, Gauthier Destenay] joined the exhibition of “First Ladies” during the NATO Summit… Just this is NATO, which our liberasts aspire to join.”
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 8-14
Gia Korkotashvili, Georgian Mission: “I address Tamar Chugoshvili and all those Georgian lawmakers, who are ready to step over the dignity of their own country – give us an example, allow same-sex marriages in your families; show us what the same-sex marriage means. If you have lost dignity, we have not lost it!”
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Asaval-Dasavali, May 1-7
Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, Union of Human Rights Defenders: “I address Russian President Vladimir Putin: abolish visa regime with Georgia for the new generation to feel the difference between blue Europe and Russia!”
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See full collection of examples of discriminatory statements at the website: www.notophobia.ge
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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.
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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.
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