marneuli

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Samira Bayramova painted Ukrainian flags on the office of the Conservative Movement, the political offshoot of far-right and pro-Russian group Alt-Info. Photo: Tiko Davadze/Radio Marneuli.

Alt Info

The woman challenging Georgia’s far-right

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•4 min read

Marneuli-based human rights activist Samira Bayramova is fighting against the far-right pro-Russia Georgian group Alt-Info and its political offshoot, the Conservative Movement. Though Samira Bayramova has long been an outspoken advocate for minority rights in Georgia, she was most recently thrust into the spotlight for taking her protest straight to the Conservative Movement’s Marneuli headquarters on 14 March. The ethnic Azerbaijani activist spraypainted the windows of the pro-Russian part

bolnisi

Twin lawsuits in Bolnisi could have wider implications for Georgian minorities

by Shota Kincha

•5 min read

Ethnic Azerbaijani activists in southern Georgia are waging a legal fight to change the overwhelmingly monolingual policies of local authorities. Two lawsuits currently going through the courts could have implications for the language rights of the ethnic minorities across Georgia. On 2 April, judge Nino Giorgadze of the Bolnisi District Court renewed hearings into a case brought by Nashir Ordukhanov. Nashir is a local ethnic Azerbaijani activist and law student who has been demanding that the

The Ashaghu Saral center. Image via Facebook.

Feature Stories

Integration starts in the village

by Teresa Di Mauro

•13 min read

A network of education centres run by young people for young people is helping demolish barriers facing ethnic Azeris in Georgian society. In the small village of Mollaoglu in a rural area of southern Georgia, there is a special space for the local students to gather. Here, five years ago, Ariz Dashdemirli, 29, an ethnic Azeri and a Georgian-language teacher, transformed a part of his house into an educational centre where Azeri students, from first to 12th grade, can study, prepare for uni

„რადიო მარნეულის“ თანამშრომლები. ფოტო: თამუნა ჩქარეული/OC Media.

marneuli

უსასრულო იზოლაცია „რადიო მარნეულისთვის“

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•1 min read

„რადიო მარნეული“ წლების განმავლობაში უგულებელყოფილი იყო ადგილობრივი ხელისუფლების მიერ. წელს მარნეულის ჩაკეტვის დროს ამ დამოკიდებულებამ საშიში ინფორმაციული ვაკუუმი შექმნა. 2020 წლის მარტში ხელისუფლებამ მარნეულის მუნიციპალიტეტი ჩაკეტა, ტერიტორიაზე შესვლისა და მისი დატოვების უფლების გარეშე. რეგიონი, სადაც ეთნიკურად სომეხი და აზერბაიჯანელი უმცირესობები ცხოვრობენ, პანდემიის წინა ხაზზე აღმოჩნდა და ერთერთი ყველაზე მძიმე დარტყმა მიიღო. სამ ენაზე მომუშავე მცირე დამოუკიდებელი მედიასაშუალების, „რადიო

Gulgun Mamadli. Photo: Nino Baidauri/Women of Georgia.

Azerbaijan

Voice | ‘They say Georgia is a tolerant and diverse country; these are just words’

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•6 min read

Gulgun Mamadli, 22, talks about her childhood in Marneuli, her student years in Tbilisi, and experiencing xenophobia and hate speech during the pandemic.  “Who are these strange people and in which country do they live?” — I was 6 years old when I first heard this question.’ ‘Back then, everyone had financial issues in the village. It was especially difficult in winter and spring. I prayed summer would come soon and that “strangers” would come to our village. I loved strangers. I believed th

Azerbaijan

Georgia’s early marriages: destinies blackened in white dresses

by Gulnur Kazimova

•11 min read

Despite tightening laws against early marriages in Georgia, among the country’s ethnic Azerbaijani population, they remain common. The results of such marriages are often tragic, with young girls leaving education, becoming victims of domestic violence, or in some cases, dying. ‘I lost the game of life the day I was born. When I was born, my parents promised me as a future wife to another family. I was raised hearing about it, and when I turned 15, I got married. Nobody asked my opinion’

Armenia

Libraries full of hate: from Azerbaijan to Georgia

by Rahim Shaliyev

•6 min read

Azerbaijan has been supplying Georgian libraries with books containing hate speech against Armenians. While the libraries don’t see them as a problem, some Azerbaijani Georgians fear they might help plant the seeds of ethnic tension. When Imran Gafarov, an Azerbaijani Georgian, came across a book full of territorial claims and hate speech against Armenians at the public library in Marneuli, an Azerbaijani-majority city in southern Georgia’s Kvemo Kartli region, he was in a state of di