18 April 2008, 14:02
Ali Babaev: situation with Azerbaijanis in Georgia is grave
The region named Kvemo-Kartli, inhabited by most of the Azerbaijanis living in Georgia, is in a very grave situation - both economically and morally. For this reason many residents are forced to leave Georgia. Ali Babaev, Chairman of the Union "Georgia is My Homeland" told about it to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
According to Mr Babaev, Georgia was incorrect in running its land and education reforms.
As he said, Azerbaijanis do not know the Georgian language. "And two hours of the Georgian language per week for an Azerbaijani schoolboy is too little. None of the Azerbaijanis will ever say that he or she would not study Georgian," Ali Babaev continued in his talk with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
He quoted the officials who often say that Azerbaijanis lack Georgian-speaking people. "It's not true. Over 50,000 Georgian-language Azerbaijanis live in Georgia. Our people graduate from Georgian higher schools and cannot find job. It's better for them to go to work to Russia, Turkey or Azerbaijan," said the Chairman of the Union "Georgia is My Homeland".
Also, as Babaev remarked, no negative information is coming from Kvemo-Kartli, only positive news. "It's no good. We want to open the authorities' eyes on the problems. Unfortunately, we have no access to Georgian mass media," he said.
Author: Edita Badasian, CK correspondent
