Policy paper of IPF fellow Nana Sumbadze on the project: “Preparation of the program
for opening the Center for Social Partnership”
1.Problem background
Georgia is the country where next to each other live people of different ethnicity and confession. The future of the country and the well-being of its population greatly depends on the co-existence of
population, on their sharing the main values and responsibilities. Azeries and Armenians , comprise the biggest minorities of the country. Moslem Meskhetians constitute another big group, although not yet residing in Georgia, cultural integration of whom is of a paramount importance for the state. Religion, language and culture of Azeri and Moslem Meskhetians are quite close to each other and hence the problems of integration of these two groups can be discussed together.
The main goal of the project is the preparation of a program and a working plan for the opening of the “Center for Social Partnership”. The need for establishing of such a center became especially evident as a result of the research carried out in the framework of the Open Society Institute International Policy Fellowship. The study of Moslem Meskhetians – Turcophone group deported in 1944 from South Georgia to Central Asia and now spread all over Central Asia, North Caucasus, central Russia and Ukraine, but in the first place concentrated in Azerbaijan, revealed that one of the main obstacles for repatriation, which is much sought by Meskhetians and is strongly advocated by the Council of Europe and other International organizations, is a negative attitude of the majority of Georgia’s population towards their return. Such an attitude is to a considerable degree determined by the low level of integration of Moslem Meskhetians to local communities in Georgia, as previously before the deportation, as well currently in the countries of their present residence.
Repatriation of Moslem Meskhetians is the obligation signed as a precondition of membership of Georgia in the Council of Europe, and is at the same time undoubtedly the question of the restoration of historical justice and a moral imperative for the Georgian state. However, without adequate planning and close monitoring of the process, it can turn into still another tragedy both for Moslem Meskhetians themselves as well as for the Georgian state. Expected influx of Moslem Meskhetians in coming twelve years should be well prepared on legislative and organizational levels. Contact of local population with returnees can easily become a source of conflict, especially if the other side is perceived as a rival for available scarce resources. Therefore there is a pressing need of organizing the contacts between the local population and returnees in a way conducive for peaceful cooperation.
In the survey, representatives of the population of Georgia, as well as Moslem Meskhetians living in Georgia and Azerbaijan, pointed to the big cultural distance separating deported people from the local population in Georgia. This distance is first of all determined by poor command of Georgian, different religious practices, little knowledge of dominant traditions, customs and history of Georgia. Not much is known by the local population either about the culture and the history of Moslem Meskhetians. Attitudes of both groups feed on myths and memories of enmity rather than on facts of past peaceful co-existence.
The second group, whose integration issues should be targeted by the Center for Social Partnership is the community of ethnic Armenians, residing in South Georgia, compactly in Javakheti (districts of Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda), in villages of Akhaltsikhe district, and are mixed with Georgian population in capital Tbilisi and town of Akhaltsikhe.
The research carried out on Moslem Meskhetians and reflected in policy paper of 2001 IPF Fellowship allowed to single out the main issues that should be addresses by the center. Below is the attempt to analyse the problems of integration which are faced by the Armenian population residing in the South of Georgia, in the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti.
2.1.General
description
Samtskhe-Javakheti region is one of the 11 regions of Georgia. Akhaltsikhe, the regional centre is on 262
kms distance from the capital, Tbilisi. Region borders Turkey and
Armenia. Samtskhe-Javakheti
province occupies about 9.3% of Georgia's entire territory and accounts for
about 4.4% of its population, is among the most ethnically non-homogeneous
regions of Georgia. A number of its current problems stem from this diversity.
Integrating the two major ethnic groups – Armenians and Georgians, represents a
major political challenge for the region. The ethnic composition is
characterized by clear-cut ethnic boundaries between different settlement
types, and the absence of major mixed ethnic settlements. The only truly
mixed in Samtskhe-Javakheti province is
town of Akhaltsikhe.
Javakheti, comprising of two districts of
Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda is dominated by ethnic Armenians, who make up to
95% of Javakheti (while they make approximately 40% of the population in
Samtskhe-Javakheti region), others being mostly Georgians, who are a small
minority there. Armenians mostly belong to Armenian Apostolic (Gregorian)
Church, with some Catholics, but unlike ethnicity religion plays relatively
little role in forming identity.
Part of Georgians here are resettled from Ajara
in 1989, after catastrophic landslides there, and these form a small relatively
young rural community, predominantly Moslem. Other Georgians, mainly Christian
Orthodox and Catholic, play little role in the society. Due to difficult
economic conditions, many young males go to Russia in search of work, in many
cases seasonally, returning home for the winter. This causes significant
demographic disbalances, distorting the age and gender structure of the local
population, aggravated further by increasing emigration to Armenia and Russia,
especially of more educated and skilled young men. This partly reduces land shortages,
on one hand, and helps with cash inflow through transfers, but negative
consequences seem to be more conspicuous and longlasting.
Significant part of the urban population in
Akhalkalaki is bilingual, speaking Russian in the first place and then colloquial
Armenian (although often unable to read and write in that language), while in
the countryside Russian is much less known. However, the overwhelming majority
of Armenians in Akhalkalaki district, like as in neighbouring Ninotsminda, do
not speak Georgian, which is a state language, at all, although it is
supposedly taught in schools, and show little interest in learning it. All
ethnic Georgians here, in their turn, speak fairly good Armenian.
In Akhaltsikhe district with the population of
about 55,000, Georgians are playing much more important role. Relative economic prosperity of the town, its role as the administrative
centre within the region and its geographic location along major communications
routes, mitigate socio-economic problems and create conditions for quite
effective cohabitation.
More Armenians in Akhaltsikhe district speak Georgian than in Javakheti and
demonstrate fairly good command of it, but still even there the language skills
deficiency is still a very serious problem, leading to informational and
cultural isolation. Intermarriages are quite common.
In Akhaltsikhe there is also a very limited
number of Moslem Meskhetians (up to 100), who have repatriated in recent years,
but although the issue of repatriation is widely discussed, actual repatriation
is insignificant. Seasonal migration and emigration is less noticeable in
Akhaltsikhe district, partly due to better economic conditions and less
isolation, but also because of weak tradition of seasonal migration here.
2.2.Problems of the
region
Isolation
Now one of the least developed in the country,
Samtskhe-Javakheti was historically one of the most developed regions of
Georgia, and great number of cultural monuments, churches, citadels and karvasla-s (or karavan-sarays - ancient inns situated along the great silk road
passing the Mtkvari valley) serve as a vocal evidence of the past glory. It
differs from other parts of Georgia due to the experience of centuries of
isolation and multi-ethnic and multi-confessional composition. The southern
part of Samtskhe-Javakheti for some centuries belonged to Turkey, became
Islamised, and partly inhabited by nomadic Turkic tribes. In the first half of
the 19th c. the region was conquered by the Russian Empire, significant part of
the Moslem population were pushed out to Turkey, replaced by Armenians mostly
from Eastern Anatolia in Turkey. The remaining part of Moslem population (c.
100,000) were deported in 1944 by Stalin to Central Asia, never allowed to
return throughout the Soviet period. The majority of them were from
Akhaltsikhe, Aspindza, Adigeni districts, and about 10% from Akhalkalaki.
Soviet rule left other sad trace – Southern part of Georgia along the border
with Turkey was defined as so called “border zone” with special heightened security
regime, which precluded any person from outside the zone to enter it without
special permit. At the same time, the economic conditions were maintained
artificially slightly better than in other parts of the country. This special
“border” regime caused dramatic isolation, not yet overcome, and on one hand
brought economic decline, but on the other kept down criminality and chaos. Due
to such experience the region is more self-sufficient and is less integrated
into economic, political and cultural life of other parts of the country.
With Georgia’s independence, in addition to
economic decline, dramatic emergence in interethnic tension was caused by
president Gamsakhurdia’s nationalist rhetoric, but never led to large-scale
violence. Another important event was the Karabakh conflict. Many young
Armenians from Akhalkalaki, led by patriotic feelings, have participated in the
conflict, and this experience continues to play significant role in forming
values and identities, and especially in strengthening anti-Moslem attitudes.
The last event, causing much dissatisfaction among Akhalkalaki Armenians, was
dividing of Georgia into 11 administrative regions, so that Akhalkalaki
district now belongs to Samtskhe-Javakheti region with capital in Akhaltsikhe.
Dissatisfaction is caused by mainly two points – the necessity to go to
Akhaltsikhe in order to solve some administrative issues, and the fact that
unlike Javakheti, i.e. Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda districts, where Armenians
form absolute majority of the population and could aspire for autonomy, their
average share in Samtskhe-Javakheti is much more modest, around 40%. As a
result, there is ongoing demand for separating the two districts of Javakheti
from Samtskhe - i.e. Akhaltsihe plus the districts of Adigeni, Aspindza and
Borjomi. Inhabitants of Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda districts reveal quite
strong adherence to traditional, patriarchal values and ways of life,
strengthened by decades of isolation. This is especially noticeable among the
Armenian population of Javakheti, particularly in such issues as gender roles.
Women play here secondary role in the society, and hardly ever are allowed to
express their opinion publicly. Compared to other regions of Georgia, there are
relatively few women involved in civil sector. Now, as more and more young
males go in search of work abroad, either seasonally or on permanent basis,
women started to play increasingly important social roles, but also are obliged
to undertake the double burden of raising the children and taking care of
subsistence farming.
Armenian-speaking districts of Javakheti
experience extreme informational, political, communicational and economic
isolation from the rest of Georgia. Lack of integration with the rest of
Georgia not only creates public alienation, weakening of the feeling of
citizenship and belonging, as well as security and confidence in future, but
also has highly adverse impact on civil and economic development of the area.
Poor knowledge of the Georgian language among ethnic Armenians, and little
willingness to integrate into the Georgian society due to practical
difficulties as well as elements of ethnic nationalism, contribute further to
isolation, underdevelopment and the risks of instability.
Attitude towards
Turkey and Islam
Both Turkey and Islam are looked at with
suspicion by the inhabitants of the whole region, Georgian and Armenian
communities alike. The Georgian inhabitants of Akhaltsikhe district to certain
extent preserve historic memories of being oppressed under Turkish Ottoman rule and remember atrocities related with
the Moslem population of the region, until their deportation in 1944. Georgians
in general are suspicious of Turkey’s intentions, keeping in mind centuries of
invasion. Such suspicione have been further aggravated during Soviet times,
when the special regime of the border zone had clear function of protecting
against hostile NATO member state.
Armenian population of Samtskhe-Javakheti, in
its turn, is traditionally much more hostile than ethnic Georgians toward Turkey,
and toward any Moslem groups like Moslem Meskhetians and Azeris who are
identified as closely related to Turks. The bitter memories of many cases of
interethnic violence in Turkey involving Armenians, especially the bloody
events of 1915, are extremely strong. Involvement of many Armenians from
Samtskhe-Javakheti in military action in Karabakh further revived such hostile
attitudes. It is the more so, that majority of Armenians in the region got
resettled from Turkey in 19th century, and still don’t feel themselves fully
comfortable on the territory, as revealed by repeated attempts to erase any
remains of Georgian inscriptions on old churches and other monuments and
attempts to prove their previous presence here. Due to the closeness of Turkish
border this sense of insecurity is even more strengthened, also supported by
the personnel of the Russian military base and Russian media.
Turkey is today the Georgia’s largest trading
partner, responsible for 22% of exports and 16% of imports (Russia is the second
with 21% of exports and 13% of imports). Javakheti has 80-90 km long border
with Turkey and can benefit from increasing trade. However, Armenians of
Javakheti look at the increasing cooperation of Georgia with Turkey, and also
with Azerbaijan, with great concern (e.g. Turkish military aid provided to
Georgia, especially 1.27 million dollars for reconstruction of military
airfield in Marneuli district, predominantly populated by ethnic Azeris).
Another similar concern is the construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline,
which is supposed to increase further Turkish influence and serve as an excuse
of its presence in Georgia..
The
planned 287 km long railway
connection of Tbilisi with Turkish town of Karsi via Akhalkalaki is another
great concern for Javakheti population. Kars-Tbilisi railway line project,
which is expected to contribute to the improvement of economic and trade
relations between Turkey and Central Asia, was included into the 2003 year
investment program of the Turkish government. Project and tender works are
expected to start in the coming weeks, with approximately 423 trillion lira of
mostly foreign investment expected. Following the completion of Kars-Tbilisi
railway line, railway transportation of Europe to the Caspian – Central Asian
region would be via Turkey.
Risk of ethnic
conflict
One
of the dividing lines between the government and Armenian community in
Javakheti is the issue of the closure of Russian military base. By Istanbul, 1999 agreement, 30 000
servicemen strong military base, stationed in Alkhalkalaki is to be closed.
Javakheti Armenian population strongly disagree with such solution as they see Russian base as defence from
much feared Turkish invasion and the as the sole employer for the inhabitants
of the district. In the situation of existing tensions situation becomes prone
to being sensitive toward external manipulation on all levels. Various actors
in the region often exploit popular fears associated with political and
economic insecurity. The crisis is likely to occur if the government fails to
develop and publicise in time a comprehensive package of economic and social
measures aimed at mitigating negative consequences of the base closure. The
demand of separating Javakheti from the Samtskhe-Javakheti region along
ethno-demographic lines and creating a political autonomy is one of bargaining
chips and leverages promoted if not induced from outside. There are other
opportunities for manipulation with potential interethnic tensions not only
from Yerevan, Ankara and Moscow, but also from illegal businesses and clans as
well as extremist nationalist organisations interested in preserving
uncertainty and disorder.
Repatriation of Moslem
Meskhetians
The issue of
repatriation of Moslem population which in 1944 was deported from
Samtskhe-Javakheti region to Central Asia and
now is spread over republics of Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Russia,
Ukraine and Georgia as well as Turkey arises much concern among the population
of the region. The aspirations of rank and file Meskhetians as well as numbers
of those who actually want to change their present place of residence are
unknown. While many claim that they want to return, such a claim may imply
having such option rather than denote actual readiness to leave home and start
a new life. On the other hand Georgia, as a condition of membership of Euro
Council took an obligation to repatriate Moslem Meskhetians in a period of 12
years, of which three already has passed.
Major fears and
concerns that reside at the heart of the popular opposition to the repatriation
are the following:
·
Fear
of Turkicization of the region and potential secessionist trends. People fear that after the
repatriation, the demographic balance changes dramatically and the whole
province will become predominantly Turkish and Moslem. In this scenario, the
Moslem Meskhetian are expected to
outnumber everybody else in the province of Samtskhe-Javakheti, demand autonomy
for it and eventually claim union with Turkey.
·
Fear
of ethnic tensions.
In the meetings and discussions residents of Samtskhe-Javakheti claim that in
case of attempts of repatriation
undertaken by the state, they will took to arms and would not allow Moslem
Meskhetians to enter the region. Stories of tension, bloodshed and atrocities
between the Moslems on the one hand and Christian Georgian and Armenian
population on the other hand during the 1918-21 period and afterwards are
widely discussed. The record of conflict between Turks and Armenians, and
general Armenian perception of historical victimization by Turkey, is an
additional factor of these fears.
·
Property
Those inhabitants
of Meskheti, who had been forcibly brought from different parts of Georgia and
settled in the houses of deportees in 1944 fear that repatriates will reclaim
their land and property.
·
Competition for scarce resources. Population
fears that with the influx their employment opportunities will be farther reduced. The deficiency of
land for agriculture will be aggreviated.
Despite
all that, in Samtskhe-Javakheti as well as in other parts of Georgia there are
examples of successful adaptation of those repatriates that had arrived
earlier.
2.3.Conclussions
Future of the region depends primarily on the
initiative of the population itself, but external interventions and policies
can do a lot in promoting development, stability and democracy in
Samtskhe-Javakheti. With the growing interest toward the development of the
region both within the country and internationally, it is important to reflect
on elaborating a clear-cut list of strategic priorities for intervention,
understand the feasibility of planned initiatives and compare to other policy
options. Also, as much of support is coming from international sources, these
should be translated into universally accepted and comprehensible objectives
and goals.
·
Overcoming
isolation - achieving social,
communicational, economic and political integration of all parts of the region
into the Georgian society and state
·
Creating
conditions for every ethno-cultural group living in the region to preserve its
identity, language and culture, as well as to preserve links with related
groups
·
Providing
conditions for implementation of justice both toward the deported and repressed
groups of the population (Moslem Meskhetians) and the current residents of the
region
The
activities of the Centre for Social Partnership are aimed to tackle the
outlined problems.
3.The center for Social Partnership
In
order to prevent ethnic conflict and promote a happy co-existence of different
Ethnic groups in Georgia and to assist regional development, there is an
urgent need in overcoming the
isolation, in sharing the concerns and hopes, inspirations and life of the rest of population of Georgia.
Just living next to Georgian community
without appropriate policy and the goal directed actions of the
government did not result in integration of ethnic minorities. Clash of
interests of states at the border zone
creates a serious threat of igniting interethnic conflict. The sole instrument
to prevent such possible development is bringing close to each other Georgian, Armenian and Moslem Meskhetian
communities, fostering feeling of citizenship and building cooperation. Next to
the existence of state policy the instruments for the realization of such a
policy is needed. The Centre for Social Partnership is intended to be one of such
instruments.
The center is conceived as the meeting place for different cultures. It is intended to be opened in Javakheti and in Tbilisi. The courses offered at the center, round tables, discussion, video, audio and printed material of informational character, will all serve the aim of increasing cross-cultural understanding:
· Courses. The center will offer two main courses of cultural awareness and Georgian language. The courses in law, human rights, healthy life-style will also function.
· Consultations. The center will offer legal assistance through consultations, publication of main laws and regulations and their interpretations in Armenian and Azeri languages.
· Resources. Resource center will provide the information on Georgia, its history, geography, culture and laws as well as the information on culture, history and present day of Armenia and Turkey.
· Meetings. The center will become a meeting place for representatives of different cultures. Round tables and discussions will be held for expressing the positions and gaining understanding in the views of representatives of Georgian, Moslem Meskhetian and Armenian communities. The information about the history of the region, deportation of Moslem Meskhetians, their life in deportation and afterwards will be presented. Eventually the meetings of local population with Moslem Meskhetians will be organized.