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Evaluation of the work of ethnic Azerbaijani MPs in Georgia and their priorities

October 26, 2016
 
Gulnur Kazimova

Ethnic Azerbaijani people make the largest ethnic minority group in Georgia. (According to the 2014 census, Azerbaijani people make 6.3% of the Georgian population) but they are not actively involved in the Georgian political life. The Azerbaijani people complain about low activity of their MPs in the Parliament. 

Azer Suleymanov 

Azer Syleymanov is member of the United National Movement. He was member of the eighth convocation parliament and will be in the new parliament too.
-Mr. Azer, what concrete issues of ethnic Azerbaijani people did you address during your four-year membership in the Parliament and what have you achieved?
-One of the biggest problems of Azerbaijani people living in Georgia is education. Together with NGOs I offered the government to commence state program to teach Georgian language to ethnic minorities. Program 1+4 was commenced in 2014. Of course it was not only my achievement. Currently, over 2000 ethnic minority young people study in the Georgian universities.
-You will be MP in the ninth convocation parliament too. What are your priorities?
-Education is still one of the major issues. In order to destroy language barriers for ethnic minorities and to enable them to better integrate into the society, number of Georgian language classes shall increase in non-Georgian schools. I will try to raise this initiative in the parliament and hope to succeed in it. 

Ali Mammedov

Ali Mammedov was member of the 8th convocation parliament but did not participate in the 2016 Parliamentary Elections.
-Mr. Ali, you were among those 16 MPs, who never made speeches in the parliament as it is stated in the report of the Transparency International –Georgia where they evaluated the work of the 8th convocation Parliament of Georgia. Why were you always silent?
-Yes, I did not make speeches during my 4 years in the parliament. I believe an MP shall try to resolve problems of people before they are raised at the plenary sessions. I acted in similar way. I served my people and country in silence. 
-What can you name from your deeds?
-About two years ago, there was initiative to fine citizens who do not speak the state language in Georgia like it happens in the Baltic States. They spoke about high fines. I and some other MPs were against this initiative and succeeded.
-Why did not you participate in the 2016 Parliamentary Elections?
-I think it is better to stay far from the politics now – political activities are very tiresome. However, I will always be ready to assist people.
-How would you evaluate the parliamentary elections?
-This election was particularly outstanding with high number of ethnic minority candidates participating in it. It is very important for their political life. Ethnic minorities fought to elect their candidates and were very firm in their decision.

Makhir Derziev

Member of the Georgian Dream and former MP Makhir Derziev paid particular attention to the lack of high-quality education among Azerbaijani community in Georgia. He is famous among Azerbaijani people for his initiative to close Azerbaijani schools in Georgia.
-Your initiative to close Azerbaijani schools caused tense discussions. Why do you think that Azerbaijani schools shall be closed?
-It is not correct information. I would like to underline that in accordance to the law ethnic minorities have right to get education in their native language. I did not request to close Azerbaijani schools; I just requested to teach technical subjects in Georgian language.
-How will Azerbaijani people benefit from it?
-If school children fail to learn technical subjects well, they will have problems to get high education. As for the native language and literature, of course it should be taught in Azerbaijani language. Unfortunately, ethnic Azerbaijani people do not speak good Azerbaijani language here. I proposed to bring books from Azerbaijan because text-books are not properly translated here.
-Did you raise issue of education for ethnic Azerbaijani people during your 4-year membership of the parliament?
-In almost every speech I spoke about insufficient number of qualified young teachers in ethnic minorities. It is very difficult to achieve anything in this field because Government of Georgia does not have political will and readiness for that.
-What concrete questions do you plan to raise in the next parliament?
-Education is still very important for me. I am a teacher by profession and it is very painful for me. I have negotiations with the Education Ministry of Azerbaijan. I want them to send qualified teachers of Azerbaijan language and literature to Georgia.
-Lack of education and poor knowledge of Georgian language is considered to be the main obstacle for Azerbaijani people to integrate into the Georgian society. What do you think, can it be evaluated as discrimination of ethnic Azerbaijani people, if this problem is not addressed?
- It will not be correct to say that ethnic Azerbaijani people are discriminated. However, they self-isolate themselves from the society and when they have some problems, they apply Azerbaijan for help. They must be aware that they are plenipotentiary citizens of Georgia. As citizens of the country they cannot realize their rights: they cannot address relevant institutions for help when they have some problems. For that reason, there is sort of apatheia – people think it is not necessary to do anything because Azerbaijani people do not complain and do not claim anything. In this direction, we really can identify signs of discrimination. 

The article was prepared in the frame of the project implemented by Human Rights House Tbilisi with financial support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Georgia. HRHT bears sole responsibility for the content of the article. The article does not necessarily reflect the views of the donor.

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