Issue no: 797www.georgiatoday.ge

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POLITICS PAGE 6

POLITICS PAGE 9

SOCIETY PAGE 11

CULTURE PAGE 13

SPORTS PAGE 15

In this week’s issue...

Avoiding the Marching Orders: Ogden on Visas

UNDP Holds Climate Change Conference

Interview with Author of Memory of Water

Tbilisi to Host World Youth Weightlifting Competition

• NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 2015 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY PRICE: GEL 2.50

Georgian Defense Minister on Provoking Russia

Publication of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Georgia

Kazakhstan Today

TERRORISMIN FOCUS

POLITICS PAGE 2-5

Georgian Borders, ISIS videos and Ethnic Azerbaijani villages

TRAVEL TODAYSUPPLEMENT TO GT

The Rose Revolution: Then and NowOP-ED BY ZAZA JGARKAVA

Exactly 12 years has passed since the evening of November 23rd, when, at 8.00 pm, President Eduard Shevard-nadze announced his decision to “go home” in front of journalists and

demonstrators at the Krtsanisi Governmental Residence. His resignation was preceded by the invasion of the Session Hall of Parliament by demonstrators ‘armed’ with roses, protesting rigged elections. This is how the tempestuous epoch of the former Secretary of the Central Committee and one of the architects of Pere-stroika ended in Georgia and how the no-less tempestuous and tense epoch of Mikheil Saakash-vili began.

Today, the events associated with the Rose

Revolution have more opponents than anyone could have imagined. Even the active participants of the Revolution believe that the decision, made 12 years ago on the cold evening of the St. George Holiday, was incorrect. Film director Eldar Shenge-laia, offi cially regarded as one of the godfathers of the title - Rose Revolution - thinks that invad-ing the Parliament building was a mistake and that it would have been better if everything had been done through elections rather than revolu-tion. Saakashvili’s government corrected this ‘mistake’ 9 years later when the government left after losing the elections, which once again high-lights the existence of progress. Hopefully, the government under the Georgian Dream will reveal not only the necessary ‘intellect’ but also the political will and responsibility to build a con-tinuous mechanism for changes of government, in order to bring the country out of the vicious cyclical ‘from revolution to revolution’.

As for other results of the Rose Revolution, as they love saying in the former governmental party, President Saakashvili took over an African-type of Georgia and turned it into a Western-like political unit. But, did he? The main argument of his opponents is that the Western-type gov-ernment should be democratic and that Georgia did not fulfi ll this criterion. Furthermore, the fact that the power concentrated in the hands of Saakashvili and those surrounding him was even greater than that of his predecessor She-vardnadze, which means that in terms of democ-racy, the Rose Revolution turned out to be a step backwards. This is what Georgian opponents from the government and also what some West-ern scholars say. Although Saakashvili’s Georgia was surely far from the ideals of democracy, we use relative measurements while measuring the progress and not absolute ones.

Continued on page 6

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 20152 NEWS

The Deputy Head of the Administration of the State Security Service of Georgia, Nino Giorgobiani, has stated that the terrorism

threat level in Georgia is not high.According to Giorgobiani, in light of cur-

rent developments in the world, it is obvi-ous that risks are increased everywhere.

She highlighted that the State Security Service of Georgia is taking relevant measures regarding terrorism threats.

Terrorism Threat in Georgia is Not High

BY EKA KARSAULIDZE

The Bagratashen-Sadakhlo border crossing point between Armenia and Geor-gia has seen one of the most important projects within

the last two years. In the framework of the Integrated Border Management (IBM) project, both countries made changes at the legislative level, improved the skills of border offi cials, built new infrastruc-ture and purchased new equipment. The IBM project aimed to reduce barriers for trade, transit and movement of peo-ple across the Bagratashen-Sadakhlo border crossing point and was funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The summary con-ference was held in Tbilisi on November 25.

“Every day we talk about border secu-rity, migration fl ow and borders being open for economic development,” said Shombi Sharp, Deputy Resident Repre-sentative of UNDP Georgia. “In this case, it is important to develop strong border management and especially integrated border management. Our project was extremely successful and I am pleased to say that today Georgia’s borders and borders in the South Caucasus region are safer, more secure, but remain open

Armenia and Georgia Introduce European Standards in Border Management

in this challenging time. We have already reached certain achievements and are looking forward to continuing this impor-tant work.”

With a budget of 4.3 million Euros, the project helped the governments of Arme-nia and Georgia to tackle smuggling and traffi cking, ease people’s movement at the Bagratashen-Sadakhlo border cross-ing point, equip and train border guards, and promote professional cooperation between the border management agen-cies of the two countries. The EU and UNDP also assisted the Government of Georgia to prepare and endorse the Bor-der Management Strategy of Georgia for 2014-2018.

In addition, in the framework of the IBM project, both countries adopted and drafted Standard Operating Proce-dures for border crossing points (BCPs) as well as other important documents. Sadakhlo BCP was equipped with a sta-tionary x-ray truck scanner, incinerators and borescope cameras, fi fteen passport readers, and eighteen automatic number plate recognition systems were pur-chased and installed at all Georgian-Armenian BCPs. The Armenian side also purchased x-ray imaging inspection sets, ten passport readers and other offi ce equipment.

First Deputy Minister of Finance of Georgia and Head of Revenue Service, Giorgi Tabuashvili noted that the Bagratashen-Sadakhlo border crossing

point is a very important economic object, especially now, when Armenian became a member of the Eurasian Eco-nomic Union, and it is expected to increase the number of goods passing from Russia to Armenia through the ter-ritory of Georgia.

“The IBM improvement will also sup-port economic development between Georgia and Armenia,” Tabuashvili high-lighted. “Neighbor countries are our main regional partners- that is why we pay special attention to BCP develop-ment with Armenia, as well as with Azerbaijan and Turkey. In this case, we have advanced a little further with Tur-key – implementing a system through which cargo documented in the Turkish Customs is automatically displayed at our customs, and vice versa. This greatly simplifi es and speeds up the process, which is vital for numerous businesses. We are interested in doing the same at Armenian and Azerbaijan BCPs,” Tabuashvili added.

The initiative at the Bagratashen-Sad-akhlo border crossing point is a part of the European Union assistance to the South Caucasus countries to introduce integrated Border Management, recog-nized as one of the most effective tools to maintain open but secure and con-trolled borders. A similar project is to be implemented at the land border between Azerbaijan and Georgia in the near future.

Giorgi Tabuashvili, First Deputy Minister of Finance of Georgia and Head of Revenue Service and Shombi Sharp, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Georgia, at the summary conference regarding border management. Photos by Vladimer Valishvili/UNDP Georgia

“Therefore, safety measures are being reinforced. According to the existing information, at this stage, the threat of terrorism in Georgia is not high. But, in the worldwide and regional context, risks, of course, cannot be excluded. The State Security Service has launched investigation into every particular case which may be connected to the security of Georgia. In order to prevent any pos-sible threat, every department of the service is mobilized,” she said.

ProCredit Bank is hosting a charity exhibition and sale at its Head Offi ce on 21 Al. Kaz-begi Avenue from 24 Novem-ber to 27 November, where

80 works by Rashid Tordia, Keti Matabeli, Nino Chakvetadze and other famous Georgian artists, painters and photog-raphers are presented. The exhibition, organized by the charity foundation “Gvtisshvilebi”, is being held on the Pro-Credit Bank Georgia premises for the second year. As in the previous year, all the money raised will be transferred to the charity foundation and will be used to assist children with limited capabili-ties and their families.

The exhibition opened on 24 Novem-ber and can be visited daily from 12:00pm

ProCredit Bank Hosts Charity Exhibition and Sale

to 5:00pm until 27 November. The event is open to the public and the works exhibited are also up for sale.

Interested parties may view the works of art on the ProCredit Bank Facebook page.

Nato Bochorishvili, Head of Marketing at ProCredit Bank: “We are very pleased to support the charity initiative of “Gvtis-shvilebi”. In addition to giving art lovers the opportunity to purchase fi ne works of art at special prices, people with lim-ited capabilities will benefi t from these sales. These individuals are the brightest and most deserving members of our society and they have time and time again proven that their capabilities are actually unlimited. It is our duty to stand with these people.”

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 20154 POLITICS

BY ZVIAD ADZINBAIA

At a NATO-Georgia Com-mission session held in Brussels this week, Geor-gian Minister for Europe and Euro-Atlantic Integra-

tion, Davit Bakradze, and Deputy Foreign Minister, Davit Dondua, discussed the issue of the 2015 Annual National Pro-gram (ANP) which Georgia has been working to fulfi l since the NATO Bucha-rest Summit in 2008.

The Euro Integration Ministry stated that the permanent representatives of the Alliance member countries have positively assessed the reforms conducted within the framework of the Annual National Program (ANP).

According to the Ministry, regional security, as well as Georgia’s occupied regions, were discussed during the ses-sion. “The permanent representatives confi rmed NATO’s support towards Georgia’s territorial integrity and sov-

Georgian Annual National Program Assessed Positively at NATO-Georgia Commission

ereignty as well as its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.”

Georgia was thanked for her participa-tion in the International Security Assis-tance Force (ISAF) and Resolute Support Missions in Afghanistan.

The permanent representatives confi rmed NATO’s support towards Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty as well as its Euro-Atlantic aspirations

BY STEVEN JONES

The Counterterrorist Center of the Georgian State Secu-rity Service held a Georgian citizen, Davit Borchashvili, 29, on terrorism charges

following his return to Georgia this week.It says that Borchashvili was charged

according to Article 238 of the Crimi-nal Code of Georgia, pertaining to affiliation with a foreign terrorist organization or assisting a terrorist organization.

As Borchashvili’s lawyer Gela Nikolaishvili claimed, the young man had been in Syria, however, he rules out any ties with the Islamic State (IS).

Nikolaishvili told Rustavi 2 that his client has been connected to fi ghters against [Syrian President] Assad’s regime and the Islamic State. “This is a free army of Syria, which is supported by democratic western states,” said Nikolaishvili.

On Tuesday, Tbilisi City Court ordered the pre-trial detention of Davit Bor-chashvili on the basis of a reasonable doubt that the defendant may go into hiding and/or hinder the process of obtaining evidence. If found guilty, Davit Borchashvili will face imprison-ment from 12 to 15 years.

Following the arrest of Borchashvili,

Georgia Austere in Fight against IS

alleged representatives of the so-called Islamic State (IS) released a video which showed fi ghters speaking in Georgian and addressing the Muslim population of Georgia. The fi ghters urged them to support the ‘Islamic Caliphate’.

The fi ghters threatened to establish a ‘Caliphate’ in Georgia. One of the extremists stated, “I would like to address the faithless people living in Georgia that have been fi ghting Islam for a long time. Everybody who has acted against Islam, no matter in Iraq or Afghanistan, will be judged by God’s law.”

The address, published on sendvid.com, emphasized that “God is very strict,” and called on people to stop persecuting Muslims. “Your actions against the Mus-lim will not remain unanswered. Every-body will be accountable for it.”

Another group of fi ghters threatened Muslim Khoja and Muftis living in Adjara (Georgia), accusing them of misleading people. “You will pay for what you have done. Be afraid of Allah,” the group stated.

Ilia Gobadze, a father of one of the fi ghters shown in the video, claimed that the video is aimed only at spread-ing panic and intimidating people. He boldly declared, “no one will come and blow us up.”

The head of the Press and Public Relations Department of the State Security Service, Nino Giorgobiani,

posted an update on her Facebook page telling the Georgian media not to con-tribute to the spreading of the video footage via the internet.

“I ask the media not to contribute to spreading the threatening video footage via the internet for the sake of public security. The State Security Service is working on the issue. An investigation has already been launched,” Giorgobi-ani’s post read.

ANALYSIS: What threat could IS and those Geor-gian citizens contributing to the radi-cal Islamist group pose to the country? Syria has become a battlefi eld for both power projection, fi ghting against ter-rorism, championing economic inter-ests and speculating on the lives of hundreds of thousands of the dead since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. The tension has solidifi ed further since the Paris terrorist attack of November 13.

It seems that IS recruiters have found leverage among Georgia’s Muslim population. Since the Paris attack, the Government of Georgia has increased border control, and has prevented over 400 foreigners from entering the coun-try during the last ten days. The gov-ernment has announced that [they] will continue cooperation with Geor-gia’s international partners, including in the exchange of information.

Clip of the video released following the arrest of Borchashvili. The video showed ISIS fi ghters speaking in Georgian and addressing the Muslim population of Georgia

Davit Bakradze, Georgian Minister for Europe and Euro-Atlantic Integration, and Davit Dondua, Deputy Foreign Minister

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 2015 5POLITICS

BY TURAL GURBANLI

Young ethnic Azerbaijani writer, Joshgun Jafar, thinks poor education of ethnic Azerbaijani people living in Georgia is the reason for

many problems, including the fact that missionaries of Sunni and Shiite direc-tions of Islam get easy access to the young uneducated Muslim population here. He wants to see progressive, edu-cated, tolerant and capable peers who respect others’ opinions and freedom.

“I became the target of many threats, even death threats, because of my criti-cal articles about the recent increasing inclination of ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Georgia towards religious fanaticism, Sharia laws, and life with outdated ste-reotypes. This further proves that ethnic Azerbaijani people are more and more inclined to radicalism,” said Joshgun Jafar, who lives in Muganli village of the Gardabani municipality. Joshgun is the only one among his brothers and sisters who has received higher education.

“Our family tried hard to provide high education at least for me. I received a diploma of philosophy in Iran. I am very concerned about my friends not being able to get a normal education. I tried not to remain indifferent to this prob-lem. I think through my poetry and articles I can reveal many issues from a different perspective.”

A Threat Ignored? Ethnic Azerbaijanis Increasingly Inclined to Radicalism

“Missionaries from Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia spend a lot of money on religious propaganda in the regions of Georgia predominantly inhabited by Muslims. In response to that, the Gov-ernment of Georgia does nothing. It is a very important issue – religious radi-calization might become a reason for controversy and provocation in society. They have already started convicting people under the Sharia Law in Azer-baijani populated villages [here].”

A resident of Karajala village in Telavi district was convicted under the Sharia Law and had his fi nger cut off. Karajala village attorney of Telavi District Admin-istration, Alasgar Sardarov, has spoken openly of the threat of Wahhabism throughout the past fi ve years:

“Several years ago, youth from Turkey began a program of propaganda on rad-ical religious ideas. Nobody doubted that they had other plans, too. A short time later they grew beards and began dress-ing in short trousers. Cutting off a fi nger is nothing to a Wahhabi. One man had this done to him because he stole a cow, and this was supported as the punish-ment for thievery according to their religion.”

Telavi district is located close to the Kist inhabited Pankisi Gorge. Telavi Municipal Board Deputy Chairman Ruslan Ashurov said, unlike most ethnic Azerbaijani inhabited villages, Karajala village has good social infrastructure and the population is more educated, with the majority of locals having knowl-

edge of the Georgian language. However, the ‘missionaries’ are still attracting more and more into their group.

Near the butcher’s where the man had his fi nger cut off, a young man, who calls himself a member of the ‘Sunni promotion society’ and a ‘believer,’ claims he has over 350 friends.

“According to our religion, every Mus-lim should live and die for Jihad. Death is also a mission. If you are Muslim, you must not be afraid of death at all and you must always be ready for it.”

Karajala village school director Elza Ashurova said the infl uence of Salafi sts has been increasing over the past years and more and more children are skip-ping lessons.

“Children who are close to radicals or are members of such families do not come to class during the fasting period. I tried several times to persuade the Akhund of the mosque to let the chil-dren go to the mosque after lessons. But he refused, telling me there is a fi xed time for praying to Allah and it is of utmost importance to do so.”

Ashurova said that teachers have found

religious materials in the computers of the fi rst-grade pupils. Interviews with pupils revealed that parents recorded these programs in their computers and requested children to learn the materi-als by heart. Some parents do not allow their children to participate in certain school events because of their religion.

According to Zaza Vashakmadze, Head of the State Committee of Geor-gia on religious issues, they are aware of the increasing inclination of people towards radical religious movements not only in Telavi but also in other regions. “There are people among the Muslims, mostly ethnic Azerbaijanis, that have connections with radical religious groups,” Vashakmadze said. “We know about it but cannot interfere unless we receive complaints from those regions and so far nobody has reported any interference in their pri-vate lives. Therefore, from a legal point of view, it is impossible for us to do anything.”

Sheikh of the Georgian Muslim Depart-ment Ramin Igidov said attention is not being paid to the increased radical reli-

gious teachings in villages in the Kvemo Kartli region.

“Recently, the number of ethnic Azer-baijani people going to fi ght in Syria has increased. Apparently, the govern-ment has faced some problems in the fi ght against this problem. It is diffi cult because all their efforts are evaluated as restriction of the freedom of religion.”

Georgian Parliamentarian Mahir Der-ziev said the radical direction of religion became strong in Georgia during Mikheil Saakashvili’s presidency.

“Wahhabis arrived in Georgia from other countries and settled in Pankisi Gorge with the permission of the previ-ous government. Since local radicals are against the Assad regime, Saakash-vili’s government supported them in everything. Saakashvili has left and this problem is still unresolved.”

Leader of the Public Movement ‘Dig-nity in Georgia,’ Alibala Asgarov, said the government is not interested in the problems of religious radicalism.

“Apparently, the Government of Geor-gia does not perceive it as threat to their people and does not hurry to interfere.”

Elza Ashurova, Karajala village school director: “Children who are close to radicals or are members of such families do not come to class during the fasting period.”

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 20156 POLITICS

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BY ANA AKHALAIA

Tbilisi is hosting the 6th Informal Eastern Partner-ship Dialogue.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry states that the

focus of the event, which brings together Foreign Ministers of the partner coun-tries, will be foreign policy issues as well as health issues.

Foreign and Health Ministers of the Eastern Partnership countries have been invited to participate in the meeting. According to the MFA, EU Commissioner for the European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, and Deputy Secretary General of the Euro-pean External Action Service, Helga Schmid, have come to Tbilisi to partici-pate in the Dialogue.

The meeting will focus on the progress made with the cooperation agreed upon at the Riga Summit, and on prospects for the enhancement of cooperation, given the results of the reviewed Euro-pean Neighborhood Policy.

Informal Eastern Partnership Dialogue Meeting in Tbilisi Underway

BY ZVIAD ADZINBAIA

Georgia Defense Minister Ti n a t i n K h i d a s h e l i attended the Halifax Inter-national Security Forum in Canada last week, par-

ticipating in the plenary session “Coop-erate, Contain, or Conquer: Prioritizing Strategy 70 Years On.”

According to the Defense Ministry (MOD), the session covered the global challenges that have emerged during the last 70 years since World War II. The Minister talked about the last two dec-ades and discussed how the West was ready for the challenges resulting from the fall of the Berlin War and the Soviet Union and what should be done to cope with future threats.

Georgian Defense Minister on Provoking Russia

The MOD says one of the important topics of discussion at the Forum, along with Syria and related threats, was Rus-sia, with the question: Russia – partner or threat?

“Georgia has many friends and part-ners. Our main challenge was to talk about more guarantees against a back-ground of any type of relationship and dialogue with Russia and to get assur-ance that this won’t damage the interests of partner countries,” Khidasheli said.

Delivering a speech to the conference panel, Khidasheli appealed to the inter-national community to take resolute and determined steps.

“I disagree with the idea that the US or any other European ally is abandon-ing a small nation, be it Georgia or any other country. This has become a very popular question since the publication of the photo showing Obama and Putin

at a table talking like the best of friends. I don’t think this is abandonment but what is missing from this picture is the realization that we can talk and cut whatever deals with Russia we want but it needs to be accompanied with a positive agenda towards those coun-tries who have been partners over the years, throughout the history of inde-pendence!” the Georgian minister declared.

Khidasheli went on to explain that there are countries who want to be a part of the world, as Georgia does. “Then we see competition on the side of Washing-ton, on the side of civilization, human rights, democracy, and rule of law. Have [such countries] on board – this is the answer.”

Responding to the Forum moderator, who said provoking Moscow deliberately could be one of the reasons for the Rus-

sian aggression of 2008, Khidasheli said that “provoking Russia” are two words which should not be spoken to a Geor-gian. “It will be the end of the discussion for you,” she added.

As the Defense Minister said, anything sovereign Georgia does tomorrow might be considered a provocation, another provocation that will serve as a good reason for Russia to act again. She expressed disappointment that, after Ukraine and Georgia, this discussion about somebody doing something pro-vocative towards Russia still occurs.

Before the Halifax Conference, Tinatin Khidasheli participated in a multilateral format organized by the United States Department of Defense involving defense ministers of the Kingdom of Netherlands, Latvia, Albania, former Republic of Yugoslavia-Macedonia and the Chief of Defense of General Staff of Poland.

The Rose Revolution: Then and NowContinued from page 1

Progress in this case has a clear and measurable indicator: the difference between the Rose Revolution of 2003 and October Elections of 2012- that is the difference between the revolution-ary and constitutional replacement of the government.

The question of whether present reality is much better than the one we had in

2003 can be answered simply by closing our eyes for a minute and imagining a country in which public institutions are managed by governmental representa-tives alongside thieves-in-law, and where corruption is fl ourishing to such extent that giving bribes is the only solution for an average citizen; where the economy and society is in constant crisis and there is no trustworthy supplier of electricity and gas and where power shortages last

for weeks in some regions. The roads are full of potholes. And the streets and pris-ons are controlled by criminal gangs. Mugging, burglary, car theft and kidnap-ping for ransom are commonplace. Busi-nesses operate in the shadows, illegally and under the umbrella of crime. Where more than 200 000 IDPs from the occu-pied territories are scattered across the country, the majority lacking shelter and all dependent practically only on fi nancial

support from the government. And where the most popular product for export is scrap-metal. This was Georgia in 2003. So, instead of talking about the past, I think everyone should now be talking about the future. While many of the objec-tives of the Rose Revolution are still unat-tained, we can freely say that moving towards them has become irrevocable – the genie is out and nobody can force him back into the bottle.

Georgian Defense Minister Tinatin Khidasheli participating in the panel of the Halifax Conference

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 20158 POLITICS

BY ZVIAD ADZINBAIA

Last week, the Georgian Prime Minister’s Spe-cial Envoy for Russia, Zurab Abashidze, and Russia’s Deputy For-

eign Minister, Grigory Karasin, met in Prague to discuss trade-economic, transport and human-itarian issues, including matters related to the occupation.

The Georgian government says that Zurab Abashidze raised issues of the systematic arrests of Georgian citizens in the Tskhinvali region, restric-tion of the Georgian language in educational institutions of the Gali district (Abkhazia) and the erection of wire fences in Georgia-controlled territories.

“It was underlined that Rus-sia’s steps violate international law, as well as the territorial integrity and the principle of sovereignty of Georgia.”

The government added that trade revenue between the two countries has decreased by 8.9% during the last nine months, however, the trend in transfer of cargo and passengers from

Caricature of Russian president Vladimir Putin on a tank invading Georgia. Source: http://latuff2.deviantart.com/

Russian Visa-facilitation and Wrestling with the EU

Georgia to Russia has been increasing.

In addition, the information released by the Russian Foreign Ministry concerning visa-facil-itation for Georgian citizens has been confi rmed. The Geor-gian government cited the Rus-sian side is working on the topic.

Meanwhile, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, talking with EurActiv regard-ing the country’s European future early this month, called the possible EU-visa liberaliza-tion “a logical next step.”

“Georgia’s path towards EU integration is irreversible. Some 80 percent of Georgians want closer relations with the EU. It

was acknowledged that the benefi ts for the EU are obvi-ous. Georgia is a success story for the Eastern Partnership and for EU soft power,” Gar-ibashvili underlined. He emphasized that the logical next step on our European journey is visa liberalization. “This is fundamental to the implementation of our Asso-ciation Agreement with the EU. Without visa-free travel across Europe for Georgians, we cannot make further pro-gress on the people-to-people exchanges that will really cement EU values in our coun-try and region.”

Trade revenue between [Russia and Georgia] has decreased by 8.9% during the last nine months [but] the transfer of cargo and passengers from Georgia to Russia has been increasing

In fact, Russia has widely incor-porated its ‘fi fth column’ and soft power elements under the umbrella of its Orthodox church and “shared past”, notwithstand-ing the informational propa-ganda throughout the country largely disseminating anti-west-ern ideals among citizens of Georgia.

Has the Karasin-Abashidze format become a quasi diplo-matic channel for the two coun-tries? Will the Georgian people and citizens of Georgia fall prey to Russia’s tempting visa-facil-itation? Will the EU, instead, make a real step in December to liberalize the visa-regime for Georgia?

ANALYSIS:The rhetoric of Georgian civil society, opposition and openly pro-western parties is dissimilar from the one of the government, which claims a facilitated visa-regime will benefi t Georgia, while the two countries have tough dip-lomatic relations over the Russian occupation. Moreover, the Russian side threw a subtle hint for the Georgian government to consider possible refurbishment of diplo-matic relations, which were tar-nished when Russia invaded Geor-gia back in 2008.

On the other hand, even a nas-cent eye can conclude that Russia’s efforts to drag Georgia into its sphere of infl uence is nontrivial.

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 2015 9POLITICS

OP-ED BY TIM OGDEN

I took Georgian citizenship three years ago during the Saakashvili era, mostly due to the misguided notion that I should buy a rifl e and pistol in case the Russians

came back. Not that I had any intent to recreate Custer’s Last Stand on Mtats-minda Mountain, nor am I like those Americans one reads about who stock-pile guns, dry food and water in cellars (which they usually refer to as their ‘bunker’, or worse yet, ‘command center’); the kind of people to whom a combined Russian, Chinese and North Korean invasion of the United States would fulfi l a martial fantasy. I’m not like that at all; I just felt that I’d rather be armed than not, undoubtedly a result of my own military service. Not, of course, that I could do much alone; I left the Army as tough as a buttered muffi n, and during my service frequently

relied on the skill of better men to keep me safe (from outraged platoon ser-geants rather than the enemy), and these days I’m sure I couldn’t even defend my home against a determined group of Girl Scouts, but back then I still wanted to own a rifl e.

It is, then, perhaps rather ironic that I did indeed become a Georgian citizen (in those days they were giving them out like Mars bars, providing you were from the right sort of place, by which I mean any country west of Poland), but never actually bothered to buy any guns. The risk of renewed warfare died down considerably after the Russians decided that shooting Georgians was, really, a fashion of 2008, and slaughtering Ukrain-ians became ‘the thing’, so I was spared from having to do my best Rambo impression (and probably getting shot by the police for endangering the pub-

Avoiding the Marching Orders: Ogden on Visas

lic). Besides which, I’m fairly confi dent that in the event of a Russian invasion, I would fi nd myself travelling at high speed to the British Embassy to bash my passport against the window and bawl for consular assistance.

Yet despite my selfi sh and eccentric reasons for wanting to become a Geor-gian citizen (which I took care not to put on my application, you may be sure; it almost feels a shame to tell the truth now), it ended up being rather a good idea. There are certain hazards, of course – for one thing, I am now eligi-ble to be called up to the Georgian Army (though if the Ministry of Defense think they can get me in a uniform, they can think again. My soldiering days ended in 2010, and it can damn well stay that way. Besides which, between ourselves, I think that my Georgian language skills, which don’t go much beyond going to shops or barking at taxi drivers, would be rather detrimental to the Georgian war effort), and as far as I know, I could also be

ordered to do jury duty. God help The System, I say.

The biggest bonus has been the fact that I no longer need any sort of visa stamp or permanent residency card. This never seemed to be of much impor-tance until last year; I usually travel back to Europe a few times a year, and whenever I came back to Tbilisi my passport would be stamped once again, granting me another 365 days in Geor-gia with no negative consequences apart from the raised eyebrow of the border control offi cer. Indeed, I’ve always had more trouble from the British border police – when travelling back to Tbilisi one day and confronted by a police offi cer with the enquiry ‘Whut you doin’ aht there, then?’, I was rather at a loss for words. It was only after fi fteen min-utes of explaining my turbulent love life - which was anchored in Tbilisi -

that the offi cer sighed and told me ‘Gawan, then. Bugger off’.

The problems began last year, when the new government changed the visa laws, apparently due to some mad notion that if they made their border regula-tions tighter they would be closer to achieving ‘European standards’. What exactly European standards are still seems to be something of a mystery, and getting them could well be described as being as easy as fi nding the Holy Grail (incidentally, I imagine that Geor-gians, being impetuous and passionate, would probably break the Holy Grail in their hurry to get at it; there’s a nice analogy there, somewhere). It was dou-bly ironic that European and American citizens, who do not need visas to visit each other’s countries, were then required by law to return to their home-lands at the end of their visa term and reapply at the Georgian embassy in their country. If these mythical ‘European standards’ are supposed to be the same ones that are applied in the European Union, then neither Americans nor EU citizens should need visas (European visa standards, presumably, include European citizens).

I wasn’t aware of the tighter visa laws until I went home in December, and the border police offi cer then informed me that I had outstayed my visa term. Since he told all of this to me in Georgian (I wasn’t sure what it was about my appear-ance or my British passport which sug-gested I was fl uent in Georgian), I did what English people usually do when confronted with an angry-looking for-eigner speaking his foreign language, which was to nod and smile placidly. This caused me to be led to another kiosk, wherein a penalty fee was demanded from me for outstaying my welcome; comprehension then took hold, and I proudly produced my Geor-gian citizenship ID card, hoping that we’d all be friends now and have a cho-rus of For Eg Aris Erti Jolly Good Fel-low. Not so – I gathered that I should have mentioned my citizenship earlier, but I did at least save the police offi cer from having to fi ll in the penalty forms, which caused him to wish me a good fl ight in a tone of voice which suggested he hoped my aircraft would be hit by a wayward Russian missile.

After a few months of listening to my foreign friends complaining about the visa regulations and smugly contem-plating my Georgian citizenship (and looking over my shoulder to see if any Georgian sergeant-major was preparing to drag me off to the Army), the visa laws were reversed – and apparently then reversed again, and once more – so that in theory Europeans once again have the right to stay for a year without any additional visa.

I was baffl ed, then, on returning home again in July to have to reproduce my Georgian ID since I had once again apparently outstayed my visa term. The

Internet sources are contradictory, and even Georgian border offi cers seem to be at something of a loss. The true vic-tims are people like my friend from South Africa, who, having already had his permanent residency rejected (due to him being designated ‘dangerous’; diffi cult to believe, seeing as a strong wind looks as though it would knock him over and he teaches English for a living, which is not famously a profes-sion which grants people access to high explosives) was then forced to pay a visa penalty when travelling to Turkey. According to the new law, he was still within his original leave to remain.

This, of course, could be put down to the confusion or incompetence of the offi cers in question, but another case of my Iranian friend having her refugee

status rescinded for no good reason is rather more alarming. Though there is still hope since her court hearing is scheduled in six months’ time (she’s another one who’s been labelled as being ‘dangerous’, you’ll be charmed to know), one might have thought since she had already been granted leave to remain, the government might stick by its word.

Besides annoying police offi cers with my lack of understanding as to when exactly I should show my Georgian ID at the airport, I personally have little to fear (except perhaps being blown up in another Russo-Georgian war, but that’s another story), but it is frustrating, infu-riating, and above all rather tragic to see good people who really do want to live in Georgia are denied the chance to do so.

After a few months of listening to my foreign friends complaining about the visa regulations and smugly contemplating my Georgian citizenship (and looking over my shoulder to see if any Georgian sergeant-major was preparing to drag me off to the Army), the visa laws were reversed – and apparently then reversed again

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 201510 SOCIETY

FOR RENT

9,8 ha non-agricultural, privately owned parcel for industrial use

(cadaster code # 01.19.26.004.088) located next to Tbilisi Airport

Address: Airport settlement, Samgori district, TbilisiTel: +995 599 529 529

info@cei.ge

Former Foreign and Health Min-ister of France Bernard Kouch-ner held a meeting at the Tbi-lisi State Medical University with students during which he

talked about current and future prospects of the Georgian healthcare system.

“Georgia needs to resist that great pressure which comes from its soviet heritage. Changing this is diffi cult and expensive, but Mr.Sergeenko has the desire to change and fully adjust the

21st Century and Healthcare Challenges: Tbilisi Hosts International Health Conference

The Ministry of Health, together with international consulting company Global Alliance, hosted the confer-ence- Healthcare Chal-

lenges in the 21st Century. Georgian authorities as well Georgian doctors attended the conference.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gari-bashvili opened the conference and stressed the importance of the imple-mented programs in healthcare and the overall welfare of society. The Minister of Health, David Sergeenko, noted that Georgia has overcome the main chal-lenges and implemented reforms suc-cessfully.

The main directions and challenges of Georgia’s healthcare reforms were then discussed.

Ex-French Foreign and Health Minister

who visited Georgia under his mandate as Chairman of Supervisory Board of Global Alliance, the international con-sulting fi rm that advises Georgia’s Min-istry of Healthcare on Universal Health-care Reform, assessed Hepatitis C elimination, universal and primary healthcare programs and talked about other future prospects.

“You are already working to make progress in medicine; Georgia is the fi rst country in the world on the way to eradication of Hepatitis C and it not only started but more than 5000 patients are already receiving drugs and are clear from the virus. That said, I would like to mention that uniting public and private sector efforts is important for achieving better investment opportu-nities. For this, Georgia needs more regulations.”

Bernard Kouchner: Generics Need to Be Offered to Public at Affordable Prices

Board chairperson of the Global Alliance and former French Foreign and Health Minister Bernard Kouchner attended an international health con-

ference in Tbilisi and made a few remarks regarding Generic drugs, noting that it is a must to offer public generics at affordable, low prices.

“When a citizen feels he/she is able to buy Generic drugs which are produced in India, it is important for them to be

offered at low prices, however, this sys-tem needs to be constantly controlled,” Bernard Kouchner said.

“I remember the time when we were starting reforms in my country- provid-ing affordability on Generics was tough because people didn’t trust new medi-cines. This is why Georgia has to work hard with citizens and groups of doctors to boost trust.

The doctor should explain to his/her patient what generic drugs are and, of

course, the involvement of the Ministry of Health is also vital.

You need to make a choice between a country’s budget and its healthcare,” he said.

“France offered healthcare insurance but the process to create that whole sys-tem was long and hard. Now we have a united healthcare system but it is costly. We offer the option of a system which answers to general affordability and medicine progress issues.

Bernard Kouchner Meets Georgia’s Medical Studentshealthcare system.

The fi rst obstacle is conservatism in doctors,” Kouchner said.

“Georgia is on the right path to change.” Kouchner, who is the Board chairper-

son of the Global Alliance Health Organization and co-founder of the union Doctors without Borders, arrived in Georgia at the invitation of Health Minister David Sergeenko.

Minister Sergeenko noted Bernard Kouchner’s involvement in health care

reforms will provide Georgia with access to world health care experience and international support.

“I think that this visit will be the basis for a new step in strategic planning for the Georgian healthcare system. This is the beginning of a new cooperation, which I am sure will be successful,” the Minister stated.

Kouchner was awarded the title of Honored Professor by the Rector of TSMU, Zurab Vadachkoria.

Board chairperson of the Global Alliance and former French Foreign and Health Minister Bernard Kouchner attended an international health conference in Tbilisi

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 2015 11SOCIETY

The Embassy of the Republic of France in Georgia has announced a Sales Procedures on the sale of land plot

located adjacent to the Rustaveli Avenue at 4 Khazina St., Tbilisi, Georgia. The land plot has the following charac-teristics: cadastral code – 01.15.04.007.010; total area of the

land plot - 3933 sq/m. The land plot qualifi es as type 2 recreational zone with the following coeffi cients:

K1= [0,2], K2=[undefi ned] and K3=[Undefi ned].

Please, take into account that the Sales Procedures n will be conducted in accordance with the Rules for Submission

of Offers available on the web-page of the Embassy: ambafrance-ge.org, or by e-mail request at

contact.tbilissi-amba@diplomatie.gouv.fr. The interested Parties shall submit their Expression of Interest in a form

and to the addressee(s) envisaged in the Rules for Submission of Offers.

In case of additional questions, please, contact [the consul or hes representative] at the following e-mail [contact.tbilissi-amba@diplomatie.gouv.fr] or call at

[(00 995 32) 272 14 90] from Monday to Friday from 9:30 AM till 12:30 PM.

The Expression of Interest shall be submitted to the Contact Person indicated above no later than

15th of October 2015.

Invitation to Participate in the Sales Procedures Announced by the Embassy of the Republic of France in Georgia on the Sale of 3933 sq/m

Land Plot Located in the Center of Tbilisi

BY EKA KARSAULIDZE

Georgia has entered a new phase of immunization with vaccination for Diph-theria, Tetanus, Pertussis (acellular, component),

Hepatitis B (rDNA), Poliomyelitis (inac-tivated) and Haemophilus Infl uenzae Type B now available in just one injec-tion. Representatives of Sanofi Pasteur introduced the innovative Hexaxim (DTPa-hepB-IPV-Hib) vaccine, which will simplify the process of vaccination of newborn children and totally meet government standards.

According to recent changes in the State Vaccination Schedule of Georgia, this vaccine will be avail-able free of charge for all the coun-try’s benefi ciaries from December 1. The State immunization budget must increase by approxi-mately 80% for the pur-chase of Hexaxim. Despite the fact that this is seriously damaging to the State budget, representatives of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) of Georgia said that it is well worth it.

“Vaccination saves 2-3 million children’s lives every year,” said Dr. Lia Chabidze, Head of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia. “With this new Hexaxim vaccine, you will be able to get just one injection instead of two, as it was in the past, and protect your child against six infectious diseases. Hexaxim can be given to chil-dren from six weeks of age as a part of State Vaccination Schedule.”

New 6-in-1 Vaccine Now Available for Georgians

“As in all developed countries, children in Georgia take their doze of vaccination against DTPa-hepB-IPV-Hib. It is clear that injecting this number of monovalent vaccines is irrational. Therefore, we will now use a modern combination of vac-cines, which is endorsed by the World Health Organization,” she added.

Sanofi Pasteur representatives offered six advantages to the Hexaxim vaccine: it guarantees a high level of protection, it is safe, children undergo less stress due to fewer injections, it is easy to use and can be taken along with other vac-cinations, and, most importantly, you can absolutely trust Sanofi Pasteur’s products.

Hexaxim has been available since 2013

and is used in leading European coun-tries including Germany, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Croatia, and Poland. Georgia is now the fi rst country in the region to include it as a part of the State program. The vaccine received a positive scientifi c evaluation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in June 2012 as part of a procedure designed to evaluate medic-inal products intended for markets out-side the European Union.

Photo of the Hexaxim vaccine from www.sanofi pasteur.com

BY MERI TALIASHVILI

Prior to the Paris Climate Change Conference to be held from November 30 to December 1 in France, the Ministry of Environment and

Natural Resources Protection of Geor-gia organized a conference with the assistance of the United Nations Devel-opment Program in Georgia (UNDP) to discuss Georgia’s plans and how it will respond to climate change chal-lenges.

The Conference was opened by the Deputy Head of UNDP in Georgia, Shombi Sharp, and the Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia, Teimuraz Mur-gulia, and was attended by representa-tives of government, civil societies and international organizations.

“Climate change is one of the core development challenges the world is facing in terms of sustainable develop-ment,” said Shombi Sharp. “Georgia is a very exceptional country in many ways but unfortunately not exceptional to the threats and impacts of climate change. According to the available data,

UNDP Holds Climate Change Conference

the impacts of climate change are already quite severe and growing within the Southern Caucasus region. So we must come together to take action.”

Georgia, as a responsible member of the international community, is going to take part in the UN Framework Con-vention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in December 2015 and contrib-ute to this process. A high-level delega-tion from Georgia will be led by the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gari-bashvili. The Convention aims to achieve the universal agreement on climate for the fi rst time in over 20 years of UN negotiations.

Teimuraz Murgulia, Deputy Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia with Shombi Sharp, Deputy Head of UNDP in Georgia at a Georgian pre-Paris Climate Change Conference

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 201512 SOCIETY

BY TONY HANMER

As a relative newcomer to the scene in Becho, 10 km closer to Mestia than my “home” village of Etseri, I am slowly learning the

ropes as I spend a couple of days a week here teaching English in the main school.

The two villages are similar in size but, as I mentioned previously, Becho seems to be considerably more popular with the tourists, mostly because of the huge presence of Mt Ushba at the top end. Here the straight-on Etseri view of the south peak is slightly rotated, so you can just see the north peak peering at you over its shoulder. You’ll have to go all the way to Mestia, though, to see the two, differing in height by a mere meter, side by side, having moved around about ninety degrees from the “start” position of my village.

The main river in Becho is called the Dolra; there are also a few different min-eral springs, no surprise as Georgia has around 2000 of these, all unique in con-tent, a few even hot. The river has been the focus of furious discussion in the teachers’ room in Becho for my past few visits. And last week we even had an

Diversions: Becho, Svaneti

impromptu schoolyard meeting about it with some visitors from Tbilisi.

They were from the Ombudsman’s, or Public Defender’s, Offi ce, and had come based on news of the great dis-satisfaction of my colleagues and others over what has been proposed, and begun, as a project without their consent or even knowledge until seemingly too late.

Outsiders were being seen around the village, not connected with its road improvement scheme which has recently been retired until the spring. They were measuring and surveying here and there, and eventually it was discovered that they represent plans to move the Dolra entirely from its current position. The plans are actually to pipe the river under-ground, on the other side of the houses which run alongside it now, and then to use the force of its new course to power the turbine for a new small hydroelectric plant.

The amount of forest needing to be cleared for this? Apparently 40 hectares, useful land which is being used for fi re-wood harvesting by the whole village; not to mention functioning naturally as an anti-erosion measure, holding the soil in place.

The digging and piping will also, the villagers believe, affect detrimentally the

sources of a number of those precious mineral springs, likely cutting them off and destroying them. And, further, they don’t believe that there will be any eco-nomic benefi t for the village’s popula-tion, that their location and resources will simply be exploited, the workers to come in from elsewhere, the electricity to go far away to much bigger concen-trations of people, perhaps even abroad, to Turkey, for example.

My colleagues had begun the laborious process of collecting signatures for a petition to halt investigation or work until their curiosity as to the overall benefi ts to them of all this has been sat-isfi ed. I was mostly an observer at the brief meeting, at which the above griev-

ances were aired. But I did quietly urge one of my colleagues to request an answer and some action from the Ombudsman’s Offi ce, which apparently exists for just such purposes, and to let them know that something nebulous and non-com-mittal would not suffi ce. Do you have their contact details? I asked. Then use them, and phone or email until you are indeed satisfi ed. These people are get-ting a salary to serve you, if you don’t know! It’s their job!

Quite a few new hydroelectric projects on different scales have been begun in Svaneti in recent times, only the most infamous of which is the long-delayed and restarted huge main Enguri dam. The growing need for electricity in Geor-

gia does seem to be real. I just hope that greed and outside interests will not rule the proceedings at the expense of the people and ecology of magnifi cent Svaneti. These people have lived here for thou-sands of years and stuck it out in their isolation. They deserve to be an integral part of their province’s doings on all levels and in all spheres.

Tony Hanmer runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 1250 mem-bers, atwww.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenais-sance/He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri:www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti

BY SOPHO TALIASHVILI

On November 11-13, 2015 the fi rst international forum dedicated to the problems and prospects of Georgian Studies was held in Tbilisi,

with the help of Georgian National Acad-emy of Sciences (GNAS), the Patriarchate of Georgia and the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU).

All major areas of Georgian Studies (language, literature, history, archeology, ethnology, history of art) were presented at the Forum, which aimed to demon-strate that Georgian Studies are still developing successfully in leading sci-entifi c and educational centers around the globe. As a mark of this, present at the Forum were representatives of lead-ing scientifi c institutions of France (Paris), the UK (London), Germany (Berlin), Romania (Bucharest), Russia (Moscow, Rostov, Chachneti, Ingushetia), Japan (Tokyo), Turkey (Ankara, Istanbul, Rize, Pamukale), Israel (Jerusalem), Azerbai-jan (Baku), and Armenia (Yerevan).

The foreign and Georgian participants met Honorary Chairman of the Congress Organizing Committee, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II on the territories of both GNAS and TSU. Acad-emician Roin Metreveli, Chairman of the Organizing Committee and Vice-

President of GNAS welcomed the par-ticipants alongside G. Kvesitadze, Aca-demican of GNAS; M. Giorgadze, Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia; Prof. B. Meskhi, Rector of Rostov Technical University; Sh. Gapurov, President of the Chechen Academy; Academician V. Papava, Rec-tor of TSU; and Academician Matishov, Head of the South Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The focus was divided into three sec-tions- linguistics, history of religion, and literature and art. 15 meetings were held and 115 reports were heard, amongst them the report of French Professor of Geor-gian Studies, Bernard Outtier, about the unknown Georgian manuscript that was found in Matenadaran and its importance for the history of Old Georgian. A report by German linguist Professor V. Boeder on the morphological and syntactic pecu-liarities of the Georgian language was discussed and Swedish linguist and eth-nologist, Karena Walming introduced the diary of a Finnish Offi cer about travelling in Georgia in 1838-1839 which offered extremely valuable data about ethno-graphic life in Eastern Georgia of the time. Japanese researcher and Tokyo University Professor, Hirotake Maeda, discussed new Iranian material about G. Saakadze while Romanian researcher Professor Nicolae Duran presented the results of a long-term study of Anthimos the Iberian (17th century). The participation of for-

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 2015 13CULTURE

Georgian Studies Forum Brings Together Leading Global Researchers, Linguists and Ethnologists

eign researchers of Georgian Studies gave the Forum international resonance. Their invaluable works for the study and pop-ularization of Georgian language, history and culture, still continue.

The majority of the reports will be published in the ‘Scientifi c Almanac of Black Sea Countries’ of the Don State Technical University, as well as in the next edition of the ‘Herald’ of the Geor-gian National Academy of Sciences.

“It’s incredibly valuable to hear [from the international scientifi c community] such objective information about the historic past and contemporaneity, very

controversial issues of Georgian litera-ture and art history,” said Roin Metrev-eli. “It’s a well-known fact that some issues of Georgian history and culture are sometimes biased or covered inac-curately by the media. So it’s very impor-tant when foreign researchers respond to such discussions.”

During their stay, participants visited the Georgian National Museum, viewed the results of current archaeological excavations on Grakliani Hill (Kaspi Municipality) and saw the newly discov-ered ancient inscription (7tch century BC). They also visited Uplistsikhe, and

had the chance to tour the Stalin Museum in Gori.

As well as discussing recent problems in the fi eld of Georgian Studies, Forum participants made recommendations for the future.

“Their recommendations are vital for the dynamic growth of Georgian Studies as much in Georgia as outside the coun-try. New ideas were born, among them the need to compile a history of Cauca-sus. It was decided that an international forum will be held every three years on the subject of Georgian Studies,” said Metreveli.

The recent Georgian Studies Forum focused on linguistics, history of religion, and literature and art

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 201514 CULTURE

WHAT’S ON IN TBILISIMUSEUM AND ALEXANDER KARTVELI ASSOCIATION PRESENT AN EXHIBITION DEDICATED TO THE GREATEST MILITARY AIRCRAFT DESIGNER IN HISTORY.

November 20 – December 4PAPER INNOVATION The works are presented from different countries of Europe, Asia, Latin and North America.

ZURAB TSERETELI MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

Address: 27 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 2 14 84 11, 2 98 60 04www.momatbilisi.ge

November 26DUCHAMP IS DEADRODOLFO VILLAPLANA

GALLERY

BAIA GALLERYAddress: 10 Chardin StrTelephone: 2 75 45 10

November 21 – 30Baia Gallery presents Dato Archil Sulakauri’s exhibition SPACE. ENCAUSTIC

THE NATIONAL GALLERY

Address: 11 Rustaveli Ave.www.museum.ge

November 7 – December 6THE EXHIBITION OF SCENOGRAPHY by three Georgian artists – Oleg Kochakidze, Alexander Slovinsky, Yuri Chikvaidze.

TBILISI BOOK DAYSAddress: 116 Tsereteli Str.,ExpoGeorgia Exhibition Centerwww.bookexpo.ge

THEATRE

GABRIADZE THEATRE

Address: 13 Shavtelis St.

Telephone: 2 98 65 93

November 27MARSHAL DE FANTIE’S

DIAMOND

Rezo Gabriadze

Directed by Rezo Gabriadze

English Subtitles

Start time: 20:00

Ticket price: 10, 15, 20 Lari

November 28RAMONA

Rezo Gabriadze

Directed by Rezo Gabriadze

English Subtitles

Start time: 20:00

Ticket price: 10, 15, 20 Lari

November 29AUTUMN OF MY SPRING

Rezo Gabriadze

Directed by Rezo Gabriadze

English Subtitles

Start time: 20:00

Ticket price: 10, 15, 20 Lari

MARJANISHVILI THEATREAddress: 5 Marjanishvli Str.

Telephone: 2 95 59 66

November 27BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE

Leonard Gershe

Directed by Ani Khidesheli

The Basement

English Subtitles

Start time: 20:00

Ticket Price: 8 Lari

GRIBOEDOVI THEATREAddress: 2 Rustaveli Ave.

Telephone: 2 93 43 36

November 28GOVERNMENT INSPECTORN. GogolDirected by Avtandil VarsimashviliSmall StageLanguage: RussianStart time: 18:00Ticket price: From 5 Lari

November 29THE SCARLET FLOWERS. AksakovDirected Vakhtang NikolavaFairy TaleSmall StageLanguage: RussianStart time: 12:00, 14:00Ticket price: 5 Lari

MOVEMENT THEATREAddress: 182, Aghmashenebeli Ave., Mushthaid parkTelephone: 599 555 260

November 27, 29SHAKESPEARE NELLA LIRICAIrina Ratiani’s Opera Art Association “Balcanto”Conductor: Gianluca MarcianoDirected by Ketevan-Khatuna BedeladzeChoreography: Kakha BakuradzeStart time: 20:00

CIRCUSAddress: 1 The Heroes Sq. Telephone: 2 98 58 61 www.krakatuk.eu

November 28, 29CLOWN ASSEMBLYStart time: 15:00Ticket price: From 10 Lari

CINEMA

AMIRANI CINEMAAddress: 36 Kostava Str.Telephone: 2 99 99 55www.kinoafi sha.ge

November 27 - 30THE HUNGER GAMES:

MOCKINGJAY – PART 2Directed by Francis LawrenceCast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam HemsworthGenre: Adventure, Sci-Fi Language: RussianStart time: 17:15, 20:00, 22:35Ticket price: 11.50 – 13.50 Lari

SPECTREDirected by Sam MendesCast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa SeydouxGenre: Action, Adventure, ThrillerLanguage: RussianStart time: 14:00Ticket price: 9.50 – 10.50 Lari

MACBETHDirected by Justin KurzelCast: Michael Fassbender, Elizabeth Debicki, Marion Cotillard Genre: Drama, WarLanguage: RussianStart time: 15:20Ticket price: 10.50 – 11.50 Lari

VICTOR FRANKENSTEINDirected by Paul McGuiganCast: Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy, Jessica Brown FindlayGenre: Drama, Horror, Sci-FiLanguage: RussianStart time: 15:20Ticket price: 10.50 – 11.50 Lari

MUSEUM

GEORGIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM

SIMON JANASHIA MUSEUMAddress: 4 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 2 99 80 22, 2 93 48 21www.museum.ge

ARCHAEOLOGICAL TREASUREPermanent Exhibition

November 17 - May 1THE GEORGIAN NATIONAL

November 26 - 30BOOK FAIR

November 26 - 30EXHIBITIONS:Roger Mello (Brazil)Willy Puchner (Austria)Tom Schamp (Belgium)Christopher Myers (Usa)Linda Wolfsgruber (Austria)Picture Book Idea Contest/Exhibition Of Submitted WorkHall 3Virgam Virtual PublishersScarecrowsUkrainian Illustrators Club Pictoric Prominent UkrainiansHall 5International Picture Book ExhibitionHall 11Motto Distribution - Exhibition & SalePeter Bankov: PostersGeorgian Art Book ExhibitionNiice PublishingJulie Hascoet And Romeo Julien ExhibitionSpineHall 6

RED SQUARE Address: 88 Paliashvili Str.Tel.: 577 74 77 45

November 25 – December 6RED SQUARE gallery presentsELENE AKHVLEDIANI personal exhibition

MUSIC

TBILISI CONCERT HALLAddress: 1 Melikishvili St.Telephone: 2 99 00 99

November 27ERISIONI 130 YEAR ANNIVERSARYStart time: 19:00Ticket price: 30, 40, 50 Lari

BY LILY KHOSITASHVILI

Visual perception depends on the eye of the beholder. In his stereoscopic and anamorphic pieces, artist William Kentridge makes

the central perspective recognisable as a Western hypothesis, and its conditions and its consequences perceptible.

Kentridge’s silhouette collages inspire the viewer to reconsider how large a part the observer plays when making sense of something. In some of his works, Kentridge makes use of visuals and motives created by German Renaissance artists and adapts them into his own metaphorical language. The artist anal-yses the medium of black and white imagery, so refl ecting the political and social upheavals of his time.

The political content and unique tech-niques of Kentridge’s work have pro-

Artist of the Month: William Kentridge, the Invention of Africa

pelled him into the realm of South Africa’s top artists. Working with what is in essence a very restrictive media, using only charcoal and a touch of blue or red pastel, he has created animations of astounding depth. A theme running through all of his work is his peculiar way of representing his birthplace. While he does not portray it as the militant or oppressive place that it was for black people, he does not emphasize the pic-turesque state of living that white peo-ple enjoyed during apartheid either; he presents instead a city in which the duality of man is exposed. In a series of nine short fi lms, he introduces two characters - Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitlebaum. These characters depict an emotional and political struggle that ultimately refl ects the lives of many South Africans in the pre-democracy era.

For the series, he used a technique that would become a feature of his work - successive charcoal drawings, always on

the same sheet of paper, contrary to the traditional animation technique in which each movement is drawn on a separate sheet. In this way, Kentridge’s videos and fi lms keep the traces of the previous drawings. His animations deal with political and social themes from a per-sonal and, at times, autobiographical point of view, since the author includes his self-portrait in many of his works.

In all of his animated works, the con-cepts of time and change make up a major theme. He conveys this through his erasure technique, the seamlessness of which de-emphasizes the fact that it is actually a succession of hand-drawn images. This he implements by drawing a key frame, erasing certain areas of it, re-drawing and thus creating the next

frame. He is able in this way to create as many frames as he wants based on the original key frame simply by erasing small sections. Traces of what has been erased are still visible to the viewer; as the fi lms unfold, a sense of fading mem-ory or the passing of time and the traces it leaves behind are portrayed. Kentridge’s technique grapples with what is not said; what remains suppressed or forgotten but can easily be felt.

In the nine fi lms that follow Soho Eck-stein’s life, an increasing vehemence is placed on the health of the individual and on contemporary South African society. Confl icts between anarchic and bourgeois individualistic beliefs, again a reference to the duality of man, indi-cate the idea of social revolution by

poetically disfi guring surrounding build-ings and landscapes. Kentridge states that, although his work does not focus on apartheid in a direct and overt man-ner, but rather on the contemporary state of Johannesburg, his drawings and fi lms are certainly spawned by, and feed off of, the brutalized society that it left in its wake. As for more direct political issues, Kentridge says his art presents ambiguity, contradiction, uncompleted movements and uncertain endings, all of which seem like insignifi cant subtle-ties but can be attributed to most of the calamity presented in his work.

William Kentridge was born on 28 April 1955. He is one of the most prominent and infl uential South African artists, whose work refl ects global concerns.

GEORGIA TODAY NOVEMBER 27 - 30, 2015 15SPORTS

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BY NINA IOSELIANI

Tbilisi will host the 2016 World Youth Weightlifting Competition. The decision was accepted by a commis-sion from the International

Federation in Youth Weightlifting, in the

Tbilisi to Host World Youth Weightlifting Competition in 2016

city of Houston.The competition will be held in July.

The exact date is yet to be announced.Tbilisi was represented in Houston by

President of the National Federation of Youth Weightlifting in Georgia, Kakhi Kakhiashvili, Vice-President Zurab Bok-holishvili and Deputy of the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs in Georgia, Shalva Gogoladze.

Georgian Woman Named Champion in World Senior Chess Championship

Georgia’s Nona Gaprin-dashvili became World Champion in the Women’s +65 category in the 25th World Senior Chess

Championship 2015. She was the wom-en’s World Champion from 1962 until 1978, and this is her 4th time as Senior World Champion.

The tournament was split into four age groups and took place in Acqui Terme, Italy.

Gaprindashvili gained 7.0 points in 9 rounds and won by 0.5 points against Georgia’s Tamar Khmiadashvili. As a result, the European and World Cup winner, Khmiadashvili, won silver in the senior category. Georgia didn’t have a player in this years +65 men’s category. Frenchman Vladimir Okhotnik took the gold medal with 9.5 points.

BY MERI TALIASHVILI

In the framework of The Tbilisi Book Days, Finnish writer Emmi Iteranta visited Georgia to talk about her bestselling book Mem-ory of Water which was published

in 2012 and acclaimed by the world. She currently resides in the UK and is a full time bilingual writer, writes in both Finn-ish and English and feels lucky to be in that position. She travels a lot and, while in Tbilisi, she expressed her pleasure at the love Georgians have of books. She considers books as a source of knowl-edge and the cheapest way of travelling in different worlds at different times. Georgia Today met up with her to talk about her bestselling book.

EMMI, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR LIFE? WHERE YOU WERE BORN? I was born in Tampere, Finland. In my early twenties I decided to study Drama and Film studies in the United Kingdom. Then I returned to Finland and fi nished my degree and started doing lots of odd jobs. I worked as a press offi cer, as a journalist, a theatre critic. I was inter-ested in writing but didn’t know to get there. After some years in Finland doing these jobs, I decided to go to back the UK and get a creative writing degree. I challenged myself to do something a lit-tle bit different. So I went to the Univer-sity of Kent for one year and started writing Memory of Water as part of my creative writing degree. Then my teach-ers encouraged me to continue writing.

WHAT GENRE IS THE BOOK AND WHAT IS IT ABOUT? Memory of Water is a fi ction novel and tells the story of a young woman in a future world where there is shortage of fresh drinking water. She is studying to be a team master and when she comes of age, she has to take responsibility for protecting the secret fresh water source that the family has been guarding for several generations. This is a very dan-gerous responsibility because within the society she lives, there is a military gov-ernment in power which is trying to gets its hands on all remaining water resources. So keeping this secret is a very danger-ous task.

IT IS YOUR FIRST WORK AND IT HAS BECOME A WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER. IT IS ALSO VERY POPULAR IN GEORGIA. WHILE WRITING IT, DID YOU IMAGINE IT WOULD BE SO SUCCESSFUL? I never expected the kind of success the book has achieved. It won a couple of awards in Finland and has been nomi-nated for several awards for English Translation, which I did myself. It has been translated into 19 languages to date. When I was writing it, my only hope was that someone would publish it and I only expected it to fi nd a handful readers. I never expected anything beyond that.

Georgia Today Interviews Emmi Iteranta, Author of Memory of Water

Every step of the journey has been a surprise.

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS? ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE SOMETHING ELSE? I have just fi nished another novel called The City of Woven Streets, which was published in Finland last month. It is coming out in English next year. The translation right has already been sold in Georgia as well, so the county’s mar-ket will see it within the next two years. It differs from Memory of Water in that

it does not continue the same story. But it is again about a young woman- this one keeping some secret dreams. In her society, dreaming is forbidden but she is a natural dreamer and so she has to hide it from everyone because if some-one fi nds out she might end up in prison for the rest of her life.

YOUR CHARACTERS SEEM TO BE RISK TAKERS. DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THEM? EVERY ARTIST TENDS TO CONVEY WHAT THEY ARE IN THEIR ARTWORK? DO YOU? Yes. The characters have something in common with me. I am much more inclined to be absorbed in my thoughts rather than taking lots of drastic action. I think that’s what we have in common. They are quite introverted and refl ec-tive. They want to take risks in what they believe and don’t want to compromise what they hold dear. They are ready to fi ght for what they think is right.

I never expected the kind of success the book has achieved