Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The first political action of Georgian Muslims took place in Batumi. Residents of Adzharia gathered on a wasteland and demanded from the Georgian authorities of the government of Adzharia to begin promised construction of the jameh mosque there.
The events in the capital of Adzharia became a result of religious contradiction in the region of Samtskhe-Dzhavakheti where in the late 1980s hundreds of Adzharia families settled. They ran from mudslides and floods in the mountain regions of Adzharia. There have never been religious problems in the region. The common language and basic traditions helped to smooth quarrels. But hidden problems always explode sooner or later. The reason is the decision by the Georgia authorities to demount a minaret of a mosque in the village of Chela where Muslims peacefully lived together with Christians for all these decades. The authorities explained the decision by breaking the customs laws.
First of all, we should say that all attempts to put the blame on the tax service of the Ministry of Finances are incorrect. The decision was made at a different level and with the participation of the Georgian Orthodox Church. People of the local Orthodox church, supported by the bishop, collected signatures for several weeks for the removal of the minaret from the village as they were disturbed by daily azans.
As for the argument about supposedly illegal import of the minaret’s built-up structure from Turkey – it is doubtful. If the point was in necessary “commodity examination of the imported structure”, it could be provided on-site, without demounting.
An attempt to demount the sacred Muslim building stirred up the situation in Adzharia. Mass brawls took place and around 20 people were arrested. Adzharia residents left Batumi and gathered in a local mosque. They were supported by the chairman of the Adzharia government, Archil Khabadze. Premier Bidzina Ivanishvili didn’t comment on the situation. Meanwhile, President Saakashvili didn’t lose a chance to present himself as a defender of religious minorities. He warned that the discrimination of rights of Muslims would worsen relations between Georgia and Turkey and Azerbaijan, and as the result “the country would remain face-to-face with the enemy – Russia.”
At last a compromise was found at the meeting between Patriarch of all-Georgia Ilya II and muftis of Adzharia. The fact of the negotiations confirms that the Patriarchy has been initially involved into the process. But in what democratic secular state do religious institutes decide how tax inspection should act? The sides agreed to return the minaret to the region, but not to erect it near the village mosque, rather to “store” it in the regional center. The tax police immediately took the minaret back to Samtskhe-Dzhavakheti. What if the religious leaders didn’t agree?
The major serious incident is a result of the excessive importance of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the social life and its influence on the most significant state decisions. It leads to blurring of civil identity and improvement of alternative religious movements as a defensive reaction of those groups which don’t associate themselves with the religious majority.
