Muslims of Orta Mosque pray outside the mosque in Batumi (Mari Nikuradze/ OC Media)
A controversy over the construction of a second mosque in Batumi has resurfaced after the new head of Adjara, Tornike Rizhvadze, promised it would go ahead. Batumi’s Muslims have long complained that the city’s only current mosque is too small, but Rizhvadze faced criticism for his decision from a number of ultra-conservative groups including the March of Georgians. [Read more…]
Coverage of the attack on Rustavi 2.
Far-right group the March of Georgians attacked three journalists from Rustavi 2 on Monday afternoon in Tbilisi. The attack was in response to an on-air joke by anchor Giorgi Gabunia about former Georgian Prime Minister, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, his tree-collecting hobby, and Jesus Christ. [Read more…]
Tamta Abuselidze (/Women of Georgia)
‘I heard many times of women’s abductions when I was living in the village. And of course, I never thought that it was a good thing, but I also didn’t know it was illegal. They never taught us anything about it at school, there was no literature about it.’
(Facebook)
Eleven people have died and 19 were injured in a fire at a hotel in Georgia’s Black Sea resort city of Batumi, Georgia’s Interior Minister has confirmed. [Read more…]
Natia Kapanadze (adjaratv.ge)
Adjara TV is to pick up two popular TV programmes controversially axed by the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) in June. The shows are a joint production with the Georgian bureau of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
(Private Demirel College)
A manager at the Private Demirel College, a school linked to Turkish opposition political figure Fethullah Gülen, has been detained in Tbilisi. Mustafa Emre Çabuk was detained on 24 May for ‘supporting a terrorist organisation’ allegedly upon Turkey’s request. [Read more…]
Tulip tree in Black Sea (GDS TV)
Georgia’s billionaire ex prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has been ripping up ancient and rare trees from across the country and transporting them to his private arboretum in Ureki. While the government claims it is for their own protection, activists continue to challenge the move. [Read more…]
Riot in Batumi ( Manana Kveliashvili/Batumelebi)
Georgia’s port city of Batumi on the shores of the Black Sea was shaken by spontaneous outrage on 11–12 March. Riots supposedly over the issuing of a parking ticket were rooted in a peculiar mixture of anti-police sentiments, ethno-nationalism, and social exclusion. [Read more…]
A group of residents from the village of Kirnati in Georgia’s Adjara region staged a protest on 24 February against construction projects implemented by the Adjara Energy 2007 company.
(Facebook)
The Education Quality Development Centre of Georgia, an agency of the Ministry of Education, revoked on 3 February the authority to teach of the Şahin Friendship School, a school linked to Turkish political figure Fethullah Gülen.
