Read the full Crisis Group report: 

Georgia’s Armenian and Azeri Minorities

Tbilisi/Brussels, 22 November 2006: The Georgian government must take
significant steps to avoid conflict in the country’s ethnic Armenian and Azeri
areas.

Georgia's Armenian and Azeri Minorities, the latest report from the
International Crisis Group, examines the grievances of these two communities.
While there is no risk of the situation becoming Ossetian- or Abkhaz-like
threats to Georgia’s territorial integrity, tensions are evident in the regions
of Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo-Kartli, where the two predominantly live. There
have been demonstrations, alleged police brutality and killings during the past
two years.

Georgia has made little progress towards integrating these minorities, who
constitute over 12 per cent of the population. Armenians and Azeris are
underrepresented in all spheres of public life, especially government, and a
lack of dialogue between them and Tbilisi adds to perceptions of discrimination
and alienation. This is aggravated by economic problems, including high
unemployment l and decaying infrastructure.

“Tbilisi needs to do much more to build confidence and to encourage minorities
to address their problems through state structures rather then in the street”,
says Sabine Freizer, Crisis Group’s Caucasus Project Director.

While the government denies there is any inequality, many minorities claim they
are treated as second-class citizens. Feeling betrayed by the Abkhaz and
Ossetians, who declared independent states on Georgian territory, Tbilisi has a
deeply rooted, if unfounded, fear that othersmay do the same. More sensitive and
effective minority policies would dampen such demands and might even help build
trust with the Abkhaz and Ossetians.

Some steps have been taken to improve the lives of minorities. With donor
support, Georgia has invested in road and infrastructure rehabilitation in
minority regions and created a ministry for civic integration, established a
public administration institute to train minorities and ratified the Framework
Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

None of this is likely to appease minorities’ political grievances without
policies that increase inclusion and participation. Implementation of local
government reform after the 2006 elections provides a new platform for
minorities to affect decision making through municipal bodies. More consultation
by Tbilisi when drafting legislation can also help.

The government needs to establish a comprehensive education system to teach
Georgian as a second language to minorities, but while a new generation is
educated, minorities should not be discriminated against, especially in hiring
for state jobs. The state should also implement its international commitments,
particularly allowing use of minority languages for state affairs in
municipalities with large numbers of minority citizens, as is standard
throughout Europe.

“Only by acting on both tracks will Georgia succeed in reducing tensions and
increasing minority integration”, says Nicholas Whyte, Crisis Group’s Europe
Program Director.

Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 2 541 16 35
media@crisisgroup.org

Kimberly Abbott (Washington) +1 202 785 1601