Issue no: 1063

NEWS PAGE 2

CULTURE PAGE 15

• JULY 6 - 9, 2018 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY PRICE: GEL 2.50

Continued on page 2

POLITICS PAGE 4

POLITICS PAGE 7

POLITICS PAGE 8

In this week’s issue...

SOCIETY PAGE 10

SOCIETY PAGE 13

Tensions Rising in & around Iran

Russia & the US Try to Revive Relations

Georgian Agency of Protected Areas Joins Europarc

Kids to Get Caught Reading in Georgia this Summer

Katamadze & Insight to Open Art Gene Festival 2018

Delays at the Georgia-Russia Border Due to Issues with Customs

Armenian Prosecutors to Question Ex-President & Arrest Ex-Minister of Defense

BY THEA MORRISON

The Chairman of Georgia's Autono-mous Republic of Adjara, Zurab Pataridze, who had held the post since July 2016, announced his res-ignation on July 4, meaning that the

whole cabinet also had to step down.As Pataridze stated, he and his team made the

decision together after “some consultations,” however, no other reasons were named by the ex-offi cial.

In addition, the former Adjara Government Chair underlined that he will remain in the rul-ing Georgian Dream (GD) to “serve his country, as before.”

Opposition parties claim Pataridze’s resignation was demanded by the “informal” ruler of the country, GD founder, its Chair and the former Prime Minister, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.

On June 13, the former Prime Minister of Geor-gia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, resigned due to a dif-ference of opinion with Ivanishvili. Photo Zurab Pataradze with the new PM, Mamuka Bakhtadze, in Batumi. June 26.

Source: adjara.gov.ge

Why Did Georgia’s Adjara Gov't Chair Resign?

FOCUS ON THE RIGHT MESSAGESMEPS visit Georgia to gauge religion's role in EU integration PAGE 6

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 20182 NEWS

The opposition says Pataridze was Kvirikashvili’s team member and after Ivanishvili dismissed the ex-PM, he “decided to replace the Adjara Govern-ment Head too.”

Unoffi cial sources say the newly-elected PM Mamuka Bakhtadze complained to Pataridze regarding the infrastructure of the coastal city Batumi when he paid a visit to the Adjaran capital on June 26.

The United National Movement (UNM) says it is obvious that Pataridze was dis-

missed for his friendship with ex-PM Kvirikashvili.

“The ruling party is replacing Kviri-kashvili’s staff with Bakhtadze's people, but nothing will change, because anyone who does not want to be substituted in the future will have to follow Ivanish-vili’s directions,” UNM member, Tinatin Bokuchava claimed.

Meanwhile, European Georgia says that Pataridze’s resignation confi rmed that in parallel with the economic hardship in the country, there is a political “crisis” too.

“I am sure GD has no idea how to cope

with the current situation in the coun-try…However, no matter who is appointed to offi cial positions, they will have to serve Ivanishvili,” said Zurab Chaberash-vili, European Georgia MP.

The GD majority categorically denies that Pataridze was dismissed. GD MP Anri Okhanashvili claims he made the decision himself, while GD parliamen-tary majority leader, Archil Talakvadze, mentioned that before Pataridze’s res-ignation, there were discussions in the team regarding this issue.

The real reason for Pataridze’s leaving

the post is unclear to the President's Administration. Giorgi Margvelashvili's political secretary, Pikria Chikhradze, points to the recent tendency of state offi cials leaving their posts mysteriously.

“We should hear a proper explanation from Pataridze or the ruling team as to why he resigned. Earlier, we saw the PM’s resignation, now he is followed by Pataridze. Society deserves to know the truth,” she said. Ana Natsvlishvili, the Parliamentary Secretary of the President stated that within two weeks, Margve-lashvili will discuss potential Adjara

Government Chair candidates with the Adjara Supreme Council, and not with the GD majority, the standard procedure being for the President to submit to the Supreme Council of Adjara a candidate who will be nominated by him.

The Adjara Supreme Council consists of 21 members. In order for the head of the government to be approved, 11 MPs must be in support of the candidate. The majority of the Georgian Dream has 14 mandates in the council, meaning the selection of the new Chair is up to them, not the President.

Continued from page 1

Why Did Georgia’s Adjara Gov't Chair Resign?

BY KAREN TOVMASYAN IN YEREVAN

The Special Investigative Service (SIS) of Republic of Armenia has reopened the investigation of the March 1st events of 2008

when the government opened fi re against peaceful demonstrators who were chal-lenging the offi cial results of the presi-dential elections.

The SIS has decided to question the former President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan (1998-2008), for his connec-tion with the deadly crackdown on the peaceful demonstration, which Arme-nians often call “The March 1st Slaugh-ter”.

On July 4, the Press-Secretary of Kocharyan, Victor Soghomonyan, speak-ing about the recent developments and the decision to question his boss for the shooting, stated that Kocharyan is out of the country at present. According to the Azatutuyun radio station (Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty) Kocharyan stands ready to testify for his actions before and during the March 1st events.

Meanwhile, the law-enforcement agency

Armenian Prosecutors to Question Ex-President & Arrest Ex-Minister of Defense

decided to arrest Kocharyan’s Minister of Defense, Mikael Harutyunyan, who played a key role in the event.

According to the SIS press-release, Harutyunyan illegally used, together with “other individuals,” the armed forces against peaceful protesters in what amounted to an “overthrow of constitu-tional order.”

According to the Armenian Constitu-tion, the Army commandership is banned

from using the Army in internal political developments, while Harutyunyan, according to a secret order released on February 23, 2008, formed special regi-ments in Yerevan, giving them combat weapons and arsenal to depress the peaceful demonstrations.

The protests in Armenia started on 20 February 2008 and lasted 10 days. The demonstrators were protesting the most criticized and disputed presidential elec-

tions of Armenia according to which Serzh Sargsyan was announced the win-ning candidate.

The protests against the offi cial results of the presidential elections were led by the main opposition candidate, Arme-nia's First President, Levon Ter-Petrosyan (1991-1998) who raised a huge popular movement in support of his nomination in 2008 and demanded the annulment of the election results by the Constitu-tional Court. The increasing pressure by Ter-Petrosyan and 10-day non-stop demonstations in Yerevan, which put the government under risk of collapse, "forced" Kocharyan's regime to use bru-tal actions against the opposition to maintain his power.

After the crackdown of the protest early in the morning followed the arrests of most opposition leaders as well as the house arrest of Ter-Petrosyan. Current Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashin-yan, was one of the few opposition lead-ers who escaped arrest, to lead the main demonstration later that day.

The negotiations between Ter-Pet-rosyan and the authorities received no results and later the same day the gov-ernment announeced a state of emer-gency and opened fi re against Ter-Pet-rosyan's supporters, killing at least 10

and wounding a hundred demonstrators.After the crackdown on the demonstra-

tion, Pashinyan had to spent almost 1.4 years in the underground, and then will-ingly went to the General Prosecuter's Offi ce in July 2009, where he was arrested and sentenced to seven years inprison-ment in 2010.

Pashinyan spent just 1.5 years in prison and was released in an act of amnesty, which was announced as a result of another popular movement raised by Ter-Petrosyan in 2011, which pressed the government to release the dozens of pollitical prisoners imprisoned during the 2008 presidential elections.

During the 10 years of the presidency of Sargsyan, no serious steps were made to investigate the killings of the peaceful demonstrators, with the opposition par-ties and human rights defenders marked all the actions made by Sargsyan's gov-ernment in this direction as "imitation and show."

The Armenian National Congress party lead by Ter-Petrosyan and other parties opposing the former government lead by Sargsyan, have already expressed their satisfaction with the recent move of the Special Investigative Service of Armenia and have announced their willingness to support the investigation.

BY THEA MORRISON

Specialists of the Environmen-tal Pollution Monitoring Department of the NEA (National Environmental Agency of Georgia) have

started to examine the air quality in various locations throughout Tbilisi with the help of mobile stations.

They have already checked some of the busiest streets, and claim that Tsereteli Avenue in the Didube district is the most polluted place so far regard-ing air pollution.

The specialists added that the Queen Tamar Avenue monitor showed that the amount of nitrogen dioxide exceeds the norm by 1.3 times, which is dangerous to health.

Meanwhile, the cleanest air so far observed was in the Vashlijvari settle-ment.

The Head of the Environmental Pol-lution Monitoring Department of the NEA, Marina Arabidze, says the moni-toring will cover suburbs and other streets too, adding that air quality will be constantly controlled in the capital.

She stated that the main reason for the air pollution in Tbilisi are car exhaust fumes and the ongoing constructions in Tbilisi, with construction companies not following the standards to avoid polluting the air.

Noe Megrelishvili from the NEA says they have measured air quality at 25 locations periodically and revealed that

Photo source: skyscrapercity.com

Specialists: Transport Exhaust & Constructions Pollute Air in Tbilisi

the places where traffi c is the busiest are the most polluted in terms of nitro-gen dioxide.

Doctors say that polluted air increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and ischaemic heart diseases, in addition to its role in the develop-ment of respiratory diseases, including acute respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.

Oncologist Giorgi Dzagnidze says pol-

luted air affects water and food quality in Georgia, adding this increases the cases of cancer and deaths.

Disease Control Center Department Head Lela Sturua says the situation is “alarming” but can be solved by con-trolling fuel quality, banning old cars and renewing public transport in the capital.

“Public transport must be developed so that the population reduces the use

of their private cars, of which there are too many in the capital,” she noted.

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze stated at a City Hall sitting that old yellow buses are the main source of the air pollution in the capital.

Kaladze claimed that in the coming days, the Mayor’s Offi ce will present a new Transport Policy, which will be aimed at solving the mentioned prob-lem along with a number of other issues.

“Yellow buses, minibuses and their exhaust fumes cause serious problems for the environment. We need to tighten regulations in order to reduce car and bus emissions in the capital,” he said.

The Mayor added that along with public transport, old cars also pose a threat to the ecology, adding their import must be banned.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says polluted air also increases cases of premature deaths. According to the WHO 2016 survey, the countries ranked by deaths per 100,000 people attributed to air pollution are led by Georgia, fol-lowed by Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Korea, and Bulgaria, though countries like China and India have more total deaths from air pollution since they much more population.

Environmentalists say that Tbilisi desperately needs green zones and that more recreational areas should be set up throughout the city.

Experts state that the quality of fuel consumed in Georgia determines how severe and damaging the emissions are, claiming the fuel used by city-dwellers in the capital is not regularly checked.

As Numbeo, one of the world's largest databases of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide states, as of June 2018, the air pollution index in Georgia amounts to 79.22, while the pollution index itself is 77.52, which is a high indicator.

The NEA of Georgia says that the country is taking steps to provide bet-ter systems of measuring air quality and tighten control in this fi eld.

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 2018 3NEWS

AT THE BILTMORE HOTEL 29 Rustaveli Ave, 0108 Tbilisi, Georgia

BY SAMANTHA GUTHRIE

The peach harvest has begun in Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region.

Commersant is report-ing that, although the har-

vest has begun, the region’s fruit pro-cessing factories are not yet running. Archil Khandamashvili, Mayor of Gur-jaani, said that 80-90% of Georgia’s peaches are exported, due in part to inadequate domestic processing facil-ities.

Khandamashvili is quoted as explain-ing that there are plans to open a major canning factory in Gurjaani, but it “has not been opened yet due to some tech-nical problems, but it is said that the factory will be launched in the near future. Exporters buy peaches and sell it to Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia.” Peach prices have held steady, ranging from GEL 0.50 – 0.78 per kilogram ($0.20 – 0.28).

In 2013, a fruit-processing and stor-age enterprise called Georgian Fruit Company Ltd. opened in the Gurjaani municipality, funded under the frame of the preferential agro-credit project. At least $1 million has been invested in the business. In 2016, the facility helped the harvest run smoothly.

In 2017, peach and nectarine growers in Kakheti suffered from too much of a good thing. Much of last year’s har-vest spoiled or was distilled into peach chacha by locals unable to sell their fruit. The nectarine harvest was robust, and demand for the fruit is relatively low, driving down already low prices. Some farmers also reported that they

Kakhetian peach farmers. Source: Food Perestroika

It’s Peach Season in Kakhetigenerally count on Azerbaijani buyers, but some buyers came too late in the season, claiming hold ups at the border with customs agents. Speaking with OC Media, Gela Khanishvili, Deputy Agriculture Minister, blamed customs issues at the Russian border for the hang ups rather than the Azeri border.

One farmer quoted by OC Media, said he gave up farming due to last year’s failed harvest. “I am considering cut-ting the peach trees down and creating a vineyard. At least [grapes] don’t spoil so easily. I wasn’t able to earn even half of what I invested. This is a disaster,” said the man, identifi ed only as Kemash-vili. Mayor Khandamashvili says that, "Unlike last year's trend, this year we expect a much better harvest."

Shalva Kereselidze, Head of Regional Coordination at the Ministry of Envi-ronmental Protection and Agriculture, says that Kakheti has not yet demon-strated a need or demand for a fruit processing facility. In Gori, two-and-a-half hours away by car, there is the factory of Kula, a Georgian company that makes fruit juices and compotes. Some Kakhetian farmers sell their peaches to Gori and the Kula factory covers the transportation costs and logistics. In 2017, Kula bought 500 tons of peaches from Kakheti.

Since 2013, the government has been encouraging farmers to form coopera-tives to sell their produce, but most are not interested in such a scheme.

The Ministry of Environmental Pro-tection and Agriculture of Georgia released a statement on this week say-ing they expect this year’s peach harvest in Kakheti to reach a total of 23,600 tons of peaches, collected along with an estimated 13,000 tons of nectarines.

According to the Ministry of Agricul-ture, Georgia has exported 1,608 tons of peaches so far this year, which is 1,537.58 tons (22-fold) more than in 2017.

In the fi rst quarter of 2018, Georgia exported $37.8 million of agricultural goods – 22% more than the fi rst quar-ter of 2017. According to a 2016 value

chain analysis by PMCG and Iakob Gogebashvili Telavi State University, Kakheti produces 74% of Georgia’s peaches.

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 20184 POLITICS

BY SAMANTHA GUTHRIE

The Georgian Revenue Service, respon-sible for customs and tariffs at Geor-gia’s borders, reports that the Russian customs checkpoint at Upper/Verkhny Lars, just north of Kazbegi is operat-

ing at reduced capacity with half the normal num-ber of cargo trucks being processed daily. The Revenue Service emphasizes that the delays are caused solely by issues on the Russian side of the border and that everything on the Georgian side is running smoothly.

The Revenue Service released a statement say-ing, “We are already working on a limited basis for the sixth day, as the Russian side does not pass vehicles in the quantities it can. As a rule, 500-600 trucks pass through the border a day, but now no more than 250. The reason is associated with the tourist season, as for the Russian customs the pri-ority is to service citizens and cars.”

The delays are causing problems throughout the region as the narrow, high mountain pass is a major regional transit point for ground transportation. Armenian trucks are particularly heavily affected, as Russia is Armenia's main trading partner and all ground cargo moving between the two countries must pass through this checkpoint. Armenian media outlets are reporting that 1,500 trucks with agricul-tural products from Armenia are currently stuck at the Russian-Georgian border – as many as 600 cargo trucks have accumulated on the Georgian side.

Russian news outlet Mir24 reports that there are hundreds of passenger vehicles stuck on the Rus-sian side of the border in a traffi c jam of at least 3 km. Despite efforts to address the situation, it is taking cars an average of 3-4 hours to cross the

Delays at the Georgia-Russia Border Due to Issues with Customs

border into Georgia. At the height of summer hol-idays, with thousands of Russian tourists heading to Georgia’s popular warm weather destinations, the situation is particularly problematic. Each sum-mer, Russia is among the top fi ve countries whose citizens visit Georgia, according to statistics from the National Tourism Administration. From Janu-ary-March 2018, 233,100 Russians visited Georgia – up 25% from the same period last year.

Russian sources blame the delays on engineering and technical work, including preparation for plans to expand access roads to the checkpoint on the Russian side and equipment upgrades. Mir24 quotes

Sergei Trotsko, head of the North Ossetian Cus-toms, saying "Both us, RosGranStroy, and the Bor-der Guard Service will take measures to ensure that, despite the engineering and technical works, the checkpoint functions, and passenger and cargo

fl ow is not affected.” There is some unclarity over the actual cause of

the customs delays. According to the Ministry of Transport of Armenia, the problems are caused by the introduction of a new pass system in Russia, which allows drivers to pre-book a border crossing slot. A third possibility is capacity. Deputy head of the Transport Department of the Ministry of Trans-port, Communications and Information Technolo-gies of Armenia, David Melkonyan, told the Novo-sti Armenia news agency that the only explanation for the situation is seasonality and the capacity of the checkpoint. According to Melkonyan, "The design capacity of the customs post of Upper Lars is limited by natural features, usually on any given day there are 70-80 units of cargo, 200 units of pas-senger transport and 40 buses, as well as 4,000 individuals. However, over the past few days, the fl ow of freight transport has reached 200 vehicles, and individuals – 10,000. The accumulation of trucks is due to the fact that priority is given to cars.”

He adds that nothing can be done to alleviate the backup other than to open an alternate route, and that “negotiations are being conducted with both the Georgian and Russian sides.”

Speaking about Russian cooperation, a spokes-person for the Georgian Revenue Service said, "They have yet to say when the normal operation of the checkpoint is to resume. We offered them several solutions to the problem, but to no avail.”

Abkhazian ABL. Source: girlonawander.fi les.wordpress.com

OP-ED BY ZAZA JGARKAVA

Old “passports” are being replaced in occupied Abkhazia once again. This time the reason is regulations, the same ones that triggered the plan-ning of the Mandarin Revolution four

years ago and brought Raul Khajimba to power in the occupied territory. At that time, Khajimba tried to convince the local population that the Georgians living in Gali had acquired “Abkhazian citizenship” illegally and that this conscious crime needed fi x-ing. The latest Abkhazian “passportization process” may well evolve into an ethnical confrontation as it concerns not only the Georgians of Gali but also ethnic Russians and Armenians.

The regulation suggests that only those who lived on the territory of Abkhazia between 1994-1999 have the right to obtain an Abkhazian “passport,” the period when the separatists declared independence. Each citizen who claims to have the right to one must prove that they really lived in Abkhazia within the said timeframe. The main discontent has been caused by the fact that the obligation to provide proof does not concern ethnic Abkhazians, as the “legislation” of the separatists says that an ethnic Abkhazian automatically has the right to “citizen-ship.” Moreover, even those who really lived in the region in that 5-year period and can’t provide proof face serious problems because they can’t bring the documents, since there was no functioning enter-prise or educational institute in that period.

The new “passportization campaign” is running with an anti-Georgian motto, but, subtly, it still concerns those ethnic Russians and Armenians who have relocated to the territory of occupied Abkhazia since 2000 and claim ownership rights on real estate there. These are people who illegally started living in the deserted homes of Georgians and continue living there today. There is an opin-ion that the issue of these houses was raised after Syria recognized “Abkhazian independence” and its citizens decided to immigrate to Abkhazia, but there are other versions as well.

There are open discussions in Sokhumi about the criminal authorities, so-called “thieves in law,” that were expelled or fl ed from Europe and Russia with

Abkhazian Passportization & the New Criminal Residents of the Region

plans to reside in Abkhazia. After the criminal syn-dicate of Russia violated the agreement they had with police the beginning of the World Champion-ship, everyone is convinced that the Kremlin will not forgive the misdoing and will force them to leave the country. For days the criminals, together with police, have been searching for the jewelry worth 800,000 Euros that went missing from the hotel room of famous singer Shakira, wife of the Spanish National Team member Gerard Piqué. Moreover, there have been minor robberies reported by tourists. The initial criminal moratorium sug-gested that there would be order in the city, in return for which the criminal authorities received the right to attend the football games in VIP lounges at the stadium and inviolability. Russian media suggests that the second wave of cleansing of criminal authorities is already underway.

The fact that the criminal authorities no longer have a resting place in Europe is proven by the special operations that have taken place in differ-ent countries. The ultimatum of the new Prime Minister of Armenia has been added to this, Pashin-yan demanded the local criminal authorities leave the country by September as in early autumn, Armenia plans to adopt the same law which was adopted by President Saakashvili. People believe that after this campaign, all roads for the criminal authorities will lead to Sokhumi, instead of Rome, Athens or Paris, especially since crime is fl ourish-ing on the occupied territory. And the so-called Abkhazian “passportization” is just a doomed attempt to put a stop to this blossoming.

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 20186 POLITICS

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BY VAZHA TAVBERIDZE

In addition to it being one of the fi rst European countries to adopt Christianity, Georgia is also a country where a multitude of faiths and confessions has peace-

fully co-existed for centuries. The Geor-gian Orthodox Church (GOC) in par-ticular, as the biggest religious community, enjoys tremendous support and trust from Georgian society and is an important civil society actor.

And since the Georgian Church enjoys way more public trust than the govern-ment, it has become embedded in Geor-gian society’s collective conscience that that which the Church liketh, they should also like, and that which it loatheth, they should loathe too. And this also involves the EU, NATO and Georgia’s Euro-Atlan-tic aspirations. The EU and NATO, in order not to be considered an alien con-cept imposed over national identity in exchange for security and welfare, also need to be trusted by the GOC, especially in the eyes of the older generations. The fact that the ruling party has learnt the past lessons of its predecessor all too well was demonstrated when the government, in cooperation with the local NGO Center for Development and Democracy, sent a delegation of high-ranking clergymen from the Patriarchate and other churches to the EU and NATO headquarters, soon followed by a visit to the US.

However, it’s not only about the Geor-gian government’s attempts to legitimize the pro-Western course through the Church’s infl uence - the EU is also well aware that the GOC is an important actor, as became increasingly evident when the high-ranking EU offi cials arranged a meeting with the Patriarch while visit-ing Georgia. The former EU Commis-sioner for Enlargement and the European Neighborhood policy, Štefan Füle, and

The EU Integration – What Role Do Churches Play?

his successor Johannes Hahn, both paid a visit to the Patriarch, Ilia II. Therefore, it was little surprise when the delegation of the EPP, the largest party in the Euro-pean Parliament, decided to pay a visit to Georgia to discuss the role of religious actors in the European integration pro-cess. It was not their fi rst visit of this kind to the EaP country: in 2017, a del-egation of the EPP Working Group (WG) visited Ukraine to discuss the role of the churches in Kyiv’s European aspirations - in return, the Ukrainian Patriarch Philaret paid a visit to the European Parliament in May this year. Just one month later, it was Georgia’s turn to host high-level guests from the European Parliament.

“We came to Georgia for two reasons: fi rst, because Georgia is a frontrunner among the Eastern Partnership countries and second - it is also a country where the Church enjoys tremendous public trust and support,” explained Romain Strasser, Head of the Unit at the Inter-cultural and Religious Activities Direc-torate of the EPP group. “We have come to fi nd out what role the different reli-gions play in the European Integration process.”

The delegation of the EPP WG “Inter-cultural and Interreligious Dialogue,” headed by co-chairsMEPs Jan Olbrycht and György Holvenyi, arrived in Tbilisi on June 28. In the scope of the two-day visit, meetings were held with ambas-sadors, members of civil society and academia, and representatives of the Patriarchate, Armenian Apostolic Church, Muslim and Jewish communities and other religious fi gures.

The meeting with civil society and academia focused mostly on issues of secularism, transparency and the clash between liberal and more conservative approaches.

Among the speakers from the Georgian side was Ketevan Chachava, one of the “enablers” of newly-built bridges between

Georgian churches and the Euro-Atlan-tic community, who was eager to share her fi rst-hand experience.

“After initiating the dialogue with the religious leaders, we soon saw them become the carriers of the pro-Western messages,” she said. “The importance of dialogue and direct communication is very important, and religious leaders should not be left out of the discussion. They need to have the right information about what is hap-pening because they are among the most trusted carriers of messages.”

At the meeting with the clergy, the representatives of various churches and confessions expressed their support and commitment towards the country’s Euro-pean aspirations, while MEP Olbrycht was quick to underline the importance of religion and spirituality for the Euro-pean Union and dismiss the harmful stereotypes concerning religion, the question of morality, and the question of family inside the EU.

“What we observe today is the very important and growing role of religion and churches inside the European Union,” Olbrycht noted. “The [Georgian] Church is a very important actor, especially in Georgia because of its history and tradi-tions. So, we hope that the Church will be also be interested in what is going on inside Europe. Very often, we see that there are stereotypes or accusations that Europe is anti-Christian, that the Euro-peans are non-believers, etc. No, Europe is complex and there are different tradi-tions, different debates inside the EU. I think it is much more useful to present the real image of Europe and hope that

the Church, in terms of the institution and the people, will be open to discuss, debate and to see the truth of Europe.”

Olbrycht’s Hungarian counterpart did not mince his words either, when, after discussions with the Georgian academia, he was asked what practices Georgia should learn from the EU in all matters religious, stressing that fi rst and fore-most, Georgia should take into consid-eration its own values.

“We have not come here to teach you European traditions; we are here to listen to you and to learn from you. You do not need to copy. And I think that the churches in Georgia have huge added values that are sorely needed in Europe,” he said, not-ing that Georgia was a good example of different churches coexisting peacefully.

Further meetings included a visit to the Georgian Parliament, where the EPP delegation met the Chairwoman of the European Integration Committee, MP Tamar Khulordava and other members of the committee. The MEPs discussed the role of religion in the development of society and in state building. The sides spoke about disinformation and propa-ganda aimed at discrediting the EU policy and European values. The MEPs expressed readiness to strengthen com-munication with society.

The focal point, however, was undoubt-edly the top-level meeting with the Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia, Ilia II, at the Georgian Patriarchate. The octo-genarian Patriarch, invariably regarded as the country’s most popular fi gure in the last 20 years and widely regarded as a living saint by believers, thanked the

guests for their visit and the assistance provided to Georgia at the international level. Remaining as sharp as ever even in his reclining years, he spoke at length about the importance of spirituality in today’s turbulent world. He pointed out that Georgia is a country with an ancient Christian culture, where people of dif-ferent faith, beliefs and ethnos have lived, and still live, in mutual respect and love for centuries and that the Orthodox Church has been nurturing and contrib-uting to their peaceful co-existence.

The MEPs thanked the Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia for his hospital-ity, declaring that the role of his Holiness was instrumental in maintaining peace in the Caucasus region and expressed their hope and willingness to further strengthening relations with the GOC. The MEPs in fact did little to hide their admiration for the Patriarch, with Slo-vakian MEP Anna Zaborska noting how the people they had met from the vari-ous churches, were “indeed very reason-able and desiring of the best for their country.” The overall consensus was clear – be it from the perspective of the Church, politicians or civil society: it is crucial for the European Parliament and Georgian churches and religious com-munities to be on the same page when it comes to moving forward towards a more integrated, resilient relationship between Georgia and the European Union. As MEP Olbrycht quipped in his fi nal remark, “churches also mean peo-ple, and we need people to know what the real image of Europe and the Euro-pean Union is.”

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 2018 7POLITICS

Putin and Trump (2016). Source: ktla.com

OP-ED BY EMIL AVDALIANI

The U.S. lawmakers visited Russia this week in what is considered as a mission to try to help revive much worsened Russian-US rela-

tions. The senators also aimed at observ-ing how Russia's economy has been doing after four years of Western sanc-tions. The main meeting took place with Russia’s foreign affairs minister Sergey Lavrov on July 3.

The senators’ visit in itself is important as there have rarely been any similar events taking place in the last several years. However, what makes this nascent Moscow-Washington cooperation more crucial is the sequence of events leading up to the July 3rd meeting with Lavrov: the visit comes at the time as both coun-tries are preparing for the Trump-Putin summit on July 16 in Helsinki, Finland.

The presidents are expected to discuss a whole rage problematic issues con-cerning the two states across the Eura-sian landmass. Moreover, Russia and the United States have also agreed that their top diplomats will meet after a summit between the two countries' presidents scheduled for later this month, Russian FM Lavrov said.

This also follows Trump’s recent con-sistent rhetoric that Russia must be read-mitted to G8 and the relations be improved.

Russia & the US Try to Revive Relations

Quite naturally Ukraine and Georgia became worried as top politicians in Kiev and Tbilisi fear their countries’ core geopolitical interests could poten-tially be compromised in an apparent Russo-American rapprochement.

Indeed, there is a substance behind the need for Russia-US cooperation. Both countries want improvement in relations primarily in the realms of Syria and Ukraine. It is in the Russian interests to have gain some (even minor) geopoliti-cal concessions from Washington in the time when the western front has been kept pretty much united against the Rus-sian actions in Ukraine since 2014.

However, the intention behind the Rus-sian diplomatic moves (although the visit by the senators seems to be originating from the US) is based in the Russian strat-egy of trying to divide the the Western opposition. Indeed, the time seems to be ripe for those efforts to succeed. The Transatlantic alliance between the US and the European Union has been strained recently as the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear agreement and heaped additional taxes on European steel and aluminum.

Moscow clearly sees that dangers to the western unity are indeed there, but it is still unclear what will come out of these US-EU economic and diplomatic confrontations. True that for Moscow it will be a big opportunity to use, but the maximum the Russian leadership can hope for is the (partial) lifting of EU sanctions as well as minor concessions

in the fi eld of NATO military build-up in eastern Europe. Yet, even if this hap-pens, from a broader perspective, the EU will still hold important leverage in Ukraine as Kiev remains fi rmly under the European economic infl uence.

The EU-US disagreements are impor-tant, but for the moment not so much as to cause real fractures in the trans-Atlan-tic partnership. Europe and the US see

that they need each other to keep Russia at bay. Europe understands that without the US’ military resolve in eastern Europe, Ukraine’s military capabilities are unlikely to improve, making Moscow less hesitant in its actions on its borderlands.

Same goes for Georgia. In Tbilisi’s under-standing, any meandering on Western part would near geopolitical concessions and the increase of Russian infl uence.

True that it is for the moment unclear what Moscow and the US are hoping for in trying to revive the bilateral relations. There is simply so many fronts where both countries’ geopolitical agendas clash that any prospective cooperation would need a clear concession from either Russians or the Americans. Trump-Putin summit will bring some more clar-ity into the discussion.

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 20188 POLITICS

BY BENYAMIN POGHOSYAN

President Trump’s decision to pull out from the Iranian nuclear deal has signifi cantly increased tensions in and around Iran. The return of “regime change” policy will have profound implications on Iran and the

Middle East. The Iranian economy is in steep decline with the sharp devaluation of the Iranian Rial and large-scale protest rallies in different regions. The rising prices of consumer products, shortages of water and problems related with mismanagement are fuel-ling the protests. The decision of some European companies to cease their activities in Iran, such as Total and Maersk, exacerbate the situation. Mean-while, the US strategy against Iran has multiple lay-ers, and economy is only one of them.

Tensions Rising in & around Iran

Washington is actively taking steps to foment an anti-Iranian regional alliance, putting together Israel and Sunni Arab powers led by Saudi Arabia. The Tel Aviv-Riyadh cooperation is altering the decade-long security architecture of the Middle East with long-term impact on the Palestinian issue and legitimization of Israel within the Arab world. Syria is one of the battlefi elds in the American struggle against Iran. The US is effectively exploit-ing Israel concerns over a growing military pres-ence of Iran and Tehran backed paramilitary forces in Syria, especially along the Syria-Israel border. Israeli military strikes against Iranian targets in Syria are part of the US strategy to put pressure on Iran. Both Israel and the US are demanding that Iran pull its military out of Syria. However, Iran is not likely to accept such demands as it will mean squandering the Iranian achievements in Syria. The most likely scenario is redeployment of Iranian

and Hezbollah forces from the Syria-Israel border and Israel’s tacit acceptance of an Iranian military presence in other parts of Syria.

Meanwhile, other signatories of the Iran nuclear deal are not in line with Washington. The UK, Germany, France, and EU as an institution, are struggling to keep the deal alive. Europeans are interested in investing in the Iranian economy and view the vast Iran oil and gas resources as a source to increase EU energy security. The biggest irrita-tion for the EU, however, are the US threats to use extraterritorial or secondary sanctions against European companies involved in Iran. Given the growing US – EU tensions on trade, with bilateral imposition of additional tariffs, as well as US demands to Europe to pay more for the American Defense Umbrella, the EU is increasingly concerned over the US Administration’s new assertive policy. Iran will demand from European countries a guar-

antee of continued economic benefi ts as a condi-tion to stay in the deal. Meanwhile, Tehran clearly understands that in the case of uranium enrichment resumption, it may face a tough reaction from the EU which will pull the EU closer to the US.

Russia is effectively balancing between Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the Middle East. Presi-dent Putin has successfully transformed Russia into a regional power broker, keeping channels open with all actors. Simultaneously, the US deci-sion has increased Russian importance for Iran. Tehran views Russia as a source for military prod-ucts and advanced technologies. The “North-South” international transport corridor, which will connect India with Northern Europe via Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia, is another key project for Russia and Iran. Meanwhile, the current situation raises Rus-sian capacities to use Iran as a bargaining chip in its relations with the US in the upcoming Putin-Trump Helsinki summit.

China views Iran as a key source for oil and gas imports. China is the number one buyer of Iranian oil, consuming 24% of Iranian oil exports in 2017. Iran plays a signifi cant role in the Chinese fl agship “Belt and Road” initiative as a gateway to Europe, given the China-Iran sea transit and China – Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan – Iran railroad. Beijing is concerned about the US policy of secondary and extraterritorial sanctions, perceiving them as a clear violation of international trade rules. Given the uneasy US-China bilateral trade negotiations, Beijing perceives the US actions as another sign of growing American asser-tiveness. Meanwhile, the signifi cant role of the Chi-nese in the North Korea nuclear issue negotiations gives Beijing additional leverage in its talks with the US to ease American secondary sanctions on Chinese companies involved in Iran.

Thus, Iran and the other fi ve signatories of the Iran nuclear deal are interested in keeping the deal afl oat. On July 2, President Rouhani started his European tour, visiting Switzerland and Austria which just assumed the six month Presidency of the Council of the European Union. On July 6, the Iranian Min-ister of Foreign Affairs will meet with his counter-parts from Russia, China, UK, Germany and France. Most likely, all sides will continue to explore ways to keep the nuclear deal and provide Iran with some economic benefi ts. However, given the tough US stance, it will be more and more diffi cult to keep foreign and especially European companies in Iran. The Iranian economy will continue its sharp decline which in its turn will stoke domestic protests. Thus, in the coming months the international community and regional actors will be carefully watching devel-opments in the Iranian domestic policy and adjust-ing their policy accordingly.

Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan is executive director of Political Science Association of Armenia. @benyamin_poghos

Trump and the Iran Nuclear Deal. Source: nbcnews.com

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 2018 9BUSINESS

BY SHAWN WAYNE

The Human Rights Coun-cil held an interactive dialogue on July 4 with United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, on the human rights situation of the Rohingya people, with a presentation given by Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore on Burundi and Georgia.

Presenting his update, the High Com-missioner said that in recent months, Myanmar forces had engaged in an eth-nic cleansing campaign which had caused over 700,000 Rohingyas to fl ee to Bang-ladesh since August 2017.

Myanmar claimed that many of the allegations in the address by the High Commissioner were fl awed, incorrect and misleading, and that the situation was more complex than explained, involv-ing terrorism, rule of law, illegal migra-tion, and other factors. Myanmar was disturbed that the High Commissioner did not mention these atrocities.

In the interactive dialogue, speakers expressed concern over the deteriora-tion of the situation, and condemned the widespread attacks against the Rohingya community.

Speaking were representatives of the European Union, Pakistan on behalf of Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Maldives, Qatar, Finland, Brazil, Pakistan, Jordan, Libya, Croatia, Kuwait, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, France, Iraq, Den-

Georgia Mentioned in Human Rights Council Interactive Dialogue

mark, Australia, Spain, Netherlands, Tunisia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, United King-dom, Sweden, Turkey, Iceland, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Iran, with multiple NGOs also present and taking part in the discussions.

Switzerland urged Myanmar to nor-malize relations with all human rights mechanisms, as it was horrifi ed by the serious human rights violations and abuses which called for the creation of an Independent Commission of Inquiry, condemning these actions.

Azerbaijan stated that since the sign-ing of the Repatriation Agreement, regretfully, none among the 720,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh had been able to return as no measures had been taken to address the security and safety of these people. Azerbaijan acknowledged the challenges being faced and stood in solidarity with the people of Bangladesh, who had granted protection to the dis-placed Rohingya.

Bangladesh stated that it had accepted over 700,000 Rohingyas since last August and its capacity had reached its limit, hence, immediate action is needed.

Multiple statements were also made by NGOs such as Minority Rights Group International and Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore presented updates to the council relating to Burundi and Georgia.

Gilmore stated that the human right situation in Burundi continued to dete-riorate. Restrictions on civic space and proposed constitutional revisions had

generated a host of human rights con-cerns, with reports of activities by armed groups linked to the ruling party’s youth wing. She also stated that the Govern-ment of Burundi was not cooperating by cancelling the visas of experts being deployed to the country.

Regarding Georgia, Gilmore welcomed

progress towards passing legislation on establishing a mechanism to investigate alleged violations by law enforcement agencies and on policy steps to combat domestic violence. The Offi ce of the High Commissioner counted on its part-nership with authorities and civil society to continue addressing these issues.

Georgia stated that the occupying power, and its regime, had denied the Offi ce of the High Commissioner access to Georgia’s Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia regions, completely dis-regarding the Council’s resolution on cooperation with Georgia, that the occu-pied regions were black holes, inacces-sible for the international community and without a mechanism to assess the human rights situation. The demolition of the houses of the internally displaced in Tskhinvali under the so-called Rus-sian investment program continued, as well as the deprivation of the local pop-ulation of medical services, property, education and freedom of movement. The Georgian Government reminded the council of the introduction of a new peace initiative to facilitate trade across the dividing lines, in order to improve the standard of living for the people in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. However, with-out objective international monitoring, the situation would only worsen, and so the Georgian Government requested immediate access to the Offi ce of the High Commissioner to be ensured.

Gilmore added that restrictions of free-dom of movement remained the most visible and pressing concern in both regions. Access to the territories was important to ensure an objective analy-sis of the human rights situation on the ground.

The Council met on July 5 to hold gen-eral debates on Burundi and Georgia. It will then start taking action on draft resolutions and decisions before it con-cludes its thirty-eighth regular session on Friday 6 July.

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 201810 SOCIETY

In 2018, the environmental organ-ization CENN celebrates 20 years of operations in the South Cau-casus region. With more than 60 full-time staff members and a

network of volunteers across the region, CENN is actively working on sustainable

development oriented projects lead by the mission to foster modern and sus-tainable development values, building bridges between communities and their surroundings, to develop a progressive society which protects its environment.

As noted by the organization’s execu-

tive director, Nana Janashia “Since 1998, when we created CENN, I have had the honor of working with many different people as part of our team. Over the years we have succeeded in striving for excellence and brought together leaders united by one goal — to protect our

environment. When we fi rst started operating in the politically turbulent environment here in the Caucasus, peo-ple around us were pessimistic about our ability to deliver on the vision we held, and it was hard not to be. The years since have been full of ups and downs,

new people and challenges, wins and the occasional losses, but always moving forward. While refl ecting on this time, on behalf of our entire team, I want to express our greatest gratitude to every-one who has shared this amazing journey with us — our friends, volunteers, part-ners, and donors — together, we have served the greatest value that we share, our love for our home, our planet.”

Since its establishment, CENN has implemented over 200 projects, created a global network of around 30,000 sub-scribers, empowered up to 10,000 young people through youth activities, green camps and competitions such as the Niko Ketskhoveli School Award, created more than 250 eco clubs, 20 Rural Women Councils (RWC), published different environmental publications and worked actively with different governmental, non-governmental and private institu-tions.

Following its slogan “shaping the future by changing today,” the organization made a vital decision to expand and promote its values of ensuring sustain-ability, quality education, environmen-tally sound thinking, and empowerment of women and girls beyond the South Caucasus as its next milestone.

CENN Celebrates 20 Years of Awesomeness at the Bulachauri Green Center

BY SAMANTHA GUTHRIE

Georgia’s Agency of Protected Areas has announced that it is joining Euro-parc, Europe’s primary network for natural and cultural heritage. A cer-emony was held yesterday at the

Biltmore Hotel in Tbilisi to announce the member-ship. Michael Hosek, an elected Europarc council member, presented the certifi cate to the Vice-President of the Agency of Protected Areas.

Minister of Environmental Protection and Agri-culture, Levan Davitashvili, remarked on the agen-cy’s ascension, saying “From now on, Georgian protected areas will be presented next to Europe’s best protected areas and this fact will play an important role in promoting the protected areas

Georgian Agency of Protected Areas Joins Europarc

of Georgia throughout Europe and the world.”The Europarc Federation includes 36 member

countries and hundreds of protected areas. It is an umbrella organization of European Protected Areas and is recognized worldwide as the professional network for national parks and nature reserves.

Discussing the importance of joining the federa-tion, Davitashvili said that "Nature lovers are bet-ter acquainted with the unique biodiversity of Georgia's protected areas. It is very important that we are able to actively cooperate with other mem-bers of the federation, sharing the best experience and knowledge.”

The Agency of Protected Areas joined Europarc with the support of the Czech Embassy, WWF-Caucasus Offi ce, TJS and KFW. The event was attended by members of the diplomatic corps, international donor organizations, and media rep-resentatives.

BY ANNA ZHVANIA

Batumi will host a beer festival on 7 July, where guests can enjoy a summer theater, cold beer, pleasant music, exhilarating competitions and prizes from 12pm. Throughout the day, local

bands will perform, including Soundlab, Paata Dzidziguri (Melomaniac), Free Space Band, Lucky 13, Road Radio (BSU), Pacifi c (BSU), Nervozi (BSU) and DJs Lasha Guruli, Chicki and Rezi set to entertain the crowd.

The Festival is designed for all ages, and friends and families can head along to enjoy a cozy, relaxed atmosphere with fun-fi lled activities. A children’s corner will host entertainers, while games will be offered by the Tsibakha Game Club to older gen-erations. A football space will be available for sports-fans to watch the quarter-fi nals of the World Cup 2018. Only Georgian products will be available during the event. The festival’s main goal for the day is to raise money for 24-year-old Gvantsa

Batumi Beer Festival Diasamidze from Batumi, who has been suffering from a severe disease in the past two years. For detailed information regarding the fundraising campaign, follow the link: http://bit.ly/gvancastvis

The Batumi Beer Festival is organized by Gvant-sa’s friends. The main sponsors of the event are:

‘ICY’, ‘Aragveli’, ‘Shavi Lomi’ (Black Lion), ‘Batu-muri’, meatproduct company ‘Vake’ and marketing company ‘ShinDi’.

Festival partners and supporters include: adver-tising company ‘Brilliant Promotion’, hotel ‘Col-osseum Marina’, tour operator ‘Adjara Tour’, ‘Tsibakha Game Club’, ‘Kvariati Breeze’, advertis-ing company ‘OL Print’, ‘Guru Holding’, ‘Metro Georgia’, ‘Enjoy’, ‘Giffer’, ‘Pizza Mizza’, ‘Tourism Institute, ‘Batumi State University’, ‘Batumi Boule-vard’, ‘Batumi City Hall’, security company, ‘TV 25’, and newspaper ‘Batumelebi’.

Web page: batumibeerfest.ge Facebook Page: facebook.com/BatumiBeerFestFacebook Event: facebook.com/events/1706017492846521

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 2018 11SOCIETY

BLOG BY TONY HANMER

There are several olfactory moments in my life, specifi c times for which a recur-rence of that smell takes me back irresistibly to that

point in time and space. I was there; a whiff—and I’m back.

The earliest is bacon. Not just any bacon, mind, but cooked until its oblig-atory thick rind is crispy. I would tie knots in this as a young child, then, once either of my parents cut it off the rasher for me, before devouring it, the best part, with great relish. One of my earliest memories, summoned back by the aroma. England or Canada, about 1968 or 1970?

Freshly laid tar is another one. It puts me back to Rhodesia in the early 1970s when I fi rst remember the roads being resurfaced. Some of the joy would be lost, that of a rough lane with long grass growing in its middle, between the wheel-ruts. My sister and I would see this grass being bent down as we were driven over it, then spring back up again after our passage, and shout out, “Head fi rst, then feet!” as the grass bobbed down and up. But the new tar was a thing all of its own, progress.

The Aromas of Memory

Old bookshops and their wares… includ-ing comics, once I cottoned on to these with some now quite valuable issues of the New X-men, which sadly I no longer have. But the reading was an early pleas-ure as TV did not grace our household until our 1977 move back to Canada, and me aged ten. Static print has always been more important to me than video screen, and now, when more of my reading of print IS off the screen of either my lap-top or my e-reader than off paper, it remains more important than ever. The smell of old books always reminds me of the hours of delight I derived from the bookshops, just browsing for seren-dipity, seldom with an agenda but almost always fi nding a treasure. The musty smell of aged paper just sends me.

Samosas: back to Southern Africa, where I fi rst encountered their delight-ful pastry pocket triangles fi lled with savory goodness, and fell in love with Indian spices and cuisine, well before age ten.

In Georgia it’s the Svan salt. A rich, complex aroma, varying from village to village, some of its component plants’ names unknown even to my Georgian wife in anything but Svan, which she understands about as well as I do, in other words hardly at all. So, a mystery concoction. All I have to do is take some

of it with me anywhere, across the world, and opening the container transports me back to my adopted home of the last 18 years. More than any local wine, cheese, walnut paste, chakapuli or ajapsandali or kharcho stew, this smell recalls me to its place of origin. It goes so well with many traditional Georgian or non-tra-ditional savory foods, either raw or dur-ing cooking.

This is the power of what enters our nose, without the sense of which we also would not be able to taste and would lose all the fl avorsome joy of eating too. More than sound, sight or touch, smell returns those memories associated with it to fullness. Bad smells may have sim-ilar evocative powers, unfortunately, to take us back to nightmare times, but let us stay focused on the good memories for now. They are worth many a return visit.

Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with nearly 1900 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenais-sance/He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri:w.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 201812 SOCIETY

BY ANNA ZHVANIA

The project ‘Get to Know Georgia,’ initiated by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and Georgian National Tourism Admin-istration (GNTA), is celebrating its

3rd anniversary at Hotel Ambassadori. Throughout the past three years, 35 press tours

have been held giving journalists the opportunity to visit 300 locations and prepare more than 200

news reports. Photos, news reports and relevant information were published on social media platforms giving the remainder of the population the chance to discover different areas of Georgia through the perspective of the journalists.

Giorgi Chogovadze, Head of the GNTA, thanked the journalists and producers for their work at the celebratory event. “Thank you, my friends, for taking part in promoting our country. Do not hold your energy back: travel with us to unfa-miliar destinations of our beautiful land and prepare noteworthy news reports,” he encour-aged.

‘Get to Know Georgia’ Celebrates 3rd Anniversary

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 2018 13SOCIETY

BY KATIE RUTH DAVIES

My eldest just fi nished 2nd grade at a Georgian school. Her teacher set her four books to read and report on before mid-September and I’m lucky that she dived right in with-

out protest. Those who know me may remember a collection I set up for a local school in Tbilisi, whose Director had “dreamed of having a library” in the school but had yet to get round to making it a real-ity. Thankfully, kind donations came from far and wide and that library got fi lled within a month. If not- what would the students be doing this summer?

Which is why I was excited to hear that the Get Caught Reading (GCR) campaign which we’ve heard about in the West has fi nally been brought to Geor-gia, the goal of which is to motivate Georgian youth to read over the summer holidays. This summer, the program is for reading in English.

Get Caught Reading is a global campaign to pro-mote the fun of reading books for all ages. First launched in the US in 1999 by the Association of American Publishers and now managed there by Every Child a Reader with support from the Lois Lenski Covey Foundation, Get Caught Reading encourages youth to pick up a book and talk about it… again and again. The campaign also aims to pro-mote reading in schools and provides support to teachers and librarians.

“Because of research indicating that early language experience actually stimulates a child's brain to grow and that reading to children gives them a huge advantage when they start school, we hope to encour-age people of all ages to enjoy books and magazines and to share that pleasure with the young children in their lives,” the organizers state.

The campaign has the support of well-known fi g-ures including Donald Duck, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Graham, Jake Lloyd, Rosie O'Donnell, Dolly Parton, The Rugrats, Jane Seymour, Spider Man, Erik Weihenmayer, and Robin Williams, who have all been "caught reading" their favorite books and magazines for print ads and posters seen by millions of people across the US. In addition, more than 200 Members of Congress have been photographed "caught reading" on Capitol Hill.

Hundreds of teachers and librarians across the US have embraced the campaign, setting up "Get Caught Reading" corners, allocating a special time each day for leisure reading, and taking photos of students "caught reading" for classroom posters.

Carolyn Rice, co-founder of Get Caught Reading-Sakartvelo has lived in Georgia for 10 years, working as an English teacher.

“I love reading and come from a family of readers,” she told GEORGIA TODAY. “I have tried all along to encourage my English students to read, and two years ago I did a summer reading bingo with my class of fi ve, where they needed to read 15 minutes a day in different locations to check off a square on the bingo card. Last summer, we added a GCR pro-gram and it was so successful with the students and parents, that another of my colleagues started it up in her school.”

In the US, May is ‘Get Caught Reading Month.’ Pictures are taken of celebrities reading and they write why they like the book they were caught with.

Reading is promoted as something fun and excit-

Kids to Get Caught Reading in Georgia this Summer

ing to do- pushing youth to enjoy disappearing into the world of a book; exploring and learning along the way. It is also a popular program in Europe and there are various GCR websites with activities to do in families or small groups. The Get Caught Reading-Sakartvelo summer campaign, which you can check out on facebook, has a competitive ele-ment this year, sponsored by the Integrated School of English Language, and asks children in four age groups (covering grades 1-12) to post photos of them-selves reading English books and then videos of them reviewing those books. Guidelines are provided in English and Georgian, and prizes will be given to those judged as best presented. The deadline for videos is August 31, 2018.

“This year, we’re starting small and just in English but next year we hope to expand to include Geor-gian, because children should get to know their own literature and get excited about it,” Carolyn tells us. “The challenge we face is that teachers are often overworked and underpaid or underappreciated and can’t think of taking on even one more thing. It may be diffi cult to get teachers motivated to inspire students to read. Interestingly, it’s the teachers from the regions that have shown the most excitement about this project so far. Another problem is access in villages to books- most schools don’t have librar-ies, and even if they live near a large town with a bookshop, fi nances can be an issue.”

We discuss the idea of a mobile library serving the regions and the fact that Giorgi Kekelidze, Head of the National Library, set up a project collecting books for regional libraries. Another challenge that comes up, one which I’ve noticed as a teacher myself, is the lack of adapted books for young readers on sup-ply in Georgia. It’s easy enough to pop into a Biblus and fi nd a classic thinned down to pre-intermediate level, but you’ll be hard pressed to fi nd a book that a child will want to read, leaving us having to order inspiring material from amazon.

Carolyn Rice and her colleagues have set up a fundraiser (https://www.gofundme.com/get-caught-reading-sakartvelo) to help raise money to buy prizes for the readers and their teachers, though they are also just as happy to take donations of new or good quality children’s books (ideally in Georgian or adapted) to deliver to various village schools ahead of next year’s campaign. If you have books, or ideas to push this campaign forward, write to callie.rice@gmail.com.

“If we raise more funds than we need for this sum-mer's campaign, we will use the funds for the next Get Caught Reading campaign, which will include Georgian books!” Carolyn says.

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 201814 CULTURE

NEW LIFE TO THE ORIENTAL COLLECTIONS

April 26 – September 1UNKNOWN COLLECTIONS OF GEORGIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM– INDIA, CHINA, JAPAN

May 26 – September 30THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA - 100 YEARSThe Georgian National Museum and Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, National Parliamentary Library of Georgia, Korneli Kekelidze Georgian National Center of Manuscripts and National Archives of Georgia, presents the exhibition

June 12 – August 31Georgian National Museum presents the exhibition CAUCASUS BIODIVERSITYThe exhibition is dedicated to the 100the anniversary of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia.

IOSEB GRISHASHVILI TBILISI HISTORY MUSEUM

- KARVASLAAddress: 8 Sioni St.Telephone: 2 98 22 81

June 27 – September 10Georgian National Museum and The Goethe Institute, in connection with 200 years of relations between Germany and Georgia, presents a project THE DYNASTIES - PARALLEL PERSPECTIVEThe exhibition features the historic-cultural and, in particular, architectural legacy that has been created and developed in parallel in Germany and Georgia, representing two different architectural family dynasties- the Böhms and the Kurdianis in Germany and Georgia, respectively.

MUSEUM OF SOVIET OCCUPATION

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

PERMANENT EXHIBITIONDiscover the State's personal fi les of "subversive" Georgian public fi gures, orders to shoot or exile, and other artifacts representing Soviet-era cultural and political repression in Georgia.

SVANETI MUSEUMAddress: Mestia, Svaneti

May 19 – August 19The Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography hosts an exhibition "MAGNUM PHOTO 70 - GEORGIAN JOURNAL: ROBERT CAPA 1947, THOMAS DWORZAK 2017".

SIGHNAGHI MUSEUMAddress: 8 Sh. Rustaveli Blind-alley

The exhibition PORTRAITS OF KAKHETIAN NOBLES – FROM THE BEGINNING OF GEORGIAN EASEL PAINTING UP TO 20TH CENTURYThe exposition comprises portraits of Kakhetian historical fi gures, such as: King Erekle II, Queen Darejan, Prince Vakhtang Dimitris-dze Janbakur-Orbeliani, Princess Tekla and David Guramishvili, as well as Qajar paintings of representatives of the Andronikashvili family.

GALLERY

THE NATIONAL GALLERYAddress: 11 Rustaveli Ave.www.museum.ge

May 15 – August 5Exhibition TITIAN - MASTER OF COLOR: THE VIRGIN AND CHILD

May 25-August 26

THEATER

MOVEMENT THEATERAddress: 182, Aghmashenebeli Ave.Telephone: 598 19 29 36

July 6THE TEMPESTDirected by Ioseb BakuradzeStart time: 20:00Ticket: 15 GEL

July 7THE STORY OF A MURDERERDirected by Ioseb BakuradzeStart time: 20:00Ticket: 10-15 GEL

July 8INTRODirected by Kakha BakuradzeStart time: 20:00Ticket: 15 GEL

SHALIKASHVILI THEATERAddress: 37 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 595 50 02 03

July 6Giorgi Shengelia ExhibitionSpilo and Pantomime Theater BandPantomime Theater Bubble ShowPerformance ‘The old man and sea’Start time: 19:00Ticket price: 20 GEL

July 7Goga Osepashvili WorkshopExhibitionPantomime Theater Live PerformancePantomime Theater Neon ShowDJ NIKOLOZStart time: 19:00Ticket price: 20 GEL

July 8Rusudan Petviashvili ExhibitionAmiran Shalikashvili and Marcel Marcou Book PresentationShalikashvili/Petviashvili ShowcasePerformance ‘The Nigth of King’Kakha Bakuradze ‘Recitative in the City’Start time: 19:00Ticket price: 20 GEL

GABRIADZE THEATERAddress: 13 Shavtelis St. Telephone: 2 98 65 93

July 12RAMONARezo GabriadzeDirected by Rezo GabriadzeEnglish SubtitlesStart time: 20:00Ticket: 20, 30 GEL

July 7, 8, 10, 11An animated documentary fi lm REZODirected by Leo GabriadzeStart time: 20:00Ticket: 15 GEL

CINEMA

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

Every Wednesday ticket: 5 GELJuly 6-12

SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADODirected by Stefano SollimaCast: Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Isabela MonerGenre: Action, Crime, DramaLanguage: English Start time: 17:00Language: Russian Start time: 19:45Ticket: 14-15 GEL

ANT-MAN AND THE WASPDirected by Peyton ReedCast: Evangeline Lilly, Hannah John-Kamen, Walton GogginsGenre: Action, Adventure, Sci-FiLanguage: English Start time: 19:15Language: Russian Start time: 14:30, 16:45, 19:30, 22:10Ticket: 9-15 GEL

OCEAN’S 8Directed by Gary RossCast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne HathawayGenre: Action, Comedy, CrimeLanguage: Russian Start time: 13:45, 22:00Ticket: 13-15 GEL

JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOMDirected by J.A. BayonaCast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Jeff GoldblumGenre: Action, Adventure, Sci-FiLanguage: Russian Start time: 16:45Ticket: 13 GEL

LOVING PABLODirected by Fernando León de AranoaCast: Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Peter SarsgaardGenre: Biography, Crime, DramaLanguage: Russian Start time: 22:15Ticket: 15 GEL

RUSTAVELI CINEMAAddress: 5 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 2 55 50 00www.kinoafi sha.ge

Every Wednesday ticket: 5 GELJuly 6-12

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP(Info Above)Language: Russian Start time: 14:30, 17:00, 19:45, 22:30Ticket: 9-14 GEL

SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO(Info Above)

Language: Russian Start time: 22:30Ticket: 13-14 GEL

CAVEA GALLERYAddress: 2/4 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 200 70 07

Every Wednesday ticket: 8 GELJuly 6-12

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP(Info Above)Language: English Start time: 20:00, 22:30Language: Russian Start time: 11:45, 14:30, 17:15, 19:20, 22:15Ticket: 9-14 GEL

INCREDIBLES 2Directed by Brad BirdCast: Sophia Bush, Samuel L. Jackson, Holly HunterGenre: Animation, Action, AdventureLanguage: English Start time: 14:15Ticket: 11-15 GEL

SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO(Info Above)Language: English Start time: 14:30Language: Russian Start time: 22:00Ticket: 11-19 GEL

OCEAN’S 8(Info Above)Language: English Start time: 17:00Language: Russian Start time: 19:45Ticket: 13-19 GEL

JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM(Info Above)Language: Russian Start time: 12:00Ticket: 10-15 GEL

MUSEUM

GEORGIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM SIMON JANASHIA

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

Exhibitions: GEORGIAN COSTUME AND WEAPONRY OF THE 18TH-20TH CENTURIES

NUMISMATIC TREASURYExhibition showcasing a long history of money circulation on the territory of modern Georgia from the 6th century BC. to 1834.

EXHIBITION STONE AGE GEORGIA

ARCHEOLOGICAL TREASURE

WHAT’S ON IN TBILISIThe Georgian National Museum and the Embassy of Italy to Georgia, within the Museum Fest, present the exhibition EVIDENCE. A NEW STATE OF ARTThe National Gallery is hosting the exhibition of Garuzzo Institute for Visual Arts- presenting contemporary Italian artists' artworks created since the 1950s.

May 25-August 26GENIUSES OF RENAISSANCEThe Georgian National Museum and the Embassy of Italy to Georgia, within the Museum Fest, present the exhibition

MUSIC

ART GENE FESTIVALStart time: Folk Crafts and contemporary art exhibitions-12:00 -18:00Folklore Region- 20:00-21:30The Final Concerts- 22:00Venue: Ethnographic Museum

July 8Folk Crafts and contemporary art exhibitionsFolklore Region: Shida KartliClosing Concert: NINO KATAMADZE AND "INSIGHT"

July 9Folk Crafts and contemporary art exhibitionsFolklore Region: Samtskhe-JavakhetiClosing Concert : “ASEA SUL”

July 10Folk Crafts and contemporary art exhibitionsFolklore Region: Imereti, Svaneti- “Kviria”Hip-Hop Day

July 11Folk Crafts and contemporary art exhibitionsFolklore Region: Kvemo Kartli & Guria-IadoniClosing Concert: ROBI KUKHIANIDZE AND “OUTSIDER”

July 12Folk Crafts and contemporary art exhibitions Folklore Region: Tusheti, Kakheti-Patarakakhi,Pankisi-PankisiClosing Concert: “FRANI”

SOUNDS OF GEORGIAAddress: 2 I. Turgenev Str.

July 11Regular mini-concerts of traditional Georgian live music in Old Town will make you get to know and fall in love with Georgian character and culture.HOMEMADE MUSIC-A cozy atmosphere of "Italian" yard with the aroma of homemade food. Start time: 17:00Ticket: 23 GEL

BATUMI STATE MUSICAL CENTRE

Address: 1 O. Dimitriadi Str.

July 7BASTI BUBU & BBB ACADEMYPerforms Kid’s favorite heroes Babilina, Dodi Gio, Sopo Khalvashi, Basti and BubuStart time: 14:00, 19:00Ticket: 10-18 GEL

BLUES FESTVenue: Lagodekhi

July 7The second blues festival Organized by the company BluesfestGe PresentsThe legendary bluesman CHARLES BURTONStart time: 19:00Ticket: 20-70 GEL

GEORGIA TODAY JULY 6 - 9, 2018 15CULTURE

GEORGIA TODAY

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BY NUGZAR B. RUHADZE

The great David Wallechinsky himself chose to sojourn in Tbilisi for a cou-ple of days to get an extra taste of Georgia. Encyclopedias call him a ‘Populist Historian,’ which he defi -

nitely is, and he currently serves as the President of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH). David is also the founder and editor-in-chief of AllGov.com, which provides up-to-date news about more than 340 departments and agen-cies of the US government. I have a story about this famous American, which I have been avidly telling people in the last week or so: in the past mid-seventies, I was presented a bulky book in English of 1481 pages titled ‘The People’s Almanac’ by David Wallechinsky and his father Irving Wal-lace. Since then, the book has been sitting on my desk unmoved. The Almanac is the story of the entire world, including just about anything that

might stir human curiosity. I have never seen any better reading matter for my leisure, usually counted not in days and hours but in minutes and seconds. I still read and reread it.

The People's Almanac was published in 1975 and became a best-seller with one of the most popular chapters in it about the selection of lists soon turned into a separate edition - one of the most popular books ever, called ‘The Book of Lists.’ I have that one sitting in the corner of my spacious desk too, but behold, fate would have it that I came across another man in Georgia who turned out to be a Wal-lechinsky fan. The man’s name is Paata Natsvlishvili, the famous Georgian journalist and sports writer, the Georgian Olympic Historian, researcher and poet. I couldn’t believe my ears when he called me the other day and told me that David Wallechinsky himself was going to be visiting Tbilisi for several days as an honorary guest of the Olympic Forum, the mass get-together of all Georgian Olympians of all time, including the family members of those who are no longer around. Without an iota of exaggera-tion, this was the triumph of Olympic thinking in

Guess Who Was in Town!Georgia, set as an example to the whole world by GNOC(Georgian National Olympic Committee), headed by Olympic Champion and Olympic silver medal winner, fi ve-time World Champion Leri Kha-belov and assisted by his tireless lieutenants Elguja Berishvili, Nino Salukvadze - Olympic gold, silver and bronze medal holder, Mamuka Khabareli, Emzar Zenaishvili and Rusudan Aptsiauri.

The event was a huge public sports festivity, involving every generation. The famous Wallechin-sky came to Tbilisi to take part in this glorious demonstration of the Olympic spirit in Georgia. His life story says he was taken to the Rome Olym-pic Games in 1960 by his father, the most delightful fruit of which was The Complete Book of the Olym-pics. Since then, many following editions were put at the disposal of tens of millions of the world’s Olympic readers. As a matter of fact, the last edi-tion of the book was happily presented to GNOC by the author at the end of a rousing speech at the Gala in the Rustaveli Drama Theater in Tbilisi.

To continue the Wallechinsky saga in Georgia, Paata Natsvlishvili put together a group of journal-

ists, including famous Georgian photo artist Badri Vadachkoria and myself, and we took our new friend to western Georgia. One of the highlights of our trip was the Niko Nikoladze Museum in the village of Didi Jikhaishi. And we had a good reason for this: David Wallechinsky is an Olympic Histo-rian, and who if not he would follow through the life of Giorgi Nikoladze, son of his great father Niko Nikoladze. The historical presumption, constructed by Professor Natsvlishvili, has it that Giorgi Nikoladze might very well be the ‘Unknown French Boy’ who fi gured as a cox of the winning Dutch team in a rowing event at the 1900 Paris Olympics. Wal-lechinsky was not indifferent to that piece eyebrow-raising information, having taken it with him to France where he currently resides. Who knows what the future harbors for Giorgi Nikoladze in the hands and future books of this great American. Incidentally, my copy of the People’s Almanac now proudly and expensively carries the author’s valu-able autograph. This one will surely go long down into generations as a precious family relic and one of the most unique collector’s items.

BY LIKA CHIGLADZE

If you’re stuck in Tbilisi and wondering how to cool off AND have fun this weekend, head on up to the annual Art Gene folk festival, the best way to get to know Georgian cul-ture, music and cuisine and simultaneously

cool off in the lap of nature. The festival, marking its 15th anniversary this year, is set to bring all the most important elements of Georgian culture into one space for a mixed local and foreign audience. This year the festival started on June 21 in the regions of Georgia and toured around Adjara, Guria, Imereti, Lechkhumi for nine days, making it the largest-scale regional tour in its history.

Over the years, Art Gene has proven to be one of the most successful, self-sustained festivals attended by all generations, since it covers a wide range of cultural activities. The series of concerts start in the regions of Georgia and end up in the capital Tbilisi, at the Open Air Museum of Georgia, which itself showcases the regions of Georgia through the typ-ical architecture of each, dating back centuries.

The Art Gene Festival was formed by a group of friends whose mission was to identify problems associated with traditional and folk culture and fi nd ways to solve them. Apart from organizing concerts and cultural events, the group has carried out signifi cant investigation in the regions of Geor-gia by exploring local culture, folk music, various forms of art and customs, and chronicling them.

This year, as per tradition, the festival is to pre-sent the bright stars of Georgian contemporary music as well as folk music ensembles and per-formers from different parts of the country. In Tbilisi, the festival opens on July 8 with the concert of celebrated Georgian musician Nino Katamadze & ‘Insight,’ on July 9 ‘Asea Sul’ (a brother-sister duo from Batumi) takes to the stage, for the fi rst time this year on 10 July there’ll be a day of Hip-Hop, on July 11 Robi Kukhianidze & ‘Outsider’ will per-form, on July 12 there’ll be popular Georgian group ‘Frani,’ on July 13 Georgian ballet ‘Sukhishvilebi,’ on 14 July the fi rst Georgian reggae group ‘Reg-gaeon’ and on July 15 the festival will be closed the popular Georgian folk-rock band Niaz Diasamidze & 33a.

Solomon Gogashvili, one of the organizers of the festival, gave a brief overview of Art Gene 2018.

“This year the festival counts 15 years of its exist-ence,” he told GEORGIA TODAY. “The series of Art Gene events throughout western Georgia has already fi nished. This year, Art Gene had its grand opening in Keda, in the highlands of the Adjara

Katamadze & Insight to Open Art Gene Festival 2018

region, coinciding with the opening of a newly-erected monument dedicated to the homeland. From Keda, the festival moved to Lanchkhuti and was followed by concerts in Tskaltubo and Tsageri. All the concerts in the regions were held for free, so the locals were able to attend and take part in the jam sessions.”

The musicians who took part in Art Gene and preserved their authentic style and bands are pre-sented in this year’s program.

“I’m glad that many new local ensembles that have emerged in the regions of Georgia are taking part in the festival,” Gogashvili told us. “There are also a lot of older ensembles that have breathed new life into folk and will perform in front of the public with a renovated program. From 8 to July 15, each day will be dedicated to a particular region of Georgia, introducing its unique culture and music to the guests.”

He went on to speak of other novelties being set up this year besides traditional folk music and contemporary Georgian singers: one day of the festival will be dedicated to Georgian rap. On July 10, after the folk shows of the Imereti and Abkhazia regions, a hip-hop show will be held. Young Geor-gian hip-hop performers will have the chance to demonstrate their talent and introduce Georgian rap to the audience. Additionally, ‘Shavparosnebi’ (Black Shields) a Georgian martial arts federation that is known for its combat art performances, will also once again showcase their combat skills and present the art of Georgian battle to spectators.

“Shavparosnebi have been integral part of our festival over 15 years. This year they will deliver the show on July 14. As a supplement, the area will also see various entertaining games and the tradi-tional Georgian game Lelo,” one of the organizers told us.

Apart from concerts, the festival will also show-case traditional Georgian handicraft, various types of art, including black-smithery, tannery, jewelry, cloisonné enamel, basket making, knitting, weav-ing, sewing, embroidery, “gobelin”, cloth and felt-making, musical instruments, pottery and ceramics, carpentry and stonemasonry, wood carving and, most importantly, Georgian cuisine. Guests will be able to enjoy traditional organic food brought by peasants, including delicious bread, barbeque, cheese and wine.

As Gaga Chikhladze, the lead singer of Georgian group Frani and one of the organizers told us, those who want to explore Georgia within eight days, this is the best and easiest way to get deeper insight into the country’s culture, traditional arts, hospi-tality and national cuisine.

“This is a festival that has been held annually since 2004, having kept the same meaning and

goals. Within the frames of Art Gene, the ehposi-tion of contemporary Georgian groups Frani and Reggaeon held several concerts in the regions. The festival also gave local artists and musicians the chance to perform in front of the audience and introduce their songs typical to the place where they come from. The festival also brings the rep-resentatives of all regions to Tbilisi, to introduce Georgian folk music, traditional songs and culture,” Chikhladze noted. “The festival is aimed at pre-serving Georgian culture and promoting Georgian

folklore and ancient traditions, dances and other customs. Through the festival, these important elements have been archived and transferred to new generations- spreading Georgian culture and raising awareness among young generations.”

Those who want to attend the festival, spend the weekend in a pleasant environment, listen to Geor-gian music and enjoy good food should drop into the Open Air Museum of Ethnography, on the road to Turtle Lake in Tbilisi. Tickets can be bought online from the Facebook page of as well as at the gate.