On October 8th and 9th, 2020, Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP) held presentations of the research findings on the issue of challenges of and benefits for Armenian and Azerbaijani minorities in the process of Georgia’s European integration. The research was conducted under the framework of the Erasmus + Jean Monnet Project “Promote and Act for Europe” financially supported by the EU.
The two presentations were targeting the members of the respective minorities specifically. Namely, the members of the Azerbaijani minority from the Kvemo Kartli region were invited to attend the online presentation, which took place through the online platform Zoom, whereas, members of the Armenian minorities from Samtskhe-Javakheti had an opportunity to attend the live presentation, which took place in the respective region. Each of these events were attended by approximately 40 people.
The six months research work, which has been conducted under the framework of the project, resulted in 4 publications. Methods used include desk research, focus groups conducted with the members of ethnic minorities (3 in Samtskhe Javakheti and 3 in Kvemo Kartli) as well as 12 expert interviews. The findings of the research and the related recommendations were presented by the authors of the four publications themselves.
The first presenter was Levan Kakhishvili, who made an overview of the research methodology and presented his policy paper about “Do Ethnic Minorities Benefit from Georgia’s Europeanization?”
The second presenter was Salome Minesashvili, who discussed her paper about “EU and Ethnic Minorities in Georgia: How to Counter Misinformation and Disruptive Communication”
The third researcher who delivered a presentation was Nino Samkharadze, who talked about “Ethnic Minorities in the Context of Georgia’s European Integration: Is There a Room for Skepticism?”
And, the last presenter was the manager and a researcher of this project, Salome Kandelaki, who talked about “Integration of Ethnic Minorities in Georgia: Barriers to Political Participation”.
After the presentations, members of the audience made comments, and suggestions regarding the recommendations and asked questions.
Local media outlet – TV4 in Kvemo Kartli covered the event
Regional media outlet – TOK TV covered the event in Samtskhe-Javakheti
See the video recording of Kvemo Kartli presentation here >>
See the video recording of Samtskhe-Javakheti presentation here >>
Facebook event – Kvemo Kartli presentation
Facebook event – Samtskhe-Javakheti presentation.