Tag Archives: Georgia

Street art turns political in Georgia

TBILISI/Georgia, JULY 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — From Basquiat to Banksy, politically charged street art has been a fixture of western cities for decades. Now, though, the walls and underpasses of Georgian capital Tbilisi are becoming an open-air gallery for a similar sort of subversive expression.

“It started after the war,” 34-year-old Natia, who runs workshops for aspiring street artists, said referring to the 2008 war with Russia. “One of our friends started using a stencil of Putin’s face, and people just got more creative.”

Today, that protest focuses on two of the most important issues for Georgia’s increasingly vocal liberal youth — gay rights and the decriminalization of marijuana. Graphic artist Musya Qeburia, 23, witnessed a police raid in June on her friend’s party. The police detained several guests for urine tests.

“They just came and took them for no reason, I was angry,” she said. In response, she erected what has become Tbilisi’s most celebrated piece, a line of figures, including Yoda, Super Mario and Brussels statue the Manneken Piss queuing to offer urine samples to a pair of Georgian police officers, one of whom looks like Chuck Norris (see photo on page 1).

The piece went viral on social networks, and according to Musya it has had a big impact.

But the reaction is not always positive. Rusa, 29, with three friends repainted a prominent central Tbilisi staircase in the colours of the rainbow flag, the symbol of gay rights.

“It was a silent, anonymous protest, silent because of the violence last year,” said Rusa, referring to an anti-gay riot in Tbilisi in 2013. “There were pictures of the staircase, people noticed. Then two days later city hall came and destroyed the staircase and reconstructed it (without the paint).”

Musya is undeterred. “They can only destroy,” she said. “They can’t make anything beautiful.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)

Georgia-Russia road to rebuild

JUNE 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in the south Russian region of Dagestan have agreed to rebuild a road that runs from Makhachkala on the Black Sea to Georgia, media reported. This is another signal relations between Georgia and Russia have improved since a brief war in 2008.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)

Turkmenistan opens embassy in Tbilisi

JUNE 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Highlighting Turkmenistan’s more international outlook, media reported that it would open an embassy in Georgia soon. Since Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov become president in 2007 Turkmenistan has looked to increase its international status. Georgia is part of a South Caucasus gas pipeline network that Turkmenistan wants to use to export to Europe.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)

Ex Georgian police chief arrested

JULY 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in the Netherlands arrested Giorgi Dgebuadze, Georgia’s former military police chief, over a year after the Georgian authorities issued a warrant for his arrest. The Georgian Prosecutor- General wants to try Mr Dgebuadze for instigating a system of torture during his time in charge of the military police.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)

Georgia signs deal with EU

JUNE 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Alongside Moldova and Ukraine, Georgia signed an important deal to integrate its economy further with the EU.

The Association Agreement is a major step towards Georgia’s end goal of becoming an EU member state.

Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili was under no illusion on the significance of the agreement. It was, he said, an historic moment for Georgia.

“Unofficially we applied for membership today. Officially, it depends on progress that we will make,” he said.

Georgia has been lobbying for membership of the EU and NATO for years. Former President Mikheil Saakashvili managed to antagonise Russia during his push to join the West. Perhaps the new government’s greatest achievement so far has been to pursue its pro-West agenda while also keeping relations with Russia amicable.

Importantly, signing the Association Agreement has the potential to rock relations with Russia. It was this deal, initially put forward in November last year, that Viktor Yanukovoch, then Ukraine’s president, declined to sign, triggering protests that lead to a civil war.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)

Azerbaijan’s gas exports to Georgia rise

JULY 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia has imported 20% more gas from Azerbaijan this year compared to the same period in 2013, media reported. This shows the increasing inter-dependency of the countries in the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan is Georgia’s largest gas supplier.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)

Georgian rebel region recognises Ukraine rebels

JUNE 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian rebel region of South Ossetia said that it now recognised the Luhansk People’s Republic as an independent state, media reported. Luhansk is a region in east Ukraine were pro-Russia separatists are fighting central government forces. South Ossetia declared independence in 2008 after a war between Russia and Georgia.

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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)

Georgia court rules against law banning foreigners owning land

JUNE 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Constitutional Court appears to have ruled against a controversial law introduced two years ago that banned foreigners from buying land in the country.

The trigger for the reversal of the 2012 law was a case brought to the court by Mathias Huter, am Austrian citizen working for the anti-corruption lobby group Transparency International.

The Constitutional Court ruled in his favour, effectively lifting a moratorium imposed on land purchases by foreigners in 2012. For Georgia’s image as a place to invest, this is good news.

The original ban had been a piece of gimmickry by the United National Movement party (UNM), the ruling party of President Mikheil Saakashvili. There had been a backlash against moves introduced to encourage South Africans and Punjabis to move to Georgia to farm. The idea had been that the immigrants would bring new technology and raise production. Instead the incomers generated resentment.

Displaying an unashamedly populist touch and with a parliamentary election on the horizon, the UNM introduced laws to ban foreigners from buying land.

Although the moratorium has not yet officially been lifted, commentators said that the ruling effectively dismantled it. This is another success for the ruling Georgian Dream coalition which defeated the UNM in a 2012 parliamentary election, a 2013 presidential election and a 2014 local election.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)

Georgia—Russia trade increases

JUNE 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Trade between Georgia and Russia increased by a third in the first five months of the year compared to the same period in 2013, Georgia’s statistics agency said. Relations between Georgia and Russia have improved recently. Russia has allowed Georgia to export wine, water and other products once again.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)

NATO proposes cooperation to Georgia

JUNE 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Western military alliance would propose closer cooperation with Georgia but would not offer it the full membership that it so desperately craves, media reported. NATO holds its AGM in Cardiff in September.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 190, published on June 25 2014)