CIVICS/Material on South Caucasus Minority Issues

This page provides commented access to material on minority issues from regarding the three South Caucasus countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbeijan.

Georgia

General national minority politics

• Niklas Nilsson, Johanna Popjanevski (2009) State Building Dilemmas: The Process of National Integration in Post-Revolutionary Georgia. Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program (CACI-SRSP) [1]

The paper descreibes some of the attempts of the Georgian government in "state building" after the Rose Revolution - e.g. though the focus on the use of the Georgian language in public life. If not implemented carefully, the respective policies can have discriminatory effects on minorities with low command of the Georgian language. As examples, the Armenians in Javakheti and the Azeris in Kvemo Karteli are discussed.

Armenian Georgians

• International Crisis Group (2011) Georgia: The Javakheti Region’s Integration Challenges. Policy Briefing, Europe Briefing N°63, Tbilisi/Yerevan/Brussels, 23 May 2011. online available

It contains a map of the ethnic composition of the villages in the Javakheti project region (from ECMI).

• WikiLeaks cables of the US Ambassy in Javakheti online available

Much background also on the Baku-Tblisi-Javakheti-Kars Railroad, and on Armenian views on the issue. The US Millennium Challenge Corporation has had projects on agriculture in Javakheti.