Council of Europe Deputy Secretary congratulates Georgia on Mother Language Day
Berge’s comments marked the public holiday in Georgia, celebrated annually in recognition of protests on April 14, 1978 that forced the Soviet authorities to retract plans for stripping Georgian of the status of the official state language. Photo: 1TV
Tweet 
Share
Bjørn Berge, the Deputy Secretary General of Council of Europe, on Friday congratulated Georgian institutions, officials and citizens on the Mother Language Day by highlighting the “important historical background” of the date.
Berge’s comments marked the public holiday in Georgia, celebrated annually in recognition of protests on April 14, 1978 that forced the Soviet authorities to retract plans for stripping Georgian of the status of the official state language.
Congratulations on the Georgian???????? Language Day - April 14th!
— Bjørn Berge (@DSGBjornBerge) April 14, 2023
It has an important historic background - the attempt of the Soviet government to remove Georgian as official language resulted in massive protests of Georgians and their effort was not in vain. @GeoMissionCoE1 pic.twitter.com/h3yRhnOpwP
“The attempt of the Soviet government to remove Georgian as official language resulted in massive protests of Georgians and their effort was not in vain”, Berge tweeted in his comments on the date.
Around 100,000 citizens took to the streets of the capital Tbilisi in the historical protest against the plans to amend the clauses in the constitution that designated Georgian as the state language. The protest led to the authorities ultimately shelving the plans.
Institutions, officials and citizens in Georgia are marking Mother Language Day today, with the date commemorating mass protests that forced Soviet authorities in 1978 to abandon plans to strip Georgian of the status of the official language.
The United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan and her diplomatic mission on Thursday marked the Georgian Language Day with a video address to the Georgian public, hailing their 1978 defence of the status of the language from Soviet authorities.
Georgian institutions and the public are celebrating Mother Language Day today, commemorating mass protests that forced Soviet authorities in 1978 to abandon plans to strip Georgian of the status of the official state language of the country.
Georgia is celebrating Mother Language Day today, which marks the country’s victory over the Soviet repressive machine in maintaining the Georgian language as the official language.
The story of the UNESCO-recognised writing systems of the Georgian alphabet is now on display at Google Arts and Culture, a major online repository of museum exhibits and cultural phenomena.
The Georgian alphabet, described as a "living culture of three writing systems”, has been added to UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The Georgian alphabet has been named among the top five most beautiful alphabets in the world by an international travel website.
The ancient Georgian alphabet has been granted the national status of cultural heritage.
Tamar Taliashvili, Georgia’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, on Friday introduced facts on the Georgian language and the significance of Mother Language Day to members of the Committee of Council of Europe in comments marking the national holiday.