Special group to examine Muslim-Christian disputed building in Mokhe
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A special group has been established to examine religious conflict surrounding a building in a southern Georgian village that has historical importance for Christians and Muslims.
The 11-person commission will examine the history of the building in Mokhe village in the Adigeni region, which has been a topic of intense dispute between the local Christian and Muslim population.
The building was once a Christian Church and later a Mosque. Current plans were to turn the building into a library for all to use but this too generated criticism.
The decision to establish a commission was made today at a Religious Affairs Agency meeting, which was attended by the village’s Christian and Muslim religious’ figures.
Agency chairman Zaza Vashakmadze, who will also lead the commission, said the group was composed of representatives from the two religions as well as employees of Georgia’s Monument Protection Agency and members of regional and local governments.
The Agency also noted the Cultural Protection Agency should specify the priority areas where the commission should direct its focus to effectively and timely resolve the ongoing dispute. The next commission meeting will be held on December 27.
Vashakmadze announced one role of the commission was to ensure the Muslim and Christian residents of the village were adequately updated with information to avoid the situation escalating further.
Clashes between the religious groups began in October, 2014. At the time the Muslim population claimed the building was formerly a mosque and it could not be used for another purpose, while the local Christian population supported the local government’s decision to turn the building into a library for the whole village to use. Currently construction of the library has been suspended.
Clashes between religious groups in a southern Georgia village about the future of a building which has historical importance for Christians and Muslims has drawn criticism from the Prime Minister, who said people of all religions were equal and everyone must obey the law.
Two individuals were injured in a confrontation between Muslim and Christian communities in Georgia’s western village of Buknari, in Chokhatauri municipality. For several months now, part of the local Muslim population has wanted to build a mosque in the village, though they are opposed by the Christian local population, which resulted in a conflict between locals on January 12.
Muslim and Christian communities of Georgia’s western village of Buknari (Chokhatauri municipality) will meet tomorrow in order to resolve a religious conflict which started two days ago, reports Radio Free Europe/RL (RFE/RL).
Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has responded to the religious conflict in Georgia’s western village of Buknari and said that the Georgian government will not allow anyone to provoke confrontation between citizens on religious grounds.
The religious controversy between the Muslim and Christian communities of the village of Buknari has been resolved peacefully earlier today, as the conflicting sides have agreed that the Muslim community will continue their prayers in the house which they have bought a year ago for religious services.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found Georgia guilty of discrimination and ill treatment of four Georgian Muslims who protested a local government’s decision to rebuild the former mosque in the village of Mokhe as a library in Georgia's southern Adigeni municipality.