PM congratulates Yazidis in Georgia on New Year holiday
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday congratulated the Yazidi community on the New Year holiday. Photo: Government press office
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday congratulated the Yazidi community in the country on Aida Sarsale, the New Year holiday celebrated by the minority group.
In his message, the head of the Government described the community as “loyal and hard-working”, and praised their commitment to the country’s advancement.
Your community, distinguished by its loyalty to the country and hard work, makes a significant contribution to the progress and advancement of our common homeland. I wish peace, prosperity and happiness to you and your families”, said the PM.
The Yazidis in Georgia are descendants of the communities that fled persecutions in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A 2014 census put their number in Georgia at about 12,200, or 0.3 percent of the country’s total population.
The Georgian State Agency of Religious Issues has allocated 3.5 million GEL to religious communities in the country 'to provide partial compensation for damage caused during the Soviet totalitarian regime', announces the agency.
Georgia’s population has slightly decreased, reaching 3,718,200 people as of January 1, 2017, says the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
Georgia has launched its first Census in 12 years. The Census 2014 will measure a number of vital statistical information and will continue for 15 days.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Sunday congratulated Yazidis living in Georgia on the opening of the “only” Yazidi church in the Eastern European and post-Soviet region, the Government Administration said.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Sunday extended her congratulations to the Yazidis community in Georgia on one of their main holidays - Tawafa Ezid, wishing them “prosperity”.