Inauguration of Integration Center for Azerbaijanis in Georgia

The Integration Center for Georgian Azerbaijanis (GAIM) was opened on April 3, 2019 in the Marneuli region of Georgia.

The opening ceremony was attended by Fuad Muradov, the chairman of Azerbaijan’s State Committee for Work with Diaspora, Shota Rekhviashvili, the governor of Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia, Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, the state minister for reconciliation and civil equality, and other officials.

The opening of the Integration Center of Georgian Azerbaijanis in Marneuli is an important event. The proposal regarding the integration center opened in Marneuli was put forward by local youth living in Georgia in 2018. The opening of the center is a very important project, and it is the solution for a number of issues that concern the local Azerbaijanis in Georgia.  

The main purpose of the establishment of the center is to deepen the existing relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia in the fields of science, education, culture and sports and to support the integration of local Azerbaijanis into civil society. Azerbaijani, Georgian and English languages, as well as the history of Azerbaijan and Georgia, will be taught in the center, and sports clubs will operate.

The center operates in various directions and supports Azerbaijanis living in Georgia. The biggest support was during the Coronavirus pandemic. With the support of the State Committee for Work with Diaspora, they helped foreign compatriots by providing support to low-income and vulnerable population groups, such as Azerbaijani houses and separate diaspora organizations established abroad, by carrying out humanitarian actions. The Integration Center of Georgian Azerbaijanis repeatedly helped low-income and elderly families and elderly people living in social isolation in various cities of Georgia during the quarantine period and distributed food parcels to Azerbaijani families due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The center also organizes events on significant days for both countries. This year, a commemorative event was held at the Georgian Azerbaijani Integration Center in connection with the 30th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide. They laid a wreath in front of the monument in February 2022. Azerbaijani Minister of Education Emin Amrullayev, who was on a visit to Georgia, also visited the Integration Center of Georgian Azerbaijanis in Marneuli.