Georgia, Tbilisi, 17 march / Trend corr. N.Kirtskhalia, J.Babayeva / Other five Azerbaijani NGOs expanded the staff of the Congress of Georgian Azerbaijanis (CGA), Ali Babayev, one of the co-founders of the Congress and chairman of the Public Association 'Georgia is my Motherland', stated by telephone from Tbilisi on 17 March.
The Congress of Georgian Azerbaijanis was founded by 12 Azerbaijani NGOs in early February. The Congress' target is to assist Azerbaijanis to integrate into the Georgian society. The founding meeting of the Congress was held in the 'House of Film' in Tbilisi on 17 March. Integration of Azerbaijanis into Georgian community was the key topic of the meeting.
Georgian Azerbaijanis stated that their rights in this country had been violated for several years. Azerbaijanis do not have equal rights with Georgians.
According to Babayev, the participants at the meeting, as well as Sozar Subari, Georgian ombudsman, and representatives of national minorities supported the founding of the Congress.
"The program of activity of the Congress was developed and CGA is to work with this document in order to tackle the problems in the region thickly populated with Azerbaijanis," Babayev said.
Participants of the meeting are to collect signatures and lodge a petition to all Georgian State departments.
Azerbaijanis, according to Lali Moroshkin, the participant of the meeting and journalist make up the largest part of the residents in Georgia. Therefore, integration of Azerbaijanis into the Georgian society is quite important for the country. Azerbaijanis have been living with Georgians for years, and we do not have any problems with them, Moroshkina said.
"We are Azerbaijanis and we want to live in Georgia with equal rights as the Georgians," Mirvan Aliyev, a member of Azerbaijani Diaspora said.
Elbrus Mammadov, one of the founders of the Congress, said that the Georgian Azerbaijanis were prepared for active participation to establish modern democracy and to restore territorial integrity in Georgia. "We are prepared to integrate into Georgian society and want to keep the Azerbaijani culture, customs and traditions," Mammadov said to Trend .