Girls usually get married in this village when they become teen-ager. If girl passes teen-ager term and can not get married, village inhabitants say that “this girl has stayed at home”. It means her marriage period has already gone and nobody will marry to her.

The VIDEO about this problem…

The morning in Ferma village of Kaspi region in Georgia… Teen-ager boys have their breakfast and prepare to go to school. Teen-ager girls after breakfast dress up and sit at home. They prepare to get married.

In Ferma village more than 90 percent of the populations are ethnic azerbaijanians. Girls usually get married in this village when they become teen-ager. If girl passes teen-ager term and can not get married, village inhabitants say that “this girl has stayed at home”. It means her marriage period has already gone and nobody will marry to her.

Because of this tradition girls are less among the pupil of the village school. For example, 26 students study at the 6^th class of Ferma Village Basic School. 20 of them are boys and six are girl students.

“Boys dominate in our class. But at 1^st or 2^nd class girls were more than boys. Year by year they were decreasing. Because they got married,” 11 years old Davud Aliyev, the pupil of this class says.

Davud Aliyev: "Year by year girls were decreasing. Because they got married”

Educational period is 12 years in Georgia. Nine years-schools are called Basic Schools and give only basic education, not secondary.

Ferma is one of ten ethnic azerbaijanian’s villages in Kaspi region. Kaspi region is located in Shido-Kartli province. In these ten villages and in Marneul, Gardaban, Bolnis and Dumanis – Kvemo-Kartli province’s regions – where azerbaijanians have mostly located in Georgia – the situation is alike. The resident of Marneul city, 14 years old girl Nurana Hasanova is one of the girls who left school for marriage…

Her family is planning that Nurana Hasanova will marry before end of the year. In the beginning of November she left the school for this reason. She was studing at 6^th class. Her mother Gulshan says that groom’s family is good. And they are relatives, that’s why she agreed to give her daughter:“I know that Nurana will be happy if she is married. The main thing is for me she will be married with good family and will be happy. And if such family found my girl now, it’s good”.

Hasanov’s family consists of five people: mother, three daughters and a son. Children’s ages lines up as: Nurana 14, Gulara 12, Ayten 9, and Anar 3 years old. Father left family after Anar’s birth. Gulshan says that her husband didn’t want another child. But pregnant Gulshan wanted to give a birth. Father kicked Gulshan’s tummy to kill the child. Gulshan gave a birth. And after this her husband left family.

“It was his pretext. Anyway, he wanted to leave us,” says Gulshan.

Working at neighbor’s yards, houses as a servant and with help of other neighbors or charitable organizations Gulshan grow her children. And now she wants to give marry her elder daughter who is 14 years old. When there was discussion at their home about Nurlana’s marriage, she was at school. When she returned home mother said to her the decision: “These people are match-marker, they came to ask you to marry with this guy (showing future husband). Do you agree?” And Nurana’s answer was “Yes, I do”.

“I liked him. He is handsome,” she says. The day after decision Nurana didn’t go to school. Her teacher came after her to ask for coming to school. And Nurana’s answer was so: “Yesterday my mother said “yes” to my math-makers. After this I will not come to school. I don’t want to study”.

Shahali Ismayilov, director of Farmer Village Basic School says that keeping girls from schools is common in all regions and villages in Georgia, where ethnic azerbaijanians live. It is the same for Shedo-Kartli and Kvemo-Kartli provinces. Director says that he speaks with girl’s parents to make them agree to educate their daughters. Every year he can make agree two or three families: “Usually parents take their daughters out after 6^th or 7^th class. They keep them at home and don’t let go to school. It means that: “My daughter is already not going school, she is ready for marriage”. And after this, match-makers knock at her door.”

Statistic: At Ferma village Basic School 252 pupils study. 160 of them are boys and 92 are girls. At the 2008-2009 academic year 25 students finished Basic School. Now, ten of these school-leavers continue their education at secondary school. All of them are boys.

Ferma Basic School

The Ministry of Education of Georgia, intelligent of Ferma village, school teachers, respectable persons and Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) which works on education sphere try to solve limitation on girl’s education. NGOs make project to break “girl-school” stereotype.

Ramila Aliyeva have worked in a project which teachs girls an English and to work on computer in Ferma village. But she says that they couldn’t find a girl student for a class. With helping school teachers she have gone to the residents’ homes.

“We knocked at the doors and asked to let their daughter participte at the courses, even sometimes we entreat parents for this. We say them: “Uncle Ahmed, Uncle Ali let their daughter study, please you do so, too. Uncle Arif, uncle Shamil let her daughter to study, please you let, too”. And the course which began with two girls, after ten month number of girls reached to 20.

The Ministry of Education of Georgia works for drawing girls to school. Nika Gvaramia, Minster of Education says they make some projects about this problem: “As a government we work on this problem. With propaganda and some different ways we try to call girls to school. It’s compulsory education in Georgia. But because of this is as a tradition for azerbaijanians, we still don’t want to force them. But as we work, the families have to work with us too.”

"I want to study"

NGOs’ projects and other works help to break stereotype of families. NGOs, teachers say this. And parents as Rashid Aliyev who agree to educate his/her daughters think so too: “I have two daughters and a son. All of them study at the Ferma village school. I’ll not take my daughters out from school. And I want them to enter to university, too. And it will be good if they choose their husbands themselves, I’ll not interference”.

Ramila Aliyeva, 25, who worked as a project manager about girl’s education in Kaspi region, has faced with the same problem when she was teenager too. She is ethnic azerbaijanian and she was born in Gardaban city. When she finished secondary school, father and relatives didn’t let her to continue her education at university. Thanks to her obstinacy she entered university and continued her education till master degree. Now, she works for Gerogian TV channel as a reporter. And she is chief of one Azerbaijanian Youth Organization.

She has a five years old daughter. Next year she will go to school. And Ramila thinks to help her daughter in education.

General situation of the education in the regions and villages where ethnic azerbaijanians live, still looks like as a football stadium of the school which Davud Aliyev described as: “Boys play and girls only applaud.”

91 years ago was established Democratic Republic of Georgia. 26 of May is the day of republican order of Georgia.  Every year, Independence Day of Georgia is celebrated in the main streets of the capital Tbilisi with military parade. But this year it will be different. Current opposition meetings in the central streets create an obstacle for parade.

Political parties holding meetings think that government shouldn’t organize parade. Oppositions explain their position with the current situation in the country. Opposition side thinks that it is not time to show power. Kakha Kukava, secretary general of Conservative Party of Georgia says that on May 26^th protesters will be in the central streets ofTbilisi. They will show power of the opposition.

KAKHA KUKAVA “We think that this national day will be very good presentation for our European and western partners to see who is in Georgia, who is in charge of Georgian affairs, Georgian people or Georgian militaries headed by mister Saakashvili”.

But officials think differently. Giorgi Kandelaki, deputy chairman foreign relations committee of parliament, considers necessary celebrating this year’s Independence Day.

GIORGI KANDELAKI: “There will be events around country and I think this year’s Independence Day particularly important because, it gives us opportunity to make step back and put events of last years into perspective and analyze them and what do they mean for history and our statehood in particular”.

Giorgi Kandalaki said that parade will hold. But that time not in rustaveli avenue.

Difference of opinions between authority and opposition is also shown in parade. Sides do not agree with each other. Political expert Ramaz Sakvaralidze thinks, situation is difficult now. He says that after August war in 2008 and because of political crisis government lost its popularity.

RAMAZ SAKVARALIDZE “The Independence Day is the Day when you think, worry and wish the best to your country. This day is important state holiday and government should do maximum to celebrate this day. Traditionally May 26^th is organized by government and they take the parade, but at this moment this kind of actions are very risky, because a big concentration of people and soldiers in the streets may bring troubles to the government”.

The official answer of Ministry of Defense is that the military parade will be held, but not in the centre of the city. According to the Ministry of Defense, Independence Day parade will be in the military zone. But at this day central streets will not be without parade. Opposition leaders say that they will make civil parade on Rustaveli Avenue on May 26.

Reportage made by Giorgi Pkhachiashvili,  Sabina Akbarova, Vugar Baba

On Monday, April 13, protesters gathered at 3 p.m. in front of parliament. By 6 p.m., they had divided into two groups:  one group stayed at parliament and the other went to President Mikheil Saakashvili’s residence/office compound in Avlabari. Both groups contained people who agreed to stay overnight.

Press secretars of opposition parties said that there were 150 000 (one hundread fifty thousand) people at the parliament. For government information there were 25 000 (twenty five thousand) people.

(The story was written for IWPR and published in its site)

“Since the start of the year I’ve been cheated of 650 manats [770 US dollars],” said Eldaniz Gasimov. “For nine months I haven’t been able to get any money from the ministry of labour and social welfare.”

Gasimov is classed as a “category two invalid”, having lost a leg in the 1991-94 Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorny Karabakh. There are three categories of disabled people, with one the most serious.

He lives with his wife and two children in one cramped damp room in a communal hostel.

As the family does not have its own bathroom, he has to use a nearby public bath-house to wash himself. He has slipped and fallen there on numerous occasions, and has broken his arm.

His wife has said she wants to file for divorce to escape the terrible conditions they live in.

Gasimov is one of the 7,000 soldiers of the Azerbaijani regular army who were wounded in the Karabakh war and who say their government has neglected them. According to the Public Union of Karabakh Veterans, there are around 13,000 disabled veterans – the additional number accounted for by interior ministry and security service troops.

Gasimov was only 18 when he was wounded in the western Azerbaijani city of Aghdam, just outside Nagorny Karabakh.

“In 1992 I was taking part in the battles for Aghdam,” he recalled. “In one of these battles, I came face to face with an Armenian tank. A fragment from a tank shell smashed my left leg. So I ended up with just one leg.”

After facing down death on the battlefield, Gasimov had to come up against his own government’s bureaucracy.

The second time he underwent tests to confirm his disabled status, he was nearly denied it.

“They didn’t want me to give me lifetime disability status. They said I should come back the next year,” he said. “I was so angry that I pulled off my prosthetic leg and banged it on the table. I asked them if I was some kind of magic creature whose leg would grow back by next year. After that they had to give me lifetime status.”

As a result, Gasimov receives disability payments worth 96 manats or 113 US dollars every month, of which 78 manats is the standard benefit and the rest a supplementary sum designed as compensation for benefits that have been abolished.

Up until 2002, disabled war veterans in Azerbaijan received a number of special benefits, including a 50 per cent reduction in household utility bills, housing expenses, telephone bills and nationwide public transport; full coverage of other expenses such as local public transport, medicines and artificial limbs; and exemption from taxes.

In 2002, some of the disabled veterans staged a hunger strike inside the building of the Karabakh War Invalids’ Society to press for a rise in benefits. Security forces surrounded the building before eventually storming it. Many of the protestors were beaten with truncheons and hospitalised.

After the protest, most of the subsidies were abolished and replaced by a single flat-rate payment of 18 manats a month, or about 20 dollars at current exchange rates.

The right to free prosthetic limbs was maintained, although veterans say that in practice they have to pay bribes to have them fitted, while the “socks” for amputated limbs which they are supposed to receive several times a month are only provided twice a year.

“This sum [18 manats] does not cover even ten per cent of the expenses which we used to have provided for,” complained Gasimov. “How can I keep my family of two children on such a pittance? How can I look them in the face when I don’t have a chance of providing them with the basic necessities?”

At the start of this year, as prices were shooting up, disabled veterans were encouraged by a decree from President Ilham Aliev raising the supplementary benefit from 18 to 65 manats a month.

Despite the edict, Gasimov says he has “not received a penny” of the extra money for the last ten months.

Rei Kerimoglu, spokesman for the Public Union of Karabakh Veterans said the social welfare ministry was refusing money to veterans under “contradictory pretexts”.

Elnur Kalantarli, press secretary for the welfare ministry, denied that there was a problem. “There are no violations [of the law] in this matter,” he told IWPR. “Karabakh war invalids receive all the money that’s due them. If they apply to the ministry with the right documents then there are no problems.”

Rufat Murshudov, deputy head of the ministry’s pensions department, said that only those war invalids who do not have a right to a labour pension are entitled to welfare benefits.

“Invalids in this group need to apply to the appropriate departments of the Social Welfare Fund and provide a document proving that they are not receiving a labour pension,” he said. “Then they will be paid the benefit that corresponds to their invalidity category.”

By law, disabled Karabakh veterans are entitled to free cars and housing, but many of them have not been able to take this up. One man who wished to remain anonymous told IWPR that he had been asked for bribes of 500 dollars to be allocated a car, and 5,000 dollars for an apartment.

Murshudov rejected such allegations, saying, “There is no question of there being any corruption.”

Gasimov says he is a patriot and would “go to fight in the front ranks” if the Karabakh conflict ever resumed.

“The state should take more care of its ex-servicemen, so that the soldiers of the future are not discouraged by government negligence towards war invalids, and go into battle to liberate Karabakh with confidence,” he said.

For himself, though, the dream is to leave Azerbaijan. “I would go to Turkey, Germany, America – I’d go to Africa, it’s all the same to me,” he said bitterly. “I just want to get as far away as possible from a country where they are contemptuous of those who spilled their blood or gave their lives for their native land.

“The only [other] way out is to hang myself or throw myself under a train.”