PM: We will Not Allow Confrontations between Citizens on Religious Grounds

"We will not allow anyone to restrict the rights of Georgian citizens in any way, but we will also not allow anyone to provoke a confrontation between our citizens on religious grounds through illegal actions," Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said at the beginning of the government session in response to the incident in Guria, in the village of Buknari.

"Religious diversity is our historical fact and it is our richness. This is how we have been building our state for centuries and everyone should understand that the government of Georgia was and will be a guarantor of the constitutional rights of every citizen and we will not allow anyone to restrict the rights of Georgian citizens, but we will also not allow anyone to provoke a confrontation between our citizens on religious grounds through illegal actions. The Ministry of Internal Affairs already has been tasked that wherever there is an attempt to provoke a confrontation between our people on religious grounds, the state and the MIA will act strongly," the Prime Minister said.

Yesterday, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili also responded to the recent confrontation between members of the Christian and Muslim communities in Guria.

"I would like to respond to the confrontation between our Muslim and Christian compatriots in Guria. This is a sad fact and I hope the situation will ease in the near future. Georgia has always been proud of its religious diversity. This is the wealth of our country, one of the foundations of its strength, which we have always been careful about.

"Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution. Religious services and rituals are the right of our citizens and no one can restrict them.

"This conflict is one of few cases, but it must be said that no one has the right to overshadow our historical achievements, to question the peaceful coexistence of religions in Georgia, tolerance, the unity and dignified coexistence of citizens of different faiths," she stated. 

The confrontation between the Muslim and the Christian community is related to the place of prayer in one of the houses.