Tblisi (Georgia) to get an Instituto Camões of its own

From here in Portuguese yesterday:

A new Centro de Língua Portuguesa (CLP, Portuguese Language Centre) was inaugurated today in Ivane Javakhishvili State University in Tblisi, Georgia. This CLP has its own library equipped with printed, multimedia and audiovisual materials, as well as a space for Portuguese language and culture classes. This centre is the result of the signing of a protocol of cooperation on 18 October 2012 between Camoes I.P. and the university with a duration of three academic years. This inauguration raises the number of CLPs in the world to 65.

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Georgia wants to open a Portuguese cultural centre in Tbilisi

From here in Portuguese today:

Georgia plans to open a Portuguese cultural centre in Tbilisi by the end of the year as part of the process of outreach to the Lusophone community, to which the country wants to join as an observer member.

"We are interested in Portugal, the culture and the Portuguese language. For this, in collaboration with Portugal, we want to install a centre of Portuguese language and culture. The negotiations are ongoing and I am convinced that they will soon be successful", said the Ambassador of Georgia to Portugal Giorgi Gorgiladze to the Lusa news agency.

Georgia has formally requested observer country status to the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP, Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa).

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Random links for 12 July 2011

Kind of cat busy today so here are some links that are taking up room on the top of Chrome right now:

An article here from the Globe & Mail on Georgia, the first in a series. It begins with Svaneti.

Wikipedia in Latin asks us today if we know that "...anno 1868 primum textum lingua Protoindoeuropaea (sc. Fabulam Schleicheri) scriptum esse?" (the first text in Proto-Indo-European, Schleicher's Fable, was written in 1868?)

An article here from Space.com talks about the possibility of a moon around Vesta, one of the first thing Dawn team members will be looking out for. Dawn is now just 25,000 km away from Vesta. It's been almost 6 days since the last image was released (taken on the 1st at a distance of 100,000 km) so we're due for another one very soon. Arrival is on the 16th, so just three days from now.

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Language news from mid-February 2011 - Galician magazine uses Portuguese orthographic accord, Chinese in Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha...

Busy busy! We'll be on a plane in just a few days. Here are a few articles on languages from the past few days.

An article from here in Portuguese on a Galician journal that now uses the Portuguese orthographic accord, signed in 1990 and finally ratified by Portuguese-speaking countries including Portugal itself.

One here in Spanish on demand for Chinese at the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha surpassing expectations.

Jojo sucht das Glück, the telenovela for German language students, is done as of this week with all 32 episodes online. Don't tell me how it ends as I've only seen up to episode 13.

Portuguese article on Georgia's decision to learn English instead of Russian.

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More on Georgia's drive to learn English

One week after my first post on the subject, James Chandler from auxlang let us know about this video from Al-Jazeera that shows some of the first volunteer teachers entering the country to teach English in accordance with the government's new policy to make English the primary foreign language of the country. Though not specifically aimed at Russian, making English the primary foreign language would by definition require being better at English than Russian.



As I wrote before, my first suspicion with programs like this in countries where there is no English presence nearby (Korea and Japan are two other good examples) is that it will end up with simply a slightly more proficient population, but whether Georgians can end up being better at English than Russian is difficult to say. English does have the advantage of being quite difficult to oppose though, as it's a skill that all countries want at least a certain proficiency in regardless of their political views.

The lack of linguistic unity in the Caucasus also leads to a natural propensity towards international languages to communicate:


View Larger Map

Besides English and Russian the only strong regional language is Turkish, and even that has a limited application outside of the region.

Preliminary prediction: Georgia will end up being about equally good at both English and Russian, and will eventually decide that it's in its best interest to be fluent in both. Same as Kazakhstan.

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Georgia's plan to learn English and leave Russia's sphere of influence

The Telegraph has an article here from a few days ago on Georgia's plan to make English the most well-known foreign language in the country and through that distance itself somewhat from Russia's sphere of influence. It will be interesting to watch, but grandiose plans like this are always tougher to enact in practice than in theory. First of all, Georgia's position makes this a tough task to carry out in the first place as local geography almost always seems to trump international factors. For example:

Zambia introduces Portuguese into the schools, largely due to oil-rich Angola to the west. If overall international strength was the only factor it would have made more sense to go with French or Spanish instead.

Portuguese is now the second-most studied language in Extremadura.

But then again, English is the most studied foreign language in Extremadura so local factors don't always prove to be the deciding factor. It's also extremely easy to make the case that one's country should learn English, so Georgia has that in its favour. One of the methods they plan to use is a good idea:

Georgian TV would also broadcast more English-language films with subtitles in order to help older people get used to hearing English spoken, he added.

Nothing wrong with that. It won't change the situation in just a few short years though.

One other thing Georgia has going for it is Turkey to the west, as Russian is hardly spoken there at all and it also happens to be the largest economy in the area.

Finally, there is no reason why a country needs to choose a single foreign language. Switzerland has three / four, if you're from Luxembourg you probably know at least four, etc. etc. I expect that this initiative will end up with not much more than a slightly higher average proficiency, but we'll see what happens.

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Abkhazian independence recognized by Nauru

Pretty funny story here, about Nauru and its role as a player in the world of international recognition. Nauru is still an independent state so having its official recognition adds one to the number of nations that recognize another (i.e. being able to say that Nation X is recognized by 15 countries!), but it's also small enough that when it sometimes changes its mind about recognizing one country over another it's usually beneath the dignity of the larger country that wanted the recognition in the first place to make too much of a fuss over it, as was the case when it decided to recognize Taiwan again instead of the People's Republic of China. Having the Chinese government make too much of a big deal over what Nauru thinks just wouldn't look proper. And at the same time it is able to get a fair amount of financial support for recognizing other countries, which then becomes fodder for the media and regular citizens in larger countries to mock their own government.

To show just how isolated and tiny Nauru is, let's embed a map but extend the length to 4000 pixels. See, now Vanuatu and New Caledonia look huge in comparison.


View Larger Map

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Extra troops to be sent to Afghanistan, per capita

Here are some numbers for new troops to Afghanistan by country, excluding France and Germany which have not yet made a decision.


* United States - 30,000
* Italy - 1000

* Georgia - 900
* Poland - 600
* UK - 500
* Slovakia - 250
* Portugal - 150
* Albania - 85
* Macedonia - 80

Comparing those numbers to the total population though gives another interesting table. Keep in mind though that this is extra troops, not the total number.

Georgia: 4,733 people per soldier
United States: 10,135 people per soldier
Slovakia: 21,624 people per soldier
Macedonia: 25,471 people per soldier
Albania: 36,980 people per soldier
Italy: 59,854 people per soldier

Poland: 63,538 people per soldier


Portugal: 70,831 people per soldier


UK: 122,798 people per soldier

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Georgian State Television to begin new Russian language channel

That's according to this article in Turkish. Here's what it says:

Georgian State Television has announced that it is preparing to begin a Russian television channel in order to reach viewers in the Caucasus.

According to news from the journal Rezonansi, State Television General Manager Gia Chanturia said that work on the new channel was in progress but that they had not yet decided on the format.

Chanturia said that it was not yet clear when the new channel would begin broadcasting, but that they were considering of pilot programs to broadcast for the first step.

 Authorities have said that costs for the new channel would be met by the state budget.

Georgian State Television currently broadcasts over two television and two radio stations.

View Larger Map

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La Géorgie a repris le transit de gaz russe vers l'Ossétie du Sud / Georgia reprendet li transite de gas russ vers Sud-Ossetia

Here's some good news in French translated into Occidental, from Wikinews. I'm not sure what word would be best for pipeline - gasotub or gasoduc or gas-linea, etc. I went with gas-linea but if it's a bad choice let me know and I'll change it. I also assume that the word for demining would be desmination. Un bon selection, o no?

Français	Occidental
La Géorgie a repris le transit de gaz russe vers l'Ossétie du Sud interrompu le 8 août 2008, au début des hostilités osséto-géorgiennes, a annoncé samedi à RIA Novosti par téléphone une source interne au gouvernement sud-ossète.	Georgia reprendet li transite de gas russ vers Sud-Ossetia interruptet 8 august 2008, ye li comense del hostilitás ossetian-georgian, anunciat un fonte internal del guvernament de Sud-Ossetia saturdí a RIA Novosti per telefon.
« Le gaz doit parvenir à Tskhinvali demain », a-t-elle indiqué.	"On expecta que li gas va pervenir a Tskhinvali deman", ella indicat.
Depuis août, Géorgie a refusé de rouvrir le transit affirmant que le gazoduc était endommagé sur le territoire sud-ossète. Moscou a déclaré de son côté que les hostilités n'avaient pas été menées dans la zone du gazoduc, proposant à Tbilissi son aide dans le rétablissement de la conduite et le déminage.	Desde august, Georgia ha refusat a re-aperter li transite, assertent que li gas-linea* esset damageat in li territoria de Sud-Ossetia. Moscva dit de su látere que li hostilitás ne esset in li zone del gas-linea, proposiente a Tbilisi su apoy in li reetablissement del tub e li desmination.*
Le 22 janvier, la vice-ministre géorgienne de l'Énergie, Nino Enoukidze, a annoncé que le gaz pouvait prochainement parvenir à « la région de Tskhinvali », suite à l'élimination de tous les obstacles au transit. Selon la vice-ministre géorgienne, le tronçon du gazoduc endommagé pendant les événements d'août 2008 sur le territoire contrôlé par Tskhinvali a été rétabli par des spécialistes géorgiens, sous les garanties de sécurité accordées par les observateurs de l'UE et de l'OSCE.	Ye li 22 januar li vice-ministre de energie in Georgia, Nino Enoukidze, anunciat qui li gas bentost vell posser parvenir al "region de Tskhinvali", sequent li elimination de tot li obstacules de transite. Secun li vice-ministre georgian, li section del gas-linea damageat durant li evenimentes de august 2008 sur li territorie controlat per Tskhinvali esset reetablisset per specialistes georgian, sub li garanties de securitá providet per li observatores del EU e del OSCE.

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Turkmenistan opening up to the world, meaning of Berdimuhammedow's surname, "Trans-Turk" energy corridor

The Caspian Sea at Türkmenbaşy.

There's a lot of news out there and translating articles word for word takes up time that could be used by going over a larger number of articles and just mentioning the important points, so I think I'm going to do a lot more of that from now on. Here are three articles on Turkmenistan, Turkey and energy in Central Asia:

• Turkmenistan opening up to the world (Türkmenistan dünyaya açılıyor, 3 December): Turkmenistan's "young" president (51 years old) Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow has visited 15 countries in 20 months since being elected and visited South Korea, Germany and Austria in November. He also had a three-way meeting with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey on the 28th of November. Some other numbers: Turkmenistan produces 70 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year, of which 55-60 billion is sold to Russia and Iran. Turkmenistan wants to double natural gas production in a ten-year development plan to 150 billion cubic metres. Price of natural gas sold to Russia in 2009 will be $150.
• What does Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow's surname mean? This article (2 December) has the answer. The "muhammed" in the middle there is pretty obvious, but the rest of it isn't it first. The Turkish version of the name would be ver­di-mu­ham­med-oğ­lu, which means Mohammed-he gave-his son. As you move east you'll often see v turn into b and a into o, giving you words like Uzbek bor for Turkish var. The authour also remarks on how Turkey as an EU and NATO member nation with access to the energy of the east will be able to become a powerful nation for the first time since 1918 when the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
• (3 December) The Russian magazine Vremya Novostey (Время новостей) has written that Turkey wants to create a "Trans-Turk" energy corridor along with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. This project would be to bypass Russia and send energy directly from Central Asia into Turkey and then Europe. It also says that in addition to Georgia, Turkey could want Armenia in on the project too, and that it is looking at it as a more stable alternative to Georgia after the war with Russia in August this year. Also that it sees it as killing two birds with one stone: to peacefully solve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, as well as reduce tensions on the Armenian genocide issue between the two countries.
  

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250 million dollars of aid from the United States to Georgia / ABD'den Gürcistan'a 250 milyon dolar yardım

Source: hurriyet.com.tr (Turkish)

ABD'den Gürcistan'a 250 milyon dolar yardım

250 million dollars of aid from the United States to Georgia

ABD'nin, Gürcistan'a 250 milyon dolar yardımda bulunacağı bildirildi.

The United States will be giving 250 million dollars of aid to Georgia.

ABD'nin Tiflis Büyükelçiliğinden yapılan açıklamada, Gürcistan için ayrılan 1 milyar dolarlık yardım paketinden ilk aşamada 250 milyon doların kullandırılacağı kaydedildi.

A statement by the Ambassador of the United States in Tbilisi said that 250 million dollars would be used in the first stage of the 1 billion dollar aid package for Georgia.

Açıklamada, Şubat 2009'a kadar tamamlanması öngörülen yardım programı çerçevesinde, İçişleri ve Savunma Bakanlığına 30 milyon dolar, emekli ve devlet bursu alan öğrencilere 163 milyon dolar, sağlık sektörüne 26 milyon dolar, Abhazya'daki evlerini terk etmek zorunda kalan mültecilere 6 milyon dolar ve eğitim kurumlarına 24 milyon dolar ayrıldığı bildirildi.

The statement said that of the aid program to be completed by February 2009, $30 million would be given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Defence, $163 million would go to retirees and students with state scholarships, $26 million would go to the health sector, $6 million would be for refugees forced to leave their houses in Abkhazia, and $24 million would go to educational institutions.

Gürcistan'a yapılacak yardım ile ilgili çalışmaların devam ettiği kaydedildi.

It said that work on aid to be given to Georgia would continue.

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American warship USS Barry going to Batum and Poti in Georgia / ABD savaş gemisi Gürcistan'a gidiyor

Since there's only one USS Barry in service, this must be the right one.

Source: zaman.com.tr (Turkish)

ABD savaş gemisi Gürcistan'a gidiyor

American warship going to Georgia

ABD savaş gemisi 'BARRY' Gürcistan'a dostluk ziyareti yapacak. Bugün Gürcistan'ın Karadeniz kıyısındaki Batum limanına varacak gemi için karşılama töreni yapılacak.

The American warship USS Barry is making a friendly visit to Georgia. A welcoming ceremony will be held today for the ship which will reach the port of Batum today on Georgia's Black Sea coast.

ABD Tiflis Büyükelçiliğinden yapılan açıklamada, BARRY kruvazörünün bugün Batum'a geleceği ve 25 Kasım'da da ülkenin en büyük liman kenti Poti'ye gideceği bildirildi. Bu Gürcistan ve Rusya arasında ayrılıkçı bölge Güney Osetya üzerine yaşanan kısa savaş sonrası Gürcistan'ı ziyaret edecek beşinci ABD savaş gemisidir.

In a statement by the US Ambassador in Tbilisi, the cruiser USS Barry will arrive at Batum today and on the 25th of November will go to the country's largest harbour city of Poti. This is the fifth American warship to visit Georgia since the short war between Georgia and Russia over the separatist region of South Ossetia.

ABD kruvazörünün Batum'a gelişi dolayısı ile düzenlenecek törene yerel yönetim ve toplum temsilcileri katılacak. Pazar günü gemi mürettebatını da katılacağı bir etkinlik yapılacak ve 24 Kasım'da da gemide 'Şükran Günü' yemeyi verilecek.

The ceremony prepared for the coming of the American cruiser to Batum will have participation by the local government and community representatives. There will be an activity on Sunday attended by the ship's crew, and on the 24th of November there will be a Thanksgiving Day dinner on the ship.

ABD donanmasını Gürcistan'a gelen diğer gemilerinde farklı olarak bu savaş gemisi Gürcistan'a insani yardım getirmiyor.

Differing from the other ships from the US fleet that have come to Georgia, this warship is not carrying humanitarian aid to the country.

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Georgia comes to agreement with Azerbaijan on natural gas / Gürcistan Azerbaycan'le doğalgaz anlaşması yaptı

Source: hurriyet.com.tr (Turkish)

Gürcistan Azerbaycan'le doğalgaz anlaşması yaptı

Georgia comes to agreement with Azerbaijan on natural gas

A.A.

Gürcistan'ın, Azerbaycan ile yeni bir doğal gaz anlaşması imzalayacağı bildirildi.

Georgia will sign a new natural gas agreement with Azerbaijan.

Gürcistan Cumhurbaşkanı Mihail Saakaşvili, uluslararası enerji konferansı için bulunduğu Bakü'de gazetecilere yaptığı açıklamada, Azerbaycan ile 5 yılı kapsayan doğalgaz anlaşması imzalayacaklarını belirterek, konu ile ilgili uzun süredir müzakerelerde bulunduklarını kaydetti.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in a statement to journalists in Baku gathered for an international conference that they would sign a 5-year agreement on natural gas with Azerbaijan, and that they had been in discussions on the matter for quite some time.

Saakaşvili, önümüzdeki 5 yıllık dönemde Azerbaycan'dan kesintisiz doğalgaz alacaklarını belirterek, dolayısıyla ülkesinin bu süreç içinde enerji konusunda bir sıkıntı yaşamayacağını ifade etti.

Saakashvili said that they would receive uninterrupted natural gas from Azerbaijan over the next five years, and that therefore for this period there would be no difficulties on energy.

Azerbaycan ve Gürcistan arasındaki doğalgaz anlaşmasının, Bakü'de devam eden enerji konferansı çerçevesinde iki ülkenin enerji bakanları tarafından imzalanmasının beklendiği bildirildi.

The agreement on natural gas between Azerbaijan and Georgia is waiting to be signed in the energy conference continuing in Baku by the energy ministers of both nations.

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Former Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan: BTC Pipeline a successful project / 'Bakü-Tiflis-Ceyhan başarılı bir proje'

Source: zaman.com.tr (Turkish)

'Bakü-Tiflis-Ceyhan başarılı bir proje'

'Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan a successful project'

Ermenistan eski Dışişleri Bakanı Vardan Oskanyan; Azerbaycan, Gürcistan ve Türkiye arasında geliştirilen Bakü-Tiflis-Ceyhan petrol boru hattı (BTC) projesinin bölgesel işbirliği açısından başarılı bir proje olduğunu söyledi.

Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan (Վարդան Օսկանյան) said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline developed between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey was a successful project from a regional cooperation point of view.

Azeri haber portalı 1News.az'ın haberine göre Amerika'nın Los-Angeles kentinde Ermeni diaspora üyeleriyle bir araya gelen Oskanyan, diasporadan Ermenistan'a yardım etmelerini istedi. Azerbaycan'ı tehditlerine devam ettiğini savunan Oskanyan Erivan'ın daha fazla desteğe ihtiyacı olduğunu kaydetti.

According to news from the Azeri news portal 1news.az, Oskanyan met with the Armenian diaspora in the US city of Los Angeles, requesting help from the diaspora for Armenia. Oskanyan maintained that Azerbaijan continued to be a threat and that Yerevan needed more support.

Oskanyan açıklamasında Bakü-Tiflis-Ceyhan petrol boru hattının başarılı bir proje olduğunu itiraf etti. Ermeni eski bakan, "Azerbaycan, Türkiye ve Gürcistan tarafından gerçekleştirilen Bakü-Tiflis-Ceyhan petrol boru hattı başarılı bir proje. Bu gibi bölgesel projeler katılımcı ülkelerin karşılıklı işbirliğini artırarak tek yumruk altında birleştiriyor." dedi.

Oskanyan admitted in his statement that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was a successful project. The former Armenian minister said that "The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline carried out between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia was a successful project. These regional projects increase the mutual cooperation between the participating nations while uniting them under one body."

Oskanyan, Türk-Azeri ilişkilerinin gelişmesini ve Ankara'nın Bakü'ye siyasi, ekonomik ve askeri alanında verdiği desteğin artmasını da endişeyle dile getirdi. (CİHAN)

Oskanyan said that he was concerned about the development of Turkish-Azeri relations and the increase of Ankara's political, economic and military support to Baku.

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How much money does the Azerbaijani diaspora send home every year?

Here's the answer:

Each year, our citizens living abroad remit more than $1 billion home which also has some influence (on the economy).

It's interesting that the two nations in the Caucasus of Georgia and Azerbaijan are some of the few nations likely to be less affected than most by the current economic climate: Azerbaijan because of its large oil reserves and Georgia because of all the foreign aid pouring in as a result of the war.

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3.4 billion euros from the European Union to Georgia for development / Gürcistan'a yeniden imar için 3,4 milyar Euro yardım yapılacak

Source: dw-world.de (Turkish)


| 23.10.2008 | 06:00 UTC |

Gürcistan'a yeniden imar için 3,4 milyar Euro yardım yapılacak

3.4 billion euros of aid to be given to Georgia for rebuilding

Brüksel'de düzenlenen Uluslararası Bağışçılar Konferansı'nda Rusya ile yaşadığı savaşta zarar gören Gürcistan’ın yeniden imarı için 3 milyar 400 milyon Euro toplandı. Almanya da daha önce ekonomik yardım olarak öngörülen 35 milyon Euro'ya ek olarak 34 milyon Euro daha yardım yapılacağını açıkladı. Avrupa Birliği, yeniden imar için Gürcistan'a aktarılacak kaynaklar karşılığında, ülkede demokratik reformlar yapılmasını talep ediyor. AB Komisyonu'nun Dışişlerinden Sorumlu Üyesi Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Tiflis hükümetine çağrıda bulunarak, hukuk devleti kurallarına daha fazla uyulması ve basın özgürlüğünün sağlanmasını istedi.

3.4 billion euros have been collected in the International Donors Conference in Bruxelles for Georgia, which was damaged in the war with Russia. Germany had also planned 35 million euros of economic aid, to which they said 34 million more euros could be added in aid. In exchange for the increase of resources to Georgia for reconstruction, the European Union requires democratic reforms within the country. The EU Commission's Commissioner responsible for External Relations called for the administration in Tbilisi to further abide by rules of state law and to provide freedom of the press.

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Georgian Kazbeguri dance on Korean Star King program (이른바 그루지아 무릎 팍 댄스)

I think this is the right region where the dance comes from. Wikipedia: "Stepantsminda (Georgian: სტეფანწმინდა; formerly Kazbegi, ყაზბეგი), is a small town in the Khevi region of northern Georgia."

This just came on tv now and we just missed it, but surprisingly enough somebody has already put it on YouTube. The show doesn't give the name of the dance but I think it's Kazbeguri, because this site gives the following:

A powerful dance from the mountain region of Kasbegi. Each dancer shows his best. Kazbeguri is a dance from the Northern Mountains of Georgia, which is marked with a diverse culture and traditions. The relatively cold and rough atmosphere of the mountains is shown through the vigor and the strictness of the movements. This dance is performed by only men and portrays the toughness and endurance of the mountain people.

The name of the show is Star King which is a show that always showcases talents from all ages and countries. Some other examples have been a blind 5-year-old pianist, a girl from the Philippines with a super powerful voice, a guy that draws paintings with sand, etc. Today they had these dancers from Georgia:

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Russia and Georgia to begin meetings / Rusya ile Gürcistan görüşmelere başlayacak

The border between Georgia and Russia in the Dariali Gorge, closed since 2006.

Source: cnnturk.com (Turkish)


Russia and Georgia to begin meetings / Rusya ile Gürcistan görüşmelere başlayacak

Rusya ile Gürcistan arasında, bölgenin güvenlik ve istikrarına ilişkin olarak alt düzeyde görüşmeler yapılacağı belirtildi.

Low-level meetings between Russia and Georgia will take place on regional security and stability.

BM sözcüsü Marie Heuze, 15 Ekim Çarşamba günü Cenevre'de yapılacak görüşmelere bakanlar ya da bu düzeydeki yetkililer yerine uzmanlar düzeyinde katılım olacağını söyledi.

UN spokesperson Marie Heuze said that experts would participate instead of ministers or authorities on the same level for the talks in Geneva on Wednesday the 15th of October.

Görüşmelerin BM, AB ve Avrupa Güvenlik ve İşbirliği Teşkilatı (AGİT) öncülüğünde yapılacağını belirten Heuze, BM Genel Sekreteri Ban Ki-mun'un da bu görüşmelerle ilgili olarak Cenevre'de bulunacağını ifade etti.

Heuze noted that the talks would take place under the leadership of the UN, as well as the EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and that UN General Secrutary Ban Ki-mun was also interested in the meetings and would be in Geneva.

Sözcü, Gürcistan'dan tek yanlı bağımsızlıklarını ilan eden Abhazya ve Güney Osetya temsilcilerinin toplantıya katılıp katılmayacağı konusunda henüz bir karar verilmediğini, Rusya ile Gürcistan arasındaki görüşmelere ilişkin ayrıntıların pazartesi günü açıklanacağını söyledi.

The spokesperson said that there was still no decision on whether Abkhazia and South Ossetia - which unilaterally declared their independence from Georgia - would participate in the meeting, and that details on the meetings between Russia and Georgia would be revealed on Monday.

Rusya ile Gürcistan arasında ağustos ayında patlak veren çatışma, ABD dönem başkanı Fransa'nın Cumhurbaşkanı Nicolas Sarkozy'nin arabuluculuğunda sağlanan ateşkesle son bulmuştu.

The conflicts that broke out between Russia and Georgia in August reached an end with a ceasefire provided with the mediation of EU term president and French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

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Italian diplomat Sergio Romano has same opinion as mine on Georgia's situation being similar to that in Cyprus / Gürcistan ve Kıbrıs’ın benzerliği var

Here's an article from today from an interview with Italian diplomat/writer/historian/journalist Sergio Romano that's somewhat long so I won't translate the whole thing, but this paragraph is especially interesting because it mirrors what I thought about the situation in Georgia last month:

Romano “Gürcistan'ın durumu bazı açılardan 1974'deki Kıbrıs krizini anımsatmaktadır. Türkiye, Atina albayları tarafından düzenlenen ve adanın Yunanistan'ın bünyesine alınmasına neden olacak darbeyi durdurmak üzere harekete geçmiştir.” “Bu, milli çıkarlardan kaynaklanan bir hareketti, ancak Batılılar Türkleri suçlamayı tercih ettiler ve Türkler de buna Kıbrıs'ın kuzeyinde bir küçük bağımsız Türk Cumhuriyeti yaratarak yanıt verdiler.”

Romano said that "Georgia's situation is reminiscent of the Cyprus crisis in 1974 from a number of points of view. Turkey took action to stop a coup d'etat that was prepared by the military in Athens and would have taken the island in as a part of Greece." "This was an action based on national self-interest, but the West chose to blame the Turks and the Turks responded by creating a small independent Turkish Republic in the north of Cyprus."



The interview was in the magazine Corriere della Sera.

I think the end result will be similar as well, since Russia has no real interest in going beyond Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and neither is the West interested in helping Georgia move in there at present. The two sides will probably just compete economically for the next number of years as they receive funding from their respective allies.

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