Shota Martinenko, Conservative Movement: “For example, Moscow, today, is a very comfortable, very developed city. It is as comfortable and as developed as the most developed European cities, but without the immigration madness that turned those European cities into garbage bins, ghettos and that’s why there are districts full of aggressive people and districts full of criminals.”

It is unacceptable to sell land to migrants; their settlement in Georgia creates a demographic threat

Irma Tskhoragauli, Alliance of Patriots: “If the migration continues in this way and such large numbers of people continue to arrive, believe me that within 10 years, it will be difficult to find a single Georgian.”

Malkhaz Topuria, Alliance of Patriots: “What we have got is the exodus of several thousand or so, I do not have the accurate statistics, indigenous population from the country, the entry and settlement of several thousand representatives of foreign countries in this country, the increase in mortality and decrease in birth rates….”

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, Sezoni TV Host: “Things have been taking such a turn that land will not be left for Georgians in Georgia and Georgia without Georgians is gradually becoming a reality because Arabic, Iranian, Indian settlements have been built in this country and we know their demographics quite well – each of them have 10-15 wives and soon, they will become a majority while we are going abroad to work and Georgians are exiting Georgia whereas foreigners are entering it.”

Kakha Dzagania, Leftists Alliance: “In the capital city, there is a hegemony of Iranians, Russians, Ukrainians, i.e. comers, not of citizens of this country and therefore a political party that will beat this hegemony, will somehow counterbalance the hegemony of comers, will, probably, be very popular. I, at least, intend to promise this in the following election.”

Visa policy must become stricter towards poor and ideologically different countries

Giorgi Kardava, presenter of Alt-Analytics: “We strongly disapprove of foreign citizen resettlements; we must, in general, have a very strict visa regime with a number of countries. This primarily concerns countries that are poor and culturally, ideologically and otherwise not close to us – Asian, African countries, because their resettlement and procreation here do not promise anything beneficial to us in humanitarian, security terms.”

Sale of land to foreign citizens threatens the territorial integrity

Alexandre Palavandishvili, Zneoba: “As regards the sale of land, in general, … they often chastise us why we focus specifically on Arabs, Iranians, Turks. We should not deceive ourselves; we have our geopolitics, our historical situation. We know that those countries have declared Georgia as their sphere of interest. The president of Turkey as well as one of Iranian ministers have said that … they view Georgia as part of their country. That’s why we are afraid when they buy.”

In November, Islamophobic comments were related to a statement about the construction of mosques, made by ethnic Azerbaijani activist, Samira Bairamova, in the Parliament of Georgia, accusing her of fueling ethno-religious conflict and of anti-state actions. Some statements demanded that Christianity be protected as part of Georgian identity on the state level, like it is in Muslim countries; other statements portrayed Russia as the only defender of Christianity against the threat from the Islamic world.

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, Sezoni TV Host: “Have you heard what that lady said?! [She said] Ethno-religious conflicts will erupt if it [mosque] is not built. We must not be surprised if Samira Bairamova starts swearing at us and our government. You know why? It was this woman and her followers that had the financing stopped to Priest Giorgi, who is the only bright spot in that region, as a result of complaint filed with the court; it was this woman that carried out numerous anti-state actions; I applied to prosecution about them several times … and when such a person is allowed to go unpunished, then she would do worse and I would not be surprised if she declares that this territory is not a Georgian territory … Why is this woman not in jail?”

Alexandre Palavandishvili, Zneoba: “Apart from being extremist, threatening the country with ethnic conflicts and capable of instigating them, Samira Bairamova is also a feminist friend of our notorious acquaintance Baia Pataria. In other words, this person manages to be an Islamist activist and at the same time, LGBT NGO activist. Let me recall that Samira Bairamova sprayed paint on a cross displayed, if memory serves me right, on the Alt-Info office… Thus, this person does nasty things, behaves brazenly and because she has support from external forces, support from the West, support from the Islamic world, our government, unfortunately, cannot touch her.”

Alexandre Palavandishvili, Zneoba: “We know what kind of people they are; just imagine, a cross is not allowed where Azerbaijanis live because Georgians are a minority, and where Georgians are the majority, [gay] prides must be held?! This Samira Bairamova is the lobbyist of LGBT feminists and one of the activists.”

Vazha Otarashvili, Alliance of Patriots: “We do not look at how events unfold in our neighboring countries, I am talking about Muslim countries: 10 years ago, Ilham Aliyev made the teaching of Quran and Azerbaijani language throughout Azerbaijan mandatory; Turkish language-speaking world, at a recent gathering in Kazakhstan, adopted a resolution on the support for standard Turkish language and Islam. We have failed to elevate our national ideology, Christianity, to the level of state politics, which saved, as they call today, the identity of our nation, or in other words, the authenticity of the nation.”

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, Sezoni TV Host: “Had we all been well aware of the history of Georgia, we would not have said that we do not want Russia here; quite the contrary, Russia is the only Christian country that can protect us from the invasion of Muslim world and therefore, we must find a common language with it.”

Part of gender-based discriminatory comments, like in October, were related to the process of selection of candidates for the Public Defender and targeted an applicant, Ana Abashidze. Another part of the comments criticized the law on domestic violence, alleging that men are subject to prosecution without any grounds because of the effective law.

Criticism on the ground of gender stereotypes/attacks based on moral criteria

Shota Martinenko, Conservative Movement: Who is, for example, Ana Abashidze? Who is she? Can you recall her? … That transgender woman or man is a candidate for the Public Defender. If you show her photo, one may recall that she is a freak who often gets on your nerves and is shown on TV.”

Men are subject to prosecution without any grounds because of the law on domestic violence

Levan Chachua, Georgian Idea: “Prisons are packed with men arrested on charges of domestic violence. Wives report even an angry shout to patrol police and have their husbands arrested; they regret it thereafter, but it proved to be already too late. The Georgian Church and a Georgian family are the pillars which our country rests on, which preserve our identity. One cannot easily manipulate a country and people where church and family are strong; therefore, they purposefully try to destroy, belittle, ruin the church.”

Giorgi Kardava, Conservative Movement: “They have introduced such legislation and established such court practice that a man, for even raising a voice or on the ground of a neighbor’s complaint, may find himself facing this feminist monster and a court, society, politics, media will go against that man merely because he is the man. Had he been gay, things would have been completely different. But when you are heterosexual, not a representative of some ‘community’ but just a normal man, the system acts against you…”

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, Sezoni TV Host: “It has always been the case in Georgia that sometimes a man killed a woman and vice versa, a woman killed a man; there was some statistics of it, but today all this is magnified and presented as if cases increased. If statistics show increase, it shows it because any disagreement, altercation ends in the arrest of a man, because social ads circulating in media today, urging if men raise their voice or in case of disagreement with men, to call them and they will take care of those men.”

Anti-Western messages linked the fact of burglary and rape of a nun in the Tskhramukha Monastery to liberalism imposed on Georgia by the West; also, portrayed persons arrested for hate crimes committed against Tbilisi Pride on 5 July 2021, as guardians of Georgian identity and morals and hostages of the West.

The attack on nuns at the Tskhramukha Monastery is the result of liberal policy fighting against the church

Jaba Khubua, Asaval-Dasavali Journalist: “Unfortunately, this filth liberast propaganda with so-called independent, so-called critical and so-called pro-Western media outlets being its main tool, has largely attained its goal of demonizing the Georgian Orthodox Church and its servants! … The torture and rape of a 70-year-old nun in the Tskhramukha Monastery on 26 November 2022 is a clear sign that the time for a new Bakhtrioni Revolt has come in Georgia! A new Bakhtrioni Revolt must take place against a new-style infidels who are now called liberasts!”
Asaval-Dasavali, 28 November – 4 December.

Zaza Davitaia,  Asaval-Dasavali Journalist: “An appalling incident that happened in the village of Tskhramukha a couple of days ago, which must be a wake-up call for dormant Georgians and have them prepare for a decisive fight against its real enemy – the liberast fascism! … Reactionary, liberast-fascist dark forces of the West have stealthily and gradually rubbed a nasty disease of liberalism into the entire world, including Georgia … During three decades they have gradually destroyed Georgian traditions, the Christian mode of life, the institution of family.”
Asaval-Dasavali, 28 November – 4 December.

Tatia Gabrichidze, Alt-Info Host:  “The position of the Patriarchate and the congregation [with regard to the incident at the Tskhramukha Monastery] appeared unacceptable to and was condemned by a posh segment of Westerners who perceive the Orthodox Christian Church as unprogressive and see advancement and development in Evangelical-Baptist sect and father Rusudan. A comment by Khatuna Samnidze who has the ambition of being a people’s voice in the parliament is worrying and needs to be condemned and she must be excluded from the political life for good. Let’s listen to her comment about the Patriarchate.”

Vazha Otarashvili, Alliance of Patriots: “[Talking about the incident in the Tskhramukha Monastery] Let me be direct that it is the result of that 30-year-long anti-Georgian, anti-Christian politics; we cannot call it a national politics, it is an anti-national politics that fights against the Georgian church, the Georgian consciousness, anything that is Georgian, that is national, against the Orthodox Christian. This is the result of the politics that banished the teaching of history of Orthodox Christian religion from schools, banished the clergy from school, saying that the school is an apolitical institution as if those clergy had been introducing political doctrines to schools…. We claim that we strive towards the West and forget that we were and are close to the West, i.e. Europe with our Christian cultural values, not for being LGBT or something else.”

People convicted for hate crimes committed on 5 July are hostages of the West

The West imposes homosexuality and immorality

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, Sezoni TV Host: “Someone from the Western foundation of that Tamar Kintsurashvili, the entity financed by the USA, blocks some of our content and you know why? Because we expose sodomy. That’s why we say out loud that today, all the immorality, all the misfortune come from the USA and because I resist the sodomy, someone must suppress my voice; this is what Russia opposes today and that’s why they adopted the law against LGBT propaganda which has already been enforced and I would wish such a law were adopted in our country blessed by Virgin Mary.”

 Vazha Otarashvili, Alliance of Patriots: “[The West] now targets the masses saying that you know what the LGBT, sodomy, displaying your body, your bottom is civilization, that is the way towards the European, Western civilization. No, that is not true. Let me say that the world political elite is in crisis because of LGBT; such sodomite LGBTs are in all spheres.”

Monitoring methodology is available at the No to Phobia website: http://www.notophobia.ge