Thread: Mass brawl between Christians, Muslims happens in Georgia

01 March 2016, 10:39

Tbilisi, March 1, Interfax - Ethnic Georgian followers of Islam and Christianity engaged in a mass brawl in the district center of Adigeni in southern Georgia, the Georgian media said on Tuesday.

Several people were hurt. Representatives of the State Agency for Religious Affairs would visit Adigeni on Tuesday for a meeting with local residents.

Several dozen families were resettled from Ajaria to Adigeni about 30 years ago, after their homes were destroyed in a mudslide. The resettlers, followers of Islam, settled down and had no problems with the locals. The problem occurred recently, after the Georgian State Agency for Religious Issues permitted local Muslims to build a separate cemetery on a designated plot of land. Before that, Christians and Muslims were buried at the same cemetery.

The Agency's decision triggered protest of local Orthodox believers who told the press that, after building their cemetery, local Muslims intended to demand the construction of a mosque and, in a later period, might evict Orthodox believers from Adigeni because three babies were born to a Muslim family compared to one born to a Christian family in the district center in recent years.

Interfax-Religion

Orthodox believers have a long and rich history with Muslim oppression and we should answer to their concerns.