PRESIDENT SAAKASHVILI AND PRESIDENT BUSH HAVE DISCUSSION WITH CIVIL
SOCIETY REPRESENTATIVES
GeorgiaWelcomesUSA.com
(Tbilisi, Georgia)
Tuesday 10 May 2005
Location: Offices of the President of Georgia in Parliament
Time: Approximately 10:45 AM
Media Coverage: Georgia and U.S. Media Pool and Georgia Host TV Pool
for a few minutes coverage before private meeting continues
All of these participants are citizens of Georgia:
Mrs. Nona Aldamova-Japaridze , from the Akhmeta District in eastern Georgia
is a graduate of Tbilisi State Medical Institute. She is President of
“Caucasian Women’s Rights”, a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) which
she
established in 2003.
Aldamova-Japaridze ahl-dah-noh-vah jah-pah-reed-zeh
Mr. Jambul Anchabadze was born in a village near Zugdidi, the major town in
the western Georgian province of Samegrelo just east of Abkhazia. He
received a degree in history from Sukhumi Pedagogical Institute and lectured
in history there for nearly 20 years. After the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict
in 1992-93, he relocated to Tbilisi and currently teaches as a Professor of
History on the “faculty-in-exile” of the Sukhumi Branch of Tbilisi State
University.
Abkhazi ahb-HA-zee-ah
Jambul Anchabadze Jahm-bull ahn-ha-bahd-zeh
Zugdidi zuhg-dee-dee
Samegrelo sah-may-greh-low
Sukhumi soo-hoo-mee
Mr. Rostom Atashov is a lifelong resident of Tbilisi. Mr. Rostom received
his law degree from Yaroslavl State University in Russia in 1987 and worked
there in the Prosecutor’s office after graduation. He returned home to
Georgia in 1988 and joined the Ministry of Justice. He also sat several
terms as a judge in Georgia. He currently serves as chair of the NGO “Union
of Yazidis of Georgia” (Georgian Kurds are also known as “Yazidis”),
the
larger of two Kurdish organizations in Georgia. Founded in 1987, the
organization has approximately 10,000 members and works to promote the
Kurdish language and culture in Georgia and assists ethnic Kurds with their
integration into Georgian society.
Atashov ah-tah-shahv
Mr. Edgar Bitbunov was born in Tbilisi. In 2000 he graduated from the Small
Academy at the Association of Young Scientists of Georgia, Faculty of Law.
In 1998 Edgar became head of the Assyrian Youth Department, part of the
Assyrian National Congress (ANC) of Georgia, and two years later was elected
to the board of the same organization. The ANC was established in 1992 and
focuses on protection of the rights of Assyrians in Georgia, as well as
preservation of Assyrian cultural heritage and issues of social integration.
Since 2000 Edgar has been actively involved in organizing a number of
conferences.
Edgar Bitbunov biht-buh-nohv
Mr. Robert Chomarian was born in Akhalkalaki, chief town of Javakheti
region, which is known for its large ethnically Armenian population. In 1972
he graduated from the Yerevan Institute of Agriculture in neighboring
Armenia SSR. From 1979 to 1980, he worked on the Regional Committee of the
Communist Party of Georgia. From 1980 to 1989, he worked on the Department
of Agriculture of Akhalkalaki District, and then on the Agricultural
Committee responsible for supplying food to the Black Sea coastal resorts
under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Georgian SSR. Currently he serves
as Director of the Akhalkalaki branch of the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), which is rehabilitating children’s hospitals and medical
clinics. He is also involved in exchange programs to bring ethnic Armenian
school children to study in other parts of Georgia.
Robert Chomarian cho-MAH-ree-in
Akhalkalaki ah-hal-kah-lah-kee
Ms Alana Gagloeva, Deputy Spokesperson for the President of Georgia, is
Tbilisi born and an ethnic Ossete. She was formerly a moderator of focus
groups at the privately run Institute of Polling and Marketing in Tbilisi.
She was also the drummer in Tbilisi-based rock band, Embryon. She is
currently studying English, French, German, other languages and Culture at
the Institute of Foreign Languages at Tbilisi State University.
Alana Gagloeva Ah-lah-nah gog-LOW-ay-vah
Ossete oh-sett
Mr. Vasilii Ivanovich Kadenets was born in the Gulripshi District of
Abkhazia and received a doctorate in Economics at the Sukhumi Subtropical
Institute in Sukhumi. He currently serves as ataman (leader) of the Cossack
Union of Georgia, and works actively to promote friendly relations between
his organization and similar Cossack organizations in Russia. He fought
during the 1992-93 conflict in Abkhazia (on the Georgian side).
Vasilii Kadenets vah-see-lee kah-deh-nehts
Gulripshi goohl-reep-shee
Abkhazia ahb-HA-zee-ah
Sukhumi soo-hoo-mee
Mr. Mamuka Khutsishvili was born in the Samarkand Region of Uzbekistan
because his ehnic-Meshketian family was deported from Georgia to Uzbekistan
in 1944. He relocated to Georgia in 1997. He received a degree in management
from the St. Petersburg Railway Transport Institute. Mr. Khutsishvili is now
in private b usiness in Tbilisi. He spends a great deal of his time
assisting the returning Meskhetian population with their reintegration into
Georgian society.
Khutsishvili hoot-seesh-vee-lee
Mrs. Ana Matveeva was born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, and in 1985 graduated
from the Kiev Institute of Light Industry where she received a degree in
Economics. Ana has lived in Georgia since 1986. From 1986-99, she worked as
an economist at the electronics factory, “Orion.” She began teaching at
the
Ukrainian School in Tbilisi in 1999, and in 2004 received a degree in
Russian Literature from Tbilisi State University. Since 2000 she has served
as the director of a Ukrainian secondary school in Tbilisi, where she
currently resides.
Mateeva mah-TEE-eh-vah
Ms. Marina Meshvildishvili was born and raised in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia.
In 1991, during the midst of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, she moved to
Tbilisi to continue her work with trade unions there. She currently resides
in Tbilisi, where she has serves as the chair of “Tskhinvali House,” a
confederation of 17 Georgian and South Ossetian NGOs that claims to work on
civil society development in South Ossetia. She travels regularly to South
Ossetia to meet with colleagues there.
Meshvildishvili mesh-veel-deesh-vee-lee
Tskhinvali
Mr. Nasib Nasibov was born in Marneuli, a principal town in the
Azeri-populated region of Kvemo Kartli, bordering Azerbaijan. He specialized
in Near Eastern Studies at Baku State University in Azerbaijan SSR. He
currently works as a journalist for the venerable Azeri-language newspaper
Gürcüstan, which was founded in 1921 as the voice of the Azeri community of
Georgia and which remains the main media vehicle for the Azeri community to
this day. He also teaches Azeri language at Caucasian University in Tbilisi.
Nasib Nasibov nah-sihb nah-see-bohv
Marneuli marr-new-lee
Kvemo Kartli kih-veh-moh kahrt-lee
Gurcustan goohr-jih-stahn
Mr. Anzor Shaoshvili graduated Tbilisi State University with a degree in
economics and had a career for years as a documentary filmmaker and book
distributor. Since 1995, he has served as coordinator of “JOINT”, a
Jewish-American Joint Distribution Committee that administers food and
medical assistance to vulnerable groups in the Georgian and Armenian
population with a special focus on the Jewish community which has centuries
of history in Georgia.
Anzor Shaoshvili ahn-zohr showsh-vee-lee
Mrs. Nino Stavridi was born in Tbilisi and graduated from Tbilisi University
where she specialized in Greek language and literature. She did postgraduate
work in Greece. She returned to Tbilisi and has worked since 2000 at the
Embassy of Greece in Georgia as both consular and economic assistant. She is
a member of the editorial board of the journal, Georgia-Ellada and a founder
of the Georgia-Ellada Fund.
Nino Stavridi nee-noh stah-vree-dee
Mr. Arnold Stefanian was born in Tbilisi and graduated with a degree in
International Economics from Tbilisi State University. He currently serves
as the director of the NGO “Multinational Georgia,” an organization that
works on legal rights for the various ethnic minorities of the country. He
is currently engaged in a longstanding effort to lobby Parliament to pass a
new law giving greater legal status to Georgian ethnic minorities. He is
chair of the Union of Young Armenians of Georgia, which works specifically
with ethnic-Armenians and chair of the Union of Armenians in Tbilisi.
Stefanian steh-FAH-nee-in
Mrs. Leila Suleimanova was born in Marneuli, one of the principal towns in
the Azeri-populated region of Kvemo Kartli bordering Azerbaijan. In 1988,
she graduated from Baku State University in Azerbaijan SSR where she
specialized in Near Eastern and Arab Studies. In 2000 she founded the
Marneuli-based NGO, “Union of Azerbaijani Women of Georgia”. She runs
a
U.S.-funded center to help educate local Azeri women in computer skills,
Georgian language and about their legal rights.
Leila Suleimanova lay-lah soo-lee-mah-noh-vah
Marneuli marr-new-lee
Kvemo Kartli kih-veh-moh kahrt-lee