Sunday, December 1, 2013

Minaret built in Georgian village at night

Tbilisi, November 29, Interfax - A metal minaret was built in the village of Chela, Agiden District of Georgia, in the early hours of Thursday.

The construction of the minaret was authorized by the local authorities and took place under the protection of the police, who kept locals who were protesting the opening of a mosque in the village, away from the construction site, the Georgian media reported.

Several dozen Muslim families who were transferred there from Ajaria under the Soviets live in Chela. The minaret was installed near the house of one of those families. An attempt to build a minaret, which was brought to the village form Turkey, was disrupted by locals several months ago. That drew criticism from European bureaucratic structures, which said minorities were persecuted in Georgia.

"The village of Chela is a place where Georgians shed their blood in the fight for their Orthodox faith for centuries. The construction of a minaret in this historical village is insulting to us. It's Turkish expansion, it's an order from the European Union," local Priest David Isakadze told reporters.