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.