facebook.com/ georgiatoday Issue no: 865 • JULY 29 - AUGUST 1, 2016 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY PRICE: GEL 2.50 In this week’s issue... Scientist Study Confi rms Georgian Writing Dates Back nearly 3,000 Years NEWS PAGE 2 Letting Off an Old (Alleged) Terrorist POLITICS PAGE 5 Lavrov Says Georgia Must Make First Move to Re-establish Relations with FOCUS Russia POLITICS PAGE 8 ON PROGRESS Peter Szijjarto, Minister Ministers meet ambassadors and of Foreign Affairs of businessmen to exchange experience Hungary and Mikheil Georgian Citizens Slam Road and achievements PAGE 3 Janelidze, Georgian Foreign Affairs Minister Quality in Highland Areas SOCIETY PAGE 10 Poll Shows Georgia’s Decided Voters First Georgian Artist Signs Satisfi ed with Country’s Current Direction Contract with Yamaha BY EKA KARSAULIDZE he National Democratic Institute (NDI) published a report on Wednesday that showed the pub- lic’s attitude towards the ruling Georgian Dream coalition’s pol- Ticies has improved in recent months. CULTURE PAGE 16 Georgians are more positive about their per- sonal situation, with 17 percent saying that their households are better off, up from 10 Rio 2016: It’s all percent in the March poll, while 19 percent in the Muscle, reported that the living conditions in their community have improved, up 10 points from Not the Dress August 2015. ZURAB KURTSIKIDZE / EPA Continued on page 2 SPORTS PAGE 19 GEORGIA TODAY 2 NEWS JULY 29 - AUGUST 1, 2016 Scientist Study Confi rms Georgian Writing Dates Back nearly 3,000 Years Ministry of Culture S Based radiocarbon dating labora- "The writings on the two altars of the temple are tory Beta Analytic has confi rmed really well preserved. On the one altar several let- that a fragment of unidentifi ed Geor- ters are carved in clay while the second altar’s gian writing found at Grakliani Hill, pedestal is wholly covered with writings,” Licheli near the main highway, in 2015, in said. Ufact dates back 2700 years. The TSU professor believes that the inscription This new unique discovery suggests that an alpha- is so important it goes beyond the limits of Geor- bet was used on the territory of Georgia 2700 years gian science and will be the subject of an interna- ago, far earlier than previously thought. tional study. "The new discovery will change the Scientists claim that this is the oldest script to be particular stage of the history of the world’s man- discovered in the whole Caucasus region. uscripts,” he said. Last year, an archaeological expedition from the Glakliani Hill is believed to be the only monu- Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) ment to reveal almost all layers of human develop- discovered a one line inscription of as yet unknown ment, a non–stop 300,000 year chain from the Stone Georgian writing on the altar pedestal of a 7th cen- Age onward. tury BC temple dedicated to a fertility goddess at Until now, the Bolnisi inscriptions were believed Grakliani Hill, in the eastern Kaspi region. to be the oldest Georgian language inscriptions, Head of the Institute of Archaeology of Georgia’s written in the Georgian Asomtavruli script on the State University, Vakhtang Licheli, said with this Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral, a basilica located in Bolnisi "signifi cant discovery”, Georgia steps up among Municipality, Georgia. The inscriptions were dated the elite civilizations that used written languages 494 AD. This meant among the world’s 14 writing thousands of years ago. systems, Georgian was ranked as the fi fth oldest “We sent the three samples to Beta Analytic lab- script. oratory in Miami and a few days ago received a The new discovery should change the world rank- sensational result. They confi rmed that those fi nd- ing, as the Grakliani writing is now the third oldest ings date back to the 11th or 10th century BC,” he writing system following on from the 3,500-year- said. old Chinese hieroglyphs and Cuneiform script. Poll Shows Georgia’s Decided Voters Satisfi ed with Country’s Current Direction Continued from page 1 them and that the living conditions in their com- munity have improved. This is in sharp contrast Georgians’ also had a more favorable opinion of to those who are undecided. They rank the Geor- the government’s handling of foreign, economic and gian Dream’s performance on jobs, poverty, prices, media freedom policy, with 42 percent of respond- governance reforms and crime far less favorably ents saying they had a positive view of each, which than the decided voters,” stated the NDI. represents a 5 percent increase from March. The research also showed that Georgia’s ethnic The numbers continue to show, however, that a minorities and rural populations held decidedly majority of Georgians (66 percent) believe the differing opinions compared to the rest of Georgian country is experiencing little change or is moving society. in the wrong direction. While the majority of the country’s population The survey found that only 25 percent of respond- support European Union and Euro-Atlantic inte- ents believe the country is going in the right direc- gration (72 percent) and NATO membership (64 tion. The NDI noted that this continues the trend percent), Georgia’s ethnic minorities and rural of a steady decline since 2012, but said the most population largely rejected the nation’s stated for- recent numbers are a slight improvement over their eign policy platforms and, instead, called for close last poll in March. and more comprehensive ties with Russia over the The NDI’s poll went on to show that a large num- West. ber of voters remain politically undecided over Thornton said they found a link between those who they will vote for in the upcoming October who support pro-Russian policies with those resi- parliamentary elections. dents who receive their news from Russian media Laura Thornton, a senior NDI director, said the sources. views of those who have already decided are on “It is important that those who advocate closer average 10 percent more positive than those who ties with the EU target the more sceptical rural and remain undecided. ethnic populations using the Russian language as “Those who are decided about how they will vote a tool. For those who wish to counter pro-Russian in October are more likely to believe that the coun- messages, particular attention must be directed try is going in the right direction. They believe the towards the remaining undecided voters,” said government is making decisions that matter to Thornton. GEORGIA TODAY JULY 29 - AUGUST 1, 2016 NEWS 3 Georgia’s Ambassadors Meet to Discuss Foreign Policy Challenges rections, Kakha Kakhishvili. BY EKA KARSAULIDZE One of the working sessions was devoted to cultural diplomacy, which was named one of the priorities of the he heads of Georgia’s Dip- Georgian government. Economic diplo- lomatic Missions abroad macy and the external image of the gathered in Tbilisi for an country were also discussed. For the annual meeting running fi rst time ambassadors had the oppor- from Wednesday to July tunity to meet with representatives of T29 to discuss the foreign policy devel- about 20 business associations and opments of the past year. unions where they learned about cur- In his opening statements at the rent reforms and plans of the ministries, forum, Foreign Affairs Minister Mikheil support of the business and private sec- Janelidze said Georgia’s main diplo- tor, and about lobbying business abroad. macy aims are maintaining the coun- “We believe that contact between our try’s sovereignty and territorial integ- diplomats and businessmen is very rity, Euro-Atlantic integration and important, and in the framework of our strengthening regional ties, as well as forum, they were given the opportunity supporting and protecting Georgian to talk face-to-face about attracting citizens abroad. investment, business development, He added that guaranteeing the safety privileges for Georgian business, and of Georgian citizens has come to the more,” said Minister Janelidze. forefront of Tbilisi’s diplomatic mission The guests of honor of the ambassa- tasks as the number of deadly terrorist dorial side were the representatives of attacks around the world has grown the ministries of foreign affairs of India signifi cantly in the last year. not be completed without visa liber- it is impossible to talk about any pro- tant democratic and economic reforms. and Hungary, who spoke about the for- “Georgia’s diplomatic missions will alization that would allow Georgian gress and achievements regarding rela- The fi rst days of the Ambassadorial eign policy of their countries, coopera- try to fi nd ways of dealing with the cur- passport holders to travel to the EU tions with them (Moscow). However, were marked by meetings of Georgia’s tion with Georgia and experiences. rent global challenges,” said Janelidze. visa-free for up to 90 days. as a result of our pragmatic policy ministers with ambassadors to discuss The fi rst annual meeting of Georgia’s Georgian Prime Minister of Georgia, “We hope that a fi nal decision on the towards Russia, we have been able to refugees, confl ict regions, protection of diplomatic corps was held in 1995 and Giorgi Kvirikashvili, said the Associa- visa-free travel regime to the EU for establish the type of dialogue that avoids human rights, recent reforms and the presided over by then-Foreign Minister tion Agreement with the European Georgian citizens is just a matter of war and armed confrontations.” country's course of development. “It is Irakli Menagarishvili, who brought Union, which came into force on July time and that a decision will be made The PM took the time to thank Geor- for the ambassadors to choose which Georgian and foreign diplomats together 1, was the country’s single-most impor- soon,” he said.