Ethnic Armenian-Azeri coexistence in Georgia

It might be no surprise for some that ethnic groups can and do live side by side in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, but the situation is not so clear in the regions of Armenia, Azerbaijan or Georgia. But, perhaps, that in itself is a stereotype put into circulation by many. Armenians and Azeris, for example, have long maintained that while both lived side by side in urban centers such as Yerevan and Baku prior to the Karabakh conflict, they did not in rural areas. To some extent this is true, but not entirely.

In Marneuli, a city of around 20,000 people, residents say as much as 15-20 percent of the population is ethnic Armenian. The rest are ethnic Azeris. Moreover, despite the line from nationalists on both sides that neither group can be trusted, Armenians from Armenia actually have to pass through regions where most of Georgia’s 280,000 Azeris reside to reach Tbilisi, and they do so without problems. Moreover, at Marneuli’s market, Armenian, Azeri and Georgians trade side by side.

The full post is available on Transitions Online’s Steady State.