A project got introduced in the Parliament of Georgia on March 12, which envisages declaring Nowruz a national holiday.
Civil activist Samira Bayramova told Report.ge that the holiday of Nowruz can become a symbol of friendship and unity between people, as the tradition already exists in Marneuli.
"Ethnic Azerbaijanis have forgotten many holidays. We want Nowruz to become a part of Georgian culture. That is why we appealed to the Parliament to make it an official holiday in Georgia. Culture is an important part that unites people, and integration is important as Georgia is a multinational country. We know that the celebration of "Novruz Bayrami" has a very long history in Georgia; even Shota Rustaveli writes about it in "The Knight in the Panther's Skin." I think it will be one of the symbols of friendship between people because Georgians, Armenians, and Azerbaijanis have been celebrating Nowruz Bayrami together for years, which is a good tradition. Now we want to create this new culture throughout Georgia. We are citizens of Georgia, and we no longer want to feel like strangers; we want our small culture to be part of a big one. I think this will be one of the positive steps taken by the Georgian government if this project gets considered and accepted," Samira Baiyamova told Report.ge.
Bayramova's initiative was considered by the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, but no decision was made, as the initiative envisages amendments to the Labor Code. The proposal was sent to the Government of Georgia for consideration, but no response has been received so far, so the issue could not be considered within the deadline (April 27). Before discussing the case, the Parliament is studying international experience on the mentioned legislative initiative.
According to the decision made at the Bureau meeting, the term for consideration got extended by 30 days.
