The Public Defender of Georgia has appealed to the Minister of Education and Science and the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality to ensure opportunities for ethnic Abkhazians living in the Adjara region to learn and preserve their native language.

The Public Defender says in his letters that about 1600 ethnic Abkhazians (the figure is different according to the census) live in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, which have been trying to preserve their native language in a family environment for years, though this has turned out to be difficult in a different linguistic environment, especially given that the state does not provide opportunities for learning the Abkhazian language.

It should be noted that the Constitution of Georgia recognizes the Abkhazian language is the second state language. This language was, unfortunately, put on the list of endangered languages in 2011. As per the Georgian legislation and the international law, the state is obliged to protect and develop the Abkhazian language on the territory of Georgia. Bearing this in mind, the Public Defender thinks that it is necessary to open a Sunday school or language groups within the school education for the Abkhaz community in the Adjara region in order to maintain and develop the Abkhazian language in Georgia.

The Public Defender also emphasizes in his letters that following the recommendations and proposals of the Public Defender and the Council of National Minorities of the Public Defender, the Ministry of Education made a decision in 2015 to provide opportunities for teaching the Chechen, Ossetian, Assyrian, Udi, Kurdish and Avar languages at schools of small ethnic minorities. The decision, according to the Public Defender, was an important step for preservation and development of the mentioned languages, as well as for realization of the rights set out in the European Framework Conventionfor the Protection ofNational Minorities.