Naira Gelashvili hopes President won’t sign Eviction Notice for “Kavkasiuri sakhli”

Naira Gelashvili hopes that the President won’t sign an eviction notice for “Kavkasiuri saxli’’ from Tabidze # 20. NGO “Kavkasiuri Sakhli’’ is set to be evicted from the historical Smirnov House and subsequently moved into a museum.

 “The President has not signed the notice yet. I have information, that the President has been deceived by the Ministry of Culture and personally by the minister, Nikoloz Rurua. As far as I know, Mikheil Saakashvili showed an interest in this matter and I hope he won’t sign the eviction notice,’’ stated Naira Gelashvili, director of “Kavkasiuri Sakhli’’.

According to him, the President is aware of what political significance Caucasian Solidarity has in Tbilisi.

“Kavkasiuri Sakhli’’ has been working on educational issues for more than ten years. In their residence, the Smirnov museum takes up a couple of rooms, which have been sealed up more than a year now. According to Naira Gelashvili, people have been attacking them for many years now.’’

“As soon as we named our organization, people started attacking us. At first it was from Russia using local emissaries,’’ said Gelashvili.
According to him, “Kavkasiuri Sakhli’’ exists by its own grants. International Fund “Horizon” finances the reconstruction-restoration of the building.

According to Naira Gelashvili, there has been an agreement made between the Ministry of Culture and the Fund “Horizon’’, according to which, if the Ministry of Culture forces “Kavkasiuri Sakhli’’ to leave the building, the Ministry of Culture should refund the half a million dollars paid for the restoration of the building.

The Public Relations Service Director of the Ministry of Culture states that according to the decision made by the Ministry, on the basis of “Kavkasiuri Sakhli’’, the Smirnov Museum should be founded as a structure of public law. As for “Kavkasiuri Sakhli”, Sopo Khuntskaria has stated that it’s possible to make an agreement between the museum and “Kavkasiuri Sakhli.’’ However, the negotiation conditions are currently unknown.

“Kavkasiuri Sakhli’’ has been functioning on Galaktion Tabidze # 20 since 1999. The Smirnov House belonged to a famous merchant Tamamshev in the 19th century. After her daughter got married to Smirnov, the house was given to her as a dowry. Mikheil Smirnov who died in 1985, donated the house to the Translating Board. Later, ’’Kavkasiuri Sakhli’’ started functioning there and restored the entire building and kept the exhibits with the grant provided by the “Horizon’’ fund. 

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