Day: March 1, 2024

Anti-LGBT law in Georgia

The ruling party in Georgia has initiated a new law, which, according to the party’s executive secretary Mamuka Mdinaradze, aims to “protect society from pseudo-liberal ideology and its inevitable harmful consequences.” In simpler terms, the ruling party “Georgian Dream” wants to pass a law against the so-called “LGBT propaganda.”

A similar law was adopted in Russia in 2022.

“Pseudo-liberal ideology”

The bill will be introduced in parliament within the next two weeks.

“Georgian society has always been tolerant, but it cannot be tolerant towards pseudo-liberal propaganda. We are witnessing serious trends in the spread of pseudo-liberal ideology worldwide. This propaganda is becoming increasingly aggressive. Most importantly, the propaganda has serious consequences,” states Mamuka Mdinaradze.

According to him, the need for the new law is also supported by international research:

“International studies confirm that in a number of countries where pseudo-liberal ideology is particularly rampant, the percentage of people with non-traditional sexual orientations among those aged 18-25 already amounts to about 20%, and in some places even more. It is alarming that over seven years, this figure has tripled, and the increase coincides with the period when this propaganda became particularly active.”

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Mdinaradze reminded that in 2017, the Georgian parliament prevented the legalization of same-sex marriages and explicitly defined in the constitution that marriage is a union between a man and a woman with the purpose of creating a family. However, he fears that Georgia might be “asked” to adopt a law on “civil partnerships.”

Mdinaradze also says that “pseudo-liberals” in Georgia try every year to “impose” the “Pride Parade” (gay parade) on society, while sociological research proves that more than 90% of the country’s population perceives this as propaganda. According to Mdinaradze, “such aggressive propaganda, on the contrary, negatively affects the protection of rights of people of different sexual orientations.

Overall, Mdinaradze believes that “all this propaganda has nothing to do with the protection of human rights; its goal is the popularization of a non-traditional way of life.”

Based on all this, “Georgian Dream” decided to prepare a legislative initiative that will “protect society from pseudo-liberal ideology and its inevitable harmful consequences.”

This is not the first attempt to initiate a law against LGBT propaganda in Georgia. In May 2023, the pro-Russian homophobic party “Conservative Movement” together with the ultra-right broadcasting company “Alt-Info” prepared a package of bills of similar content.

Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov has met with the President of the Defense Industry Agency of Türkiye Haluk Görgün on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2024, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting AzerTac.

The sides praised the cooperation between the two brotherly countries in the military industry sector.

They also exchanged views on the further expansion of cooperation in several areas, as well as other issues of mutual interest.

The post Azerbaijan, Türkiye discuss further expansion of cooperation in several areas appeared first on Azerbaijan In Focus.

The 10th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and the 2nd Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting have been held at the Gulustan Palace in Baku, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting AzerTac.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the event.

“When we were talking about diversification, our position always was and is that it must be diversification of not only supply routes but also sources. Today’s geopolitical situation in Eurasia proves exactly what we needed to do,” said President Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the meeting.

President also addressed the development of Azeri-Chirag-Gunashi next year.

“We expect the beginning of the natural gas production in the first quarter of the next year from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli deep gas project. This is a very promising structure.”

Speaking about the Southern Gas Corridor, Ilham Aliyev noted the following, “The Southern Gas Corridor has already been operating for three years. It is a really success story. It is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Eurasia.”

“This project is a project of energy security and a project of cooperation because without cooperation between all the countries, which are situated on route of the Southern Gas Corridor, it wouldn’t have been possible to implement this project,” the head of state emphasized.

“The financing of the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor and any other project related to natural gas must be done in such a way as not to undermine our main target. There was and there is a big demand from Europe for Azerbaijani gas. We have been approached by many countries. As I said, six already are recipients of our natural gas. There are several more where we have negotiations. The gas is needed and we have the resources, we have the infrastructure. And I think that financing from European financial institutions, at least of this project, must be done based on a realistic approach and should not be overshadowed by general anti-fossil fuel trends. We all know what is happening. Azerbaijan, as I said, is in an active phase of green transition, but at the same time, no one can ignore the fact that without fossil fuel, the world cannot develop, at least in the foreseeable future,” the President added.

The post 10th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting was held in Baku appeared first on Azerbaijan In Focus.