After opposition from local Orthodox Christians, Muslims in Adigeni township decided to suspend Friday prayers. Samtskhe-Javakheti mufti Mamuka Vashakmadze and Merab (Yusuf) Mikeladze announced this today, during Ramadan Bayram celebrations.
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"Due to the problems, we stopped the Friday and Bayram prayers. Negotiations are underway. With God's help, everything will be fine," said Mikeladze. Muslims used to gather to pray in the house owned by him.
"If someone builds peace in this country, we, the Muslim community, are and will be the first. At a meeting in Chela, after a heated discussion with the Muslim community, a decision was made to suspend Friday prayers, Eid prayers, and move everything to a negotiated format, in a civilized manner. For this, I would like to thank Mr. Merab and the congregation, who helped us make this decision and supported peace. May God bless the whole country, unite, and bring the Georgian nation together as one fist," said the mufti of Samtskhe-Javakheti.
Merab Mikeladze organized a two-year-old Muslim shrine and theological school in his house at Tsereteli N18, Adigen district, which was opposed by Orthodox Christians. The situation has become particularly tense recently.
On March 8 and April 5, before the start of the traditional Friday prayer, a few dozen people gathered at Merab Mikeladze's house under the leadership of Nikoloz Getsadze, the abbot of the Zarzma monastery. Clergymen and parishioners claimed that they would not allow the functioning of the Muslim chapel in Adigen. Nikoloz Getsadze verbally abused and threatened Merab Mikeladze. In both cases, a large number of policemen were mobilized near Mikeladze's house.
As part of the negotiations, the State Agency for Religious Affairs offered Merab Mikeladze two options - either to give up his house in Adigeni in exchange for allocating space for a chapel in the village of Ijareti, located 800 meters away or to sell his house to the municipality. Merab Mikeladze refused to give up his house.
Mikeladze applied to the Special Investigation Service and requested that an investigation be initiated into the fact of persecution on the grounds of religious intolerance.
