The Georgian Minister of Education, Science and Youth, Givi Mikanadze, took part in the scientific conference “Occupied Abkhazia – Cultural Heritage, Past and Modernity”, which was dedicated to the 48th anniversary of the founding and 93rd anniversary of the Catholic-Patriarch of the whole Georgia, His Holiness Ilia II.
The Georgian Minister of Education, Science and Youth, Givi Mikanadze, shared the glimpses of the event on the official Facebook Page on December 26, 2025, Friday. The Minister also shared a small note about the event along with its glimpses.
At the event, Givi Mikanadze addressed the attendees and spoke about the importance of the conference.
“This date is not only special for the church, but for our entire state and our communities. The patriarch’s many years of service are inseparably linked to the protection of national self-sufficiency, spiritual values, and cultural heritage — values whose importance is particularly evident and invaluable when we are talking about occupied Abkhazia,” the minister said.
Shio (Mujiri), Chairman of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, and Giorgi Jincharadze, the First Deputy Minister of State for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, addressed the conference participants.
The conference was organized by the Patriarchate of Georgia, with the financial support of the Scientific Center named after Saint George Mtatsmindeli.
The event aimed to provide an academic and interdisciplinary discussion of historical-cultural processes, cultural heritage protection, identity, linguistic and information policy, as well as diaspora and repatriation issues in occupied Abkhazia.
Georgian and foreign researchers, scientists of history and humanities, professor-teachers of universities participated in the scientific sessions held within the conference.
The reports would address the problem of falsification of Abkhazia’s history, the state of cultural heritage monuments under occupation, the issues of language-identity of Gali and Samurzakano, as well as the peculiarities of Georgian-Abkhazian relations in diasporas.
