THE ROLE OF THE GEORGIAN LANGUAGE IN THE INTEGRATION PROCESS OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Georgia's state policy, based on the principles of democracy, aims at protecting the rights of all ethnic Georgian citizens in a multicultural environment. The process of integration of ethnic minorities in Georgia has been ongoing for many years. The state language learning process is admitted as an essential tool of integration, portrayed through functioning of LEPL Zurab Zhvania School of Public Administration. The research highlights an importance of knowledge of the state language (Georgian) for the Azerbaijani and Armenian public servants and overviews the effectiveness of the LEPL Zurab Zhvania School of Public Administration based on the evaluation and satisfaction of beneficiaries. According to the results of the study, it became clear that ethnic minorities are still facing many challenges. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the quantity and quality of the state language learning programs to boost integration of ethnic minorities in economic, social and political life including the public sector employment.References: 1. Antelava, Giorgi. 2012. თურქები გერმანიაში: 50 წლის გადაუჭრელი პრობლემა. მეცნიერება და ხელოვნება. [Turks in Germany: 50 Years unsolved problem: science and arts]. no.1(5):144-149 2. Kahanec, Martin, Anzelika Zaiceva, and Klaus F. Zimmermann. 2010. Ethnic Minorities in the European Union: An Overview. Discussion Paper Series. IZA DP No. 5397. (December). http://ftp.iza.org/dp5397.pdf (02.05.2023) 3. Press, Elizabeth. 2008. Turkish Prime Minister says, 'assimilation is a crime is a crime against 4. humanity'. https://www.thelocal.de/20080211/10293 (05.05.2023) 5. Zimmerman et al . 2008. Study on the Social and Labour Market Integration of Ethnic Mi-norities: IZAResearch Report Series no. 16 (February) http://ftp.iza.org/report_pdfs/iza_report_16.pdf (22.04.2023) 6. Government of Georgia. State Interagency Commission, Reconciliation and Office of the State Minister of Georgia for Civil Equality Issues. 2015. Report on the implementation of the National Concept of Tolerance and Civic Integration and the 2014 Action Plan. https://smr.gov.ge/uploads/prev/__f546b9b3.pdf (04.30.2023) 7. Institute of Social Sciences and Analysis. 2011. დემოკრატიზაციის პროცესი, რეგიონული ,კონტექსტი, ეროვნული უმცირესობები და კონფლიქტების ტრანსფორმაცია. [Democratization process, regional context, national minorities and conflict transformation]. https://bit.ly/3AE1U0S 8. Institute of the Middle East. 2011. Turkish demarche: responses of German politicians and media to R. Erdogan's speeches in Germany. http://www.iimes.ru/?p=12232&fbclid=IwAR26LAo7IK3lnKafIZF1c3u86uXp8VRE6ZYMwFTaZQiU4R9mpBQbQOqxdjs (04.30.2023) 9. Latvian Language Agency. 2005. Guidelines of the State Language Policy for 2005-2014. https://valoda.lv/en/about-us/ (22.04.2023) 10. Legislative Herald of Georgia. 2006. ჩარჩო კონვენცია ეროვნული უმცირესობების შესახებ. [Framework Convention National about minorities]. https://matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/1244853?publication=0 (04.30.2023) 11. Legislative Herald of Georgia. 2015. Organic Law of Georgia on Official Language. https://matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/2931198?publication=3 (22.04.2023) 12. National Statistics Office of Georgia. 2018. მოსახლეობის 2014 წლის საყოველთაო აღწერის ძირითადი შედეგები. [Main Results of 2014 General Population Census]. https://www.geostat.ge/media/20679/2014-wlis-aRweris-ZiriTadi-Sedegebi.pdf (22.04.2023) 13. Office of the State Minister of Georgia For Reconciliation and Civic Equality. State Strate-gy for Civic Equality and Integration 2021-2030, 2021 https://bit.ly/3LH2JfH (22.04.2023