Georgian citizens who are ethnic Azerbaijanis may resolve the rejection of Russified surnames, reports Euronews Georgia.
According to the publication, the legislative initiative “On the right to change the surname in accordance with historical and cultural traditions” has been submitted to the Georgian parliament and is now being held public discussions. Thanks to the changes, Azerbaijanis will be able to abandon the suffixes of the Russian language in their surnames: “OV”, “Ova”, “Ev”, “Eva”. The process will fundamentally differ from standard procedures for changing the surname – it will be easier and faster, the newspaper writes.
The initiative on the right to return authentic surnames changed during the period of Sovietization was nominated by the Salam Civil Organization. As part of the campaign entitled “Return my name” last year throughout Georgia, activists collected more than 27 thousand signatures in her favor. After the initiative entered the parliament, but the deputies blocked her due to technical errors. Then the deputies from the ruling party “Georgian Dream” said they were working on an alternative law.