Tbilisi. The minaret dismantled in the village of Chela (the
Adigeni district of Georgia) in the summer of this year, was restored on the
night of Thursday, November 28 by the decision of the city council.
According
to the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, the minaret was dismantled on August 26
in order to verify the structural weight and commodity code. These actions
caused discontent among the population of Georgia, professing Islam. Protests
were held. After reports that the
minaret would be restored in the same place, inhabitants of the region (the
Christians) expressed outrage and conducted on August 29 a protest, and some
residents even blocked the road.
In early September, Ivanishvili said that
the removal of the minaret in the village of Chela had nothing to do with
religious intolerance.