A day after Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral was transformed into an inferno, hundreds of millions of dollars have already been pledged to rebuild one of the world’s most iconic monuments. Precious objects it housed have been saved. For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports from Paris the investigation into the fire is ongoing, but officials so far believe it may have been an accident.
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When Georgian businesswoman Tamar Gerliani planted grapes on a small piece of land to start her own winery three years ago, she knew she faced an uphill battle in an industry dominated by men.

But she could not have foreseen that a legal reform designed to help Georgian landowners would make things even harder.

A ban on foreigners owning farmland introduced last year in Georgia’s new constitution has made it more difficult for farmers to borrow because the country’s mostly foreign-owned banks will no longer accept it as collateral.

Small farmers thwarted

That has thwarted hundreds of small farmers looking to expand, banking associations, farmers and pressure groups say — among them Gerliani, who needs $10,000 for a tractor to tend her vines.

“It’s difficult to work without a tractor,” the 31-year-old told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “This business already has many challenges and I could do without having to go ask around every time I need to use it.”

The new constitution states that, with a small number of exceptions, agricultural land can only be owned by the state, a Georgian citizen or a Georgian-owned entity.

The provision came into force in December last year as the former Soviet republic swore in a new president, though there has been a de-facto ban on foreigners buying farmland since 2017, when the government imposed a moratorium on purchases.

It followed widespread public concern about outsiders scooping up too much of the country’s fertile soil, particularly in strategically sensitive areas, said Agriculture Minister Levan Davitashvili.

About 40% of Georgia’s population lives in rural areas, but less than 10% of the country’s land is arable, and foreigners own about 10% of it, he said.

“Most of our agricultural land is pastures located in high mountainous areas,” Davitashvili told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone. “People were a bit concerned and this … was reflected in the constitution.”

Bad effect on common people

But the ban is damaging small farmers, who often have no other collateral, said Teona Zakarashvili, a lawyer at anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International.

“This type of regulation has a bad effect on common people. It directly impacts the livelihood of small farmers who already are in a very poor financial state,” she said.

Since the moratorium came into force, about 1,500 loans were denied, according to the parliamentary committee on agrarian issues.

Women in particularly have been badly affected. They often have no other property because sons are traditionally favored when it comes to inheritance, said Nino Zambakhidze, who heads the Georgian Farmers Association.

Loving wine

Gerliani’s grandfather left her one hectare (2.5 acres) of land in Kakheti, the main wine-producing region of a country widely regarded as the birthplace of winemaking.

Her family, like many others in the area, had been producing small quantities of wine for generations, but as she grew up she began dreaming of turning it into a business.

After studying marketing online, she took up winemaking classes and used her spare time to work on her dream, a wine label called Malati, the word for love in the Svan language spoken in Georgia’s mountains.

She invested savings and planted Saperavi, the grapes used to make Georgia’s best known wine, a full-bodied red.

Georgian wines went into decline under the Soviet Union, when many wineries fell under state control.

But it is now enjoying a resurgence: Last year, the country exported a record 86 million bottles, according to the Georgian National Wine Agency.

After a few years of hard work Gerliani is expecting to produce up to 3,000 bottles of organic wine with her next harvest in autumn.

But the journey was not an easy one.

At first, she said, almost no one took her seriously.

“It’s not easy to start as a woman,” she said. “Men think they are more professional and know much more about this business than women do.”

Most people assumed she had no idea what she was up to, and whenever she needed equipment or workers she found herself quizzed over her winemaking credentials.

That was one of the reasons she was so keen to buy her own tractor. But with only her vineyard as collateral, she has been unable to do so.

Solutions

Davitashvili, the agriculture minister, said the government was aware of the problems faced by small farmers like Gerliani and was looking as possible solutions.

They include allowing financial institutions to own agricultural land for up to two years, after which they must sell it.

A draft law would also allow foreigners to own land if they inherit it or have an investment plan approved by the government. Those failing to use it for agriculture however would be forced to sell it.

Davitashvili said he hoped the law would be approved before the beginning of the summer.

Meanwhile, tractor or no tractor, Gerliani is determined to make it.

“It’s really hard but I manage,” she said. “I am doing my best.”
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A Russian court has sentenced a Norwegian citizen to 14 years in prison over spying following a trial behind closed doors.

Russian authorities say Frode Berg, a retired border inspector, was detained in Moscow in December 2017 following a sting operation by Russia’s FSB security service. Berg, 63, was accused by the prosecution of espionage relating to Russia’s nuclear submarines.

The trial was held behind closed doors at the Moscow City Court for secrecy reasons.

On April 9, prosecutor Milana Digayeva demanded that Berg serve the sentence in a penal colony.

Digayeva said the accused was caught red-handed with the documents he had received from an employee of a military facility– Aleksei Zhitnyuk – who was shadowed by Russian intelligence.

Zhitnyuk was found guilty of high treason in December and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Berg’s lawyers have said that he admitted being a courier for Norway’s military intelligence, but that he had little knowledge of the operation he took part in.

A lawyer for Berg said on April 16 that his client will not appeal the sentence but will submit a plea for pardon after it comes into force.

Asked about a possible pardon for Berg, Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that he would wait for the verdict before assessing a possible plea.

Norwegian media reports said that Berg is a former border inspector.
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Thousands of state employees accused of supporting the Kurdish insurgency in their war against Turkey have lost their jobs — a mass crackdown that has forced many to make radical career changes. 

The largest number of firings have occurred in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, and have included teachers, civil servants and local municipality workers. 

Some of those dismissed workers are now employed at the Emekciler restaurant, founded by former court official Mustafa Ozer, who opened the restaurant with 22 of his fellow fired workers. 

“Of course, it is not that simple to be sacked from your job of 23 years,” Ozer said. “Suddenly one night, your whole life’s effort is taken from you. You are being marginalized, and you are denied the bread that you bring to your home.”

Ozer claims his dismissal had more to do with trade union activism than his support of Kurdish insurgents, and called his firing a release in many ways.

“There were daily, weekly lists of people who were sacked,” he said. “We were checking those lists every day to see if our name is on it. Every day, we had the panic. Our nerves were really stretched to the edge during this period. And eventually, our names appeared on the list, and our employment got terminated.”

Ozer and his partners contributed 11,000 lira (about $2,000) to start the restaurant. 

“Some of us have a master’s degree. Some are two-year college graduates,” said Ozer. “Some headed departments. Some were branch chiefs. Here is my colleague, Seyhmus. He used to work at the state employment agency,” added Ozer.

​Seyhmus, who only wanted to be identified by his first name, modestly admits he has few skills to offer.

“I can’t really cook, but I help with the running of the place. I don’t have such talent, unfortunately,” he said.

Seyhmus admits adjusting to the loss of a career in which he devoted his life was difficult, but the camaraderie he discovered at Emekciler restaurant helped. 

“I am OK now because I saw the true value of friendship. We are like a family here,” he said.

Many of Emekciler’s customers are former colleagues. Ozer said they visit, risking trouble at work for eating at a restaurant run by fired workers. 

Ankara defends the crackdown, claiming supporters of the Kurdish insurgency have deeply infiltrated the state across the region.

Local and international human rights groups have sharply criticized the firings, claiming most are arbitrary with little or no evidence to justify the dismissal. The government created an appeals process, but so far, less than 5% of applicants were successful.

Zeki Kanay, an academic at Diyarbakir’s Dicle University, lost his job after signing a petition calling for an end to the decades-long war with Kurdish insurgents.

Kanay turned to organic farming on a small plot of land outside city walls. He works the farm with other purged workers and has not yet made a profit. But he said there are other rewards.

“If we didn’t have that (the farm), life would be even harder, because this system pushes you to be alone, alienated,” he said. “It (the state) tries to instill fear and break us apart. However, on the contrary, we try to get closer to each other, and that’s how we all can stand on our feet now.”

​Bishar Ilci helped Kanay set up the farm. He is working to reintroduce native seeds to the region.

Ilci worked for Diyarbakir’s municipality until Mayor Gultan Kisanak of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) was removed from office and jailed, accused of supporting terrorism.

“I worked in the municipality for 10 years and managed good projects,” said Ilci. “There were various social projects. My last 2.5 years in the municipality was devoted to the (Syrian) Yazidi refugees. We initiated educational projects, vegetable gardens for each family, and ran activities, especially with women. We had done serious work on farming.“

Ilci said he has little hope of getting his job back.

“It feels like the state is trying to discipline us with hunger. We have to learn how to stand on our feet,” he said. “We have given a good struggle for Kurdish rights for many years in this region, and now we say, ‘Why can’t we do the same with the land, with animals? And why not help your people with healthy food?’”
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