Georgia to rename Shaumyan, Kirovka villages in Marneuli region

Two villages in Georgia's Marneuli region - Kirovka and Shaumyan - will be renamed, Report informs via Marneuli TV.

At the meeting of the Marneuli municipality, the village of Kirovka is offered to be renamed Mtsvane Gora (Green Hill) or Megobroba (Friendship), and the village of Shaumyan - Upper Shulaver.

The issue will first be considered by the Municipal Assembly's Geographical Naming Commission, and the final decision will be made by the local self-government body.

According to the "Charter of Freedom" adopted in Georgia in 2011, the use of names of Soviet and communist figures in geographical names is prohibited.

Shaumyan village was named after Stepan Shaumyan, one of the Baku commissars, in 1925. The vast majority of the current population of the village is Armenian. The old name of Kirovka village was Mamey. The village, named after Sergei Kirov, one of the Bolshevik leaders, is predominantly inhabited by Azerbaijanis.