In Georgia the number of secondary schools for ethnic minorities is being reduced.An interview with the chairman of the non-government organization Georgia is My Homeland, Ali Babayev, showed that “before 1990, there were 254 secondary schools for ethnic Azerbaijanis in Georgia. By 2007, the number of these schools was reduced to 114.55 About 140 Azerbaijani schools were closed under this or that pretext or were re-qualified. As a consequence, ethnic minorities are losing their right to education in their native language and access to their native language56.” Noting the cuts of schools for ethnic Azerbaijanis, the Azerbaijani NGOs of Georgia said that “in 2006-2007, the process of merging secondary schools was launched. But this process affected mainly ethnic schools in the region of Kvemo-Kartli. If under the Soviets there were 54 schools for ethnic minorities – Azerbaijanis – in Dmanisi District, in 1998 there were only 29 secondary schools left. By 2008, their number fell to 17 secondary schools. On the whole, 37 schools were closed in Dmanisi District alone. Similarly, the stimulation of ethnic migration has affected Bolnisi District which is populated mainly by ethnic Azerbaijanis. By 1998, there were about 39 schools for ethnic Azerbaijanis, and by 2007, their number fell to 18. Activists from these districts, who now live in the Azerbaijan Republic, describe these facts as a consequence of the cultural expulsion of ethnic minorities from the region.”