A lawmaker from the ruling party Papuna (Mirza) Davitaia was appointed as state minister for diaspora issues, replacing Iulon Gagoshidze.

An official reason of this replacement, as PM Nika Gilauri said, was an establishment of Archeological Research Center, which would be led by Gagoshidze, who is an archeologist.

But the decision to replace Gagoshidze might be related to his recent controversial remarks in which he said that national minorities in Georgia, except of Abkhazians, should be regarded as “diasporas” of other countries in Georgia.