Ethnic Armenians urge Georgia to fulfil Council of Europe requirements

Noyan Tapan news agency, Yerevan
26 Oct 04

The council of Armenian public organizations of Georgia’s
Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti Region has asked the Council
of Europe Monitoring Commission to pay attention to “the appalling
situation in the region which might have horrible consequences for
the population of the region and for Georgia as a whole”, Armenian
news agency Noyan Tapan quoted A-Info agency as saying on 26 October.

In a memorandum sent to the Monitoring Commission, the council of
Armenian public organizations said that although five years have
passed since Georgia became a member of the Council of Europe, it
has done nothing to fulfil its commitments concerning protection of
national minorities in the country. “This has resulted in a critical
situation in Samtskhe-Javakheti Region,” the memorandum said.

“Today’s task is the region’s complete integration into the state,
political, social and economic life of the country. However,
integration does not mean assimilation, and autonomy does not mean
separatism… In order to integrate, the majority and the minority
must have the desire and will to meet each other halfway,” the
memorandum said.