Civil Georgia, Georgia
April 14 2005

Reports: Armenian Students Protest at Georgian Embassy in Yerevan

Armenian students held a protest rally at the Georgian Embassy in
Yerevan to support the ethnic Armenian residents in Georgia’s
Samtkshe-Javakheti region, Regnum reports.

According to the agency, the protesters held banners saying “Georgia
Assimilates Armenians,” “No to Georgian Nazism” and “Georgia
Implements White Genocide.”

At the same time, the agency quotes Arsen Balyan, identified as the
organizer of the rally, as saying “we ask the Georgian authorities
not to react to the provocations of certain forces that want to
escalate inter-ethnic conflicts, as Armenia and Georgia are friendly
countries.”

According to the agency, Georgian envoy Giorgi Saganelidze met the
protesters and assured them that the Georgian government plans to
improve the social conditions of the Armenian residents in Javakheti
by building roads and improving electricity supplies. He also
reportedly assured them that Meskhetian Turks would not be resettled
exclusively into Javakheti and that those who have been suspected of
desacrating Armenian religious objects are already punished.

The report does not specify the number of protesters or the political
movement taking responsibility and no official confirmation of the
report has been given by the authorities.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress