Georgian Armenians: Dr. Ardziv Papazian lectures on Javakhk

Azad-Hye, Dubai
May 29 2005

The Armenian Community in Sharjah had the opportunity to meet Dr.
Ardziv Papazian on 23rd May 2005 and got amazed by his wonderful and
most accurate lecture about Javakhk.

Being a member of Non-Governmental Organization in France (named
Shen-France) he had the opportunity to visit Javakhk several times
and he even participated in building a hospital there, something the
people needed badly.

Dr. Papazian began his lecture with a DVD movie (prepared by L.EM.,
Lebanon), followed with a slideshow on Javakhk: the people, churches,
roads, schools and landscape. He explained thoroughly with his most
delicately prepared maps how Javakhk is Armenia~Rs only open boarder
not populated with ethnic Turks. If we loose this land, he stressed,
we will be 100% surrounded by ethnic Turks.

Then he went over our history and reminded us with the victories of
Sartarabad, Pash Abaran and Gharakiliseh (May 1918), adding to this
list a fourth battle (fought in Javakhk), which unfortunately was
lost. This battle was rarely mentioned, because Armenians in those
days needed to hear good news from the frontline, he explained.

Dr. Papazian also talked about the hard time the Georgian Government
is giving to the Armenians in Javakhk, resulting in evacuation from
the ancestral land. It is unfortunate that in present day Georgia
some of the old Armenian churches are reconfigured to Georgian ones
by adjusting the eastern entrances (making it towards the south)
and demolishing the belfry structures in those churches, because they
are characteristically in Armenian style.

Dr. Papazian added that Javakhk is a poor country with no electricity,
no educational institutes, no proper for vehicles, with long and cold
winters, no trees but plenty of pastures. It is a perfect country for
farming and breeding animals. It can provide, if properly managed,
all the meat and diary needs of Armenia itself.

And last but not least Javakhk has so many water sources. Quoting Dr.
Papazian, the lake Parvana ~Shar yev nman e Sevana lijin~T (it is so
much like the lake Sevan).

LIZA / SHARJAH

Additional Information: Javakhk is an area of land within Georgian
borders, adjacent to Armenia and populated with Armenians. The
population lives in extremely difficult economic situation, especially
that the central government in Georgia is not in a position to
financially sport any of social or economic projects in the region.

Recently the Georgian Public Prosecutor paid an official visit to
Armenia, during which he met Church figures and higher governmental
officials in Armenia and discussed with them the problems of Georgian
Armenians, especially the case of the Georgian nationalists who are
trying to put under their control Armenian churches or real estate
belonging to the Armenian Church in Georgia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress