GEORGIAN OMBUDSMAN CONDUCTED A PRESS-CONFERENCE REGARDING TSALKA EVENTS

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12:12 pm 13 March, 2006

On the 11th of March a press conference was conducted in public
defender’s office regarding the incident that took place on the 9th of
March as a result of which Mr. Gevorg Gevorgyan was killed and other
ethnic Armenian citizens of Georgia were injured to various degrees.

According to official data, five suspects were detained by the Police
of Georgia and other suspects are searched for.

The incident provoked a mass protest of ethnic Armenian residents
of Javakhk region, which later grew into violence. The demonstration
was dismissed by special security service of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs of Georgia based in other regions of Georgia.

The next day after the collision a group of representatives of the
Public Defender of Georgia arrived in Tsalka.

After having preliminarily studied the case the Ombudsman of Georgia
Mr. Sozar Subari stated that the conflict happened based on ‘common’
grounds. Public defender called to let government officials finish
the investigation of Tsalka events without any pressure or hindrance.

Mr. Karen Elchyan, President of the Armenian Centre of Cooperation of
Georgia, has also come out with a statement. He expressed condolences
to the family of the murder victim and presented the official position
of his organization. He stated that there are two different versions
of the motivation of the crime, and one of the versions, namely the
ethnic hatred motivation, is held by the victims of the crime.

Responding to a journalist’s question regarding Javakhk Armenians’
requests of autonomy for Javakhk he noted that such requests are
entirely lawful and are based on the principles of federalism and
territorial integrity of state. Residents of the region, he stated,
are convinced that granting Javakhk autonomy would contribute to
fulfillment of their obligations and rights as of citizens of Georgia.

The Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese of Georgia has also commented
on the events in Tsalka. The Assistant to the Head of the Diocese of
Armenian Apostolic Church, Mr. Levon Isakhanyan supported the position
of Mr. Karen Elchyan regarding the existence of two versions of
motivation of the crime. He added that such crimes are consequence of
anti-Armenian hysteria, launched by the means of Georgian mass-media.

On behalf of the Diocese, he called for the appropriate government
bodies to pay sufficient attention to the problems of the Armenian
Apostolic Church Diocese of Georgia, interethnic relations and
defending rights of the ethnic minorities residing in Georgia.