GEORGIAN CHURCH PREPARES GROUNDS FOR TERRITORIAL CLAIMS TO ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.04.2006 GMT+04:00

Orthodox hierarchs have declared their rights to Armenian churches
located in the borderline regions of Armenia.

The newly established special commission created in the patriarchy
of Georgian Orthodox Church is aimed at proving the necessity of
passing six Armenian churches located in the Northern regions of
Armenia to the ownership of Georgia. The decision on the creation of
such a committee is viewed in Yerevan as a deliberate provocation,
which can have political consequences with a negative impact on
Armenian-Georgian relations.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It is not the first time that Georgian Orthodox
Church asserts unconcealed claims to the property of Armenian
Apostolic Church. It is noteworthy that this time Georgians lay claim
to churches, located in the Republic of Armenia – regions of Tavoush
and Lori. What is especially delicate in this issue is the fact that
those churches are located on territories, which were included in
the map of united Georgian Republic by Georgian Mensheviks back in
1918. It was the control over Tavoush and Lori regions that caused
conflicts between Armenia and Georgia. Fortunately the rulers of
the first Georgian Republic found enough wisdom and common sense to
acknowledge the sovereignty of Yerevan over those territories. Since
then no one has publicly cast doubt on the fact that those territories
belong to Armenia.

This is why the decision of orthodox hierarchs promoting reanimation
of the closed and completely senseless discussion looks even more
unexpected.

The establishment of the “special commission” was preceded by
another demarche, which was no less provocative. Early in March,
the supreme synod of Georgian Orthodox Church made a decision on the
establishment of eparchy of Georgian Orthodox Church in Armenia. Making
the decision Georgians did not even inform Armenian Apostolic Church
or the political leadership of Armenia. “To restore historical
existence of the eparchy of Agarak-Tashir and subordinate it to the
bishop of Dmanisi with a title bishop of Dmanisi and Agarak – Tashir,
Dmanisi chair”.

This is what the synod’s decision says. Taking into account the fact
that there is not a single pious Georgian in those territories, it
is not clear for whom they are creating the new eparchy. Meanwhile,
Georgians living in Yerevan have the opportunity of holding liturgies
according to the Orthodox rite. As a gesture of good will the Armenian
Apostolic Church has given them a church, creating all the necessary
conditions. It is quite strange that the gesture was not appreciated…

There is no doubt that the synod of Georgian church made the decision
on the establishment of eparchy and creation of the special committee,
basing on the claims to Armenian churches and the approval of
Georgian political leadership. But why did the official Tbilisi need
that? Usually Georgian political scientists accuse Russian special
services in the rise of tension between Armenia and Georgia. But this
time it is quite obvious who is standing behind the attempt to involve
the two neighbor nations in a quarrel. It is especially strange that
those things happened immediately after the successful visit of the
newly appointed Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gela Bejuashvili
who gave special attention to the problem of relations between Armenian
and Georgian churches.

Nevertheless, it is not hard to find an answer to the question “Why
now?”. The problem of defining the status of traditional faiths has
been discussed in Tbilisi for a long time. Though in the multi-national
Republic of Georgia the church is detached of state, authorities refuse
to create legal base for the activities of other faiths. Especially
morbid is the attitude of Georgians to the issue of defining the
rights of the local eparchy of Armenian Apostolic Church. The issue
of the status of the eparchy presupposes determination of ownership
rights on the six Armenian churches, which ceased functioning after
the establishment of Soviet power. Orthodox hierarchs call those
churches Georgian. There is no doubt that latest demarches of the
Georgian Orthodox Church are an answer to the demands of Georgian
Armenians. It looks like the claims of Georgians to the six Armenian
churches are not accidental too. They are probably guided by the
principles “eye for eye” and “best the defense is attack”…

Under such circumstances it is getting harder and harder to believe
in the purposefulness of the planned visit of Armenian Catholicos
to Tbilisi. The issue of the visit of Garegin II to Tbilisi has
been discussing for a long time. His visit to Georgia could become
a break-through in the complicated relations between Armenian and
Georgian churches. It is worth mentioning that the last Catholicos
to visit Georgia was Khrimyan Hayrik who went to Georgia 110 years
ago. Thus, the situation is not normal: the patriarchs of two
sister nations communicate through mediators and see each other on
the funerals of their predecessors. Wishing to put an end to this
absurdity the Armenian Catholicos was ready to pay a visit to his
Georgian brother. And this is how Tbilisi responded.

“PanARMENIAN.Net” analytical department