VAHAGN CHAKHALIAN CONSIDERS ACCUSATION BROUGHT TO HIM AS ABSURD

Noyan Tapan
Nov 01 2006

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Vahagn Chakhalian, Presidency member
of the United Javakhk Democratic Bloc and Chairman of the Javakhk
Youth Sport and Cultural Union, considers the accusation brought to him
as absurd. Declaring this at the November 2 meeting with journalists
at the Pakagits club, he at the same time refrained from going into
the details of this case, as it is still at the stage of preliminary
examination. V.Chakhalian only said that he learnt from press about
5 years’ prohibition of entering Armenia determined to him for some
fault. We will remind that V.Chakhalian was arrested on October 11 on
the charge of violating RA state border illegally. By the decision of
the first instance court arrest was chosen as a preventive punishment
to him.

And on October 30, the Appeal Court in Criminal and Military
Cases chose a signature on not leaving towards V.Chakhalian and
he was released from the isolation cell of the National Security
Service. V.Chakhalian said that Javakhk is faced with the danger
of complete displacement of Armenians: according to official data,
about 30 thousand Armenians have left Akhalkalak since the collapse
of the USSR, which, as he estimated, is destructive for a region
with a population of 70 thousand people. He considered as strange
and unintelligible the statements in press about the possibility of
Russia’s using the Armenians of Javakhk in the context of aggravation
of Russian-Georgian relations. In V.Chakhalian’s words, this is a
servile approach and the Armenians of Javakhk have their approaches
and interests. Declaring that the issue of Javakhk autonomy has
not been raised at present, V.Chakhalian at the same time noted:
"and in the respect of the future we can say nothing." In his words,
the United Javakhk pursues the goal to preserve the national cultural
values, to achieve stipulation by law a status equal to the Georgian
language for Armenian, fights construction of Kars-Akhalkalak railway,
as well as dislocation of Georgian troops in Javakhk. It was mentioned
that no issue of armed conflict with the Georgian authorities is on the
agenda of the Bloc. RA MP Hmayak Hovhannisian, who was present at the
meeting, said that the United Javakhk registered serious success in the
October 5 local self-government elections. According to official data,
the Bloc received 30% of electors’ votes. Touching upon the project
of Kars-Akhalkalak railway construction, H.Hovhannisian said that in
case of its fulfilment Javakhk "populated with Armenians, making part
of our historical homeland will be used for Armenia’s blockade with
a sanitary cordon that will separate us from our brothers, Georgians."