CONSTRUCTION OF CENTRE FOR ORTHODOX STUDIES WILL SOON BEGIN ON TOP OF ARMENIAN CEMETERY IN TBILISI

KarabakhOpen
17-09-2007 14:13:45

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Construction of a Centre for Orthodox Studies
(Djemaran) will soon begin on top of the Armenian cemetery in Tbilisi.

Armenian foreign language specialist Raffy Dikranian told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter that during his recent visit to Tbilisi,
Georgia on 6 and 7 September 2007, he was horrified by the fact that
a large ditch has been dug out between the recently built Georgian
Orthodox Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Armenian "Pantheon Medzats",
where an Armenian cemetery used to be.

"My previous visit to Tbilisi was in September 2005. During that
visit, I was informed by the local Armenian population of Tbilisi,
in the predominantly Armenian Avlabar district, that the Georgian
Government had constructed the largest cathedral of the Caucasus (Holy
Trinity) on the graves of Armenian writers. Only the gravestones had
been moved to another site behind the cemetery, what is currently
the Armenian Pantheon, while the bones had not been relocated. It
was unbelievable then that such an insensible act could be possible,
yet during this trip, I received confirmation that the Armenians of
Tbilisi had not exaggerated the truth in any way," he said.

"Upon my arrival in Tbilisi on 6 September 2007, I was informed of
Georgian President Saakashvili’s plans to completely tear down all
the buildings in the Avlabar District and to build a new, luxurious
neighborhood in that area, around the Holy Trinity Cathedral, for the
President’s elite. It must be mentioned that the buildings occupied by
the Armenians had never been renovated by the Government over the years
and were unsafe. The Government has recently informed the Armenian
residents of Avlabar that it will pay them approx. $906 USD per square
meter and move them to a housing project to be constructed outside the
centre’s boundaries. The Armenians of Avlabar whose families have lived
there for centuries do not want to leave but have no choice," he added.

Raffy Dikranian urges upon all those concerned to write to UNESCO
and President Saakashvili and ask him to show some respect to the
Armenians of Tbilisi by properly burying the bones of the deceased
and allowing them to continue to reside in Avlabar as they have done
so for centuries.

Raffy Dikranian is a foreign language specialist and works with major
institutions like the United Nations’ specialized International Civil
Aviation agency and the Quebec ministry of Health and Social Services
to translate and interpret across a large number of languages.