GOGA KHACHIDZE EVALUATES AGIOTAGE RELATED TO STATUS OF ARMENIAN LANGUAGE AS EXORBITANT

Prime News Agency, Georgia
Sept 25 2007

Tbilisi. September 25 (Prime-News) – Goga Khachidze, President’s
Envoy to Samtskhe-Javakheti region, deems that the agiotage related
to the conferring status of regional language to the Armenian language
is exorbitant.

According to the President’s Envoy to Samtskhe-Javakheti region,
the Russian servicemen, who serve in the military base located in
Akhalkalaki, encourage the politicization of the aforementioned
problem.

"According to the constitution of Georgia only Georgian language and
Georgian and Abkhazian languages on the territory of Abkhazia are
considered to be the state languages. Everybody, who lives in Georgia,
is obliged to know Georgian," admitted Goga Khachidze.

Although Goga Khachidze does not refuse the existence of language
related problem in the region, but expressed hope that the
aforementioned problem would be settled soon.

The aforementioned meeting with the president’s Envoy in
Samtskhe-Javakheti region was organized within the framework of the
program on "Negotiation of Existing Information Vacuum in Relation to
Samtskhe-Javakheti Region" for Georgian, Armenian and Azeri journalists
implemented by NGO "Institute for War and Peace Reporting" and OSCE
mission to Georgia.

Three Azeri, two Armenian and six Georgian journalists participated
in five-day program.

The participants of the program held meetings with representatives
of NGO and governmental forces.