PanARMENIAN.Net

Does Georgia equally belong to all its citizens
regardless the nationality?

The Armenians from Georgia, who during centuries have
had their irreplaceable asset in the culture and
industry of the country, have done nothing to protect
own rights.
22.05.2008 GMT+04:00

After the declaration of independence of Georgia and a
short period of time when the head of the country was
the first President of Georgia Zviada Gamsakhurdia,
who in his term was the founder of the slogan "Georgia
– for Georgians", Tbilisi could not work out a clear
and a sequential strategy of the national policy. What
is at the moment being done by the administration of
Michael Sahakashvili is more like a game played with
the Armenian community, which will end after the
election.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It is no secret that the Armenians
of Georgia always vote for the regime, regardless who
is being elected. Moreover, the Armenians, who are in
the Parliament, become the most fervent guides of the
politics of Michael Sahakashvili, and maybe, this is
exactly why the Deputy Van Baiburt is appointed the
advisor of the President, which, however, does not
have any positive effect on the condition of the
Armenians in Georgia, who more and more often come
across the Georgian unveiled chauvinism. This is
particularly reflected in the sphere of education,
where the teachers of the
Armenian schools, who do not speak Georgian, have no
right to work in high schools. The truth is though,
that in Javakh this law is not executed yet, but it is
only a matter of time. One more very serious problem
for Javakh is the return of Meskhet Turks. It should
be mentioned that the Georgian people call the
Meskhets Georgian, having adopted Islam.

"The return of the Meskhet Turks is fraught with
negative outcomes, first of all for those from
Tbilisi. I am sure now and I was sure 10 years ago
that the demand of the European Council about the
return of the Meskhs to Georgia will not bring to any
good. But unfortunately they will put pressure on us
in this matter," thinks the Georgian political
scientist Georgie Govsadze. The people of Javakh have
been preparing for the possible return of the Meskhs
for many years. According to the representative of the
Armenian community of Akhaltskha Lyudvig Petrosyan,
clashes were inevitable. However, the Georgian
authorities do not give permission yet for settling
the Meskhs in the regions of Samtskhe-Javakheti and
Kvemo-Kartli which are populated by the Armenian.
Kvemo-Kartli, by the way, is mostly populated by the
Azeri people, who are also against the return of the
Meskhs.

Meanwhile, on the opinion of Hrant Margaryan the
Armenian nation must use all the chances for the
recognition of the autonomy of Javakh in the
international level. "We support the fight of the
Armenian people in Javakh for the autonomy. The
response for our benevolence in this issue is the
silence of Tbilisi and the international community.
This is why it is the right time to start the fight
for self-determination with a new force," emphasized
Margaryan. This is not the first time we hear such
announcements, but they always remain purely
declarative. The silence of Georgia and Armenia in
this issue is understandable: Tbilisi thinks that it
will one day have the second Karabakh, Armenia does
not want to lose the only outlet to the world, which
passes through Georgia. Maybe this is how the
viewpoint of the Armenian authorities and the Church
regarding the appropriation of the Armenian churches
by the Georgian Orthodox Church may be explained. The
Armenian community in Georgia and in particular the
public organizations of Javakh blame Armenia for the
infringement of the rights of the Armenians in
Georgia. Maybe there is some truth in what they say.
However, there is such a notion as non-interference in
the home affairs of another country. This is the very
case. In this kind of situations both parties are to
blame. The Armenians from Georgia, who during
centuries have had their irreplaceable asset in the
culture and industry of the country, have done nothing
to protect own rights

We should have fought for "Norashen" and Khodjivank,
when the Georgian historian Bondo Arveladze started
publishing his books which stated that "not the
Georgians have appropriated the Armenian churches but
vise versa", or when the books of the history of
Georgia speak about the Armenians as if they would
speak of their worst enemy.

Coming back to the situation in Javakh, it should be
mentioned, that the Armenians of the region believe
that the Georgian authorities have secret schemes of
"rarefaction" of the Armenian region by the help of
assimilation or putting pressure on the Armenians.
However, President Saakashvili during his visit to
Javakh says that Georgia equally belongs to all its
citizens regardless the nationality.
«PanARMENIAN.Net» analytical department