GEORGIAN MONK ORDERS TO DEMOLISH ARMENIAN GRAVES IN NORASHEN CHURCH YARD

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.11.2008 15:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On November 16, Georgian monk Tariel Sikinchelashvili
instructed workers to raze to the ground the graves of Mikhail and
Lidia Tamamshev.

This barbarian act outraged Armenians, who demanded to let the graves
in their place. However, Father Tariel responded with harsh statements.

Upon arrival of representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church and
parliament member Van Bayburt, the Georgian monk said he just wanted
to replace the gravestones to "clean under them."

Policemen have filed a formal report about the incident.

A representative of Georgian Ombudsman also arrived at the site.

Church of Norashen was founded in 1467 and renovated several times
since then. During the Soviet era, the church was transformed into an
archive. Eventually, in 1989, shortly before Georgia’s independence,
the Georgians intensified and multiplied their actions aimed at
appropriating the church in order to transform it into a Georgian
orthodox one.