PROTEST ACTION AGAINST ENCROACHMENTS ON ARMENIAN CHURCHES IN GEORGIA
HELD IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, 28.11.08. DE FACTO. A protest action was held at the Georgian
Embassy in Yerevan in connection with the desecration of Armenian
spiritual-cultural values, churches and historical monuments on the
territory of Georgia.
The participants of the action demanded that Georgian government
immediately cease encroachments on the Armenian churches and punish
those guilty. According to the initiators of the action, Armenian
spiritual and cultural heritage is being mercilessly destructed in
Georgia. They considered the Georgian party’s actions as `’white
genocide”.
To note, the attempts of desecration of Armenian Surb Norashen Church
have been recently made in Georgia.
Father Tariel, a clergyman of a Georgian church situated in the
vicinity of Surb Norashen, imitated the construction of a fence, using
symbols peculiar of Georgian Orthodox Church. After holding talks with
Georgian authorities, under the pressure of Armenian party and
Georgia’s Armenian public Tbilisi City Hall rendered a decision on the
construction’s illegality and fence’s dismantling. However, the
directions were not followed. Moreover, some time later father Tariel
made new encroachments, in part, an attempt of moving the graves of
patrons of art Tamamshevs. Georgian Eparchy of Armenian Apostolic
Church also protested against encroachments on Surb Norashen.