Interfax-Religion, Russia
Dec 3 2008

Yerevan students’ rally protests treatment of Armenian churches in Georgia

Yerevan, December 3, Interfax – More than 2,000 students of Armenian
universities held a rally on Wednesday protesting against a recent
series of events involving Armenian churches in Georgia, including the
November 16 desecration of two tombstones on the graves of known
Armenians outside Tbilisi’s St. Norashen church at the initiative of
Georgian Priest Tariel Sikinchelashvili.

The students gathered outside the headquarters of the UN office in
Yerevan. They then walked toward the building of the Georgian embassy
in Armenia and handed over a letter to Georgian Ambassador Revaz
Gachechiladze, demanding that "this illegal conduct of Georgian
clergymen be stopped and an appropriate assessment be given to what
has happened."

Several years ago, Priest Sikinchelashvili tried to install tombstones
with inscriptions in the Georgian language on the premises of the
St. Norashen Armenian church. In August 2008, he coordinated efforts
to build a fence around the church with symbols allegedly pointing to
its belonging to the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Armenian Minister for Diaspora Affairs Granush Akopian told a news
conference on Wednesday that "not a single priest has any right to
ruin the century-long friendship of the Armenian and Georgian
peoples."

Akopian said that the fate of Armenian historical and cultural
monuments in Georgia is high on his ministry’s agenda.