GEORGIAN GROUP URGES ARMENIA NOT TO GIVE INTO "PROVOCATION" OVER DISPUTED CHURCH
Georgian Public Television Channel 1
Dec 11 2008
Georgia
[Presenter] The National Christian Movement is demanding that
Orthodox churches in Armenia be handed over to the Georgian
side. Representatives of the movement claim that Georgian churches in
Armenia are in deplorable condition and say Orthodox Christians should
be allowed to take care of them. Members of the movement gathered at
the Armenian embassy in Tbilisi. They sent the Armenian government a
list of their demands. There are about a dozen Orthodox churches in
northern Armenia.
[Giorgi Andriadze, National Christian Movement leader] Dear Armenian
brothers, do not succumb to provocation and let us avoid violent
actions of the kind that took place a few days ago at the Norashen
church [in Tbilisi, which is claimed by both the Georgian Orthodox
and Armenian Apostolic Churches] – the church was broken into by
citizens of Armenian ethnicity.
We think that the return of both Orthodox churches in Armenia and
churches [in Georgia] that Armenia regards as disputed should be
discussed in a peaceful atmosphere.