YEREVAN’S SILENCE TO BLAME FOR ‘GEORGIFICATION’ OF ARMENIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.01.2009 20:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian historian Samvel Karapetyan doesn’t accuse
assimilated Armenians in Georgia.

"It’s the Armenian statehood which is responsible for the compatriots
living in neighboring countries," he told a news conference yesterday.

Commenting on the history of assimilated Armenians, Karapetyan said,
"Georgian kings transported them from the Yerevan khanate to Georgia
to guard borders with south Caucasian tribes in the 18th century. By
the beginning of the 20th century, most of them had forgotten the
Armenian language but still struggled for maintenance of their national
identity. However, attempts stopped under the Stalin rule."

"Georgia is not to blame. The Georgian leadership cares about its
people and bears no responsibility for the Armenian people. They will
never stop appropriating Armenian cultural monuments," he said.

"The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs should take action to stop
the acts of vandalism," Karapetyan concluded.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress