THE STATEMENT OF VAHAGN CHAKHALYAN, LEADER OF THE "UNITED JAVAKHK" DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE" POLITICAL MOVEMENT

AZG Armenian Daily
03/02/2009

Javakhk

Since the day of its establishment the "United Javakhk" Democratic
Alliance" political movement, of which I am the leader, has been
seeking solutions to the problems of the Javakheti and Georgian
Armenians on the whole.

There used to be and there still are a lot of problems to face. The
Georgian authorities undertake successive actions to encourage the
immigration of the Javakheti Armenians and to change the ethnic picture
of the region. Thus, 70% of the students at the State University in
Akhalkalaki are ethnic Georgians. Moreover, a Georgian orphanage is
established and a big prison is being built in Ninotsminda, attempts
to georgianize the Armenian churches are made, new Georgian monasteries
are constructed, etc. In Javakheti there is no alternative to using the
Georgian language, which is imposed at all levels of social life. The
Javakheti Armenians are refused the right to establish an Armenian
language based university.

After the murder of the ethnic Armenian – Gevorg Gevorgyan in Tsalka
region on March 9, 2006, his relatives and friends organized a
protest action, which was forcefully broken up by the police. This
caused a well-grounded discontent of the Javakheti Armenians. The
"United Javakhk" Democratic Alliance" placed itself at the head of
this wave of protests.

After each protest action I, as a leader of the "United Javakhk"
Democratic Alliance", had a meeting with the Georgian authorities. The
latter kept on promising to solve the problems regarding the Javakheti
Armenians, however, the promises remained unfulfilled. The authorities
advised us to refrain from mass protest actions and to pursue our
objectives through participation in elections and other democratic
processes.

The "United Javakhk" Democratic Alliance" followed this
advice. In October 2006 we took part in the elections to the local
self-administration bodies, however blatant falsifications of the
voting results by the authorities deprived the "United Javakhk"
Democratic Alliance" of the opportunity to have any visible
participation in the local self-administration bodies. The protest
action organized by the "United Javakhk" Democratic Alliance" was
put down by police by means of provocation and use of force.

Throughout the year 2007 the Georgian authorities had been undertaking
successive actions to liquidate the "United Javakhk" Democratic
Alliance" and to ensure my political isolation and neutralization. The
culmination of these actions became the events that took place in
July 17-21, 2008.

Today, 6 months after my imprisonment, the Georgian authorities
charge me with organizing protest actions in Akhalkalaki in 2006,
– the actions by means of which the Javakheti Armenians voiced
the problems and issues they were concerned about and requested the
Georgian authorities to solve them; -the protest actions during which
the Javakheti Armenians voiced their discontent about the blatant
falsifications made by the authorities during the elections to the
local self-administration bodies, claiming to declare the election
results invalid.

Thus, in this courtroom I am stating the following: this lawsuit
is a farce, and the reason for continuously delaying the trial
lies in the fact that the Georgian authorities are afraid of me,
as a political activist, who is a mouthpiece for the rights of the
Javakheti Armenians. By charging me you charge the Armenian minority
of your country.

The arrests of Ahaltsikha Armenian activists Grigor Minasyan, and
Sargis Hakobjanyan are also the result of this fear. This is a new
provocation, which aims to impel the Javakheti Armenians to extremist
actions and by this to discredit the peaceful struggle of Javakheti
Armenians for their language, educational and religious rights.

As in the past, once again I request the Georgian authorities to:

Stop all the criminal cases brought against the members of the "United
Javakhk" Democratic Alliance", my relatives and friends, as well as
against me. To stop all political and economic persecutions. Release
all political prisoners who were arrested for their activities aimed
at protection of the rights of the Armenian minority, including –
of people arrested in Akhaltsikhe.

Cease all the programs aimed at the artificial change of the
demographic picture of the Samtskhe-Javakheti and Tsalka regions.

Solve all the linguistic-educational, socio-economic and cultural
problems the Armenian Minority of Georgia is concerned about.

– Register the Armenian Apostolic Church and return it all the churches
that have been confiscated during the soviet era.

– Legally authorize the use of the Armenian language in the work of
the local self-administration bodies and in general office work in
Samtskhe-Javakheti and Tsalka regions.

– Give permission for establishing an Armenian university in
Akhalkalaki.