JAVAKHK ARMENIANS CALL FOR STATEHOOD

A-Info
2009_1
Wednesday, April 8, 2009

AKHALKALAK, Samtskhe-Javakheti (A-Info)–During an expanded session of
the Council of Armenian Organization of Javakhk Tuesday, a resolution
was drafted calling for the establishment of a Javakhk state within a
federated Georgia. This resolution will be presented at a conference
scheduled for April 16.

Invited to participate in the conference are representatives of
all Armenian organizations in the Samtskhe-Javakhk region and the
neighboring Kvemo-Kartili region, as well as federal and local
Georgian authorities, foreign embassy staff, members of parliament,
representatives of Georgian and foreign organizations that deal
with human rights and minority issues and representatives of the
president’s office.

Organizers underscored that the conference aimed to strengthen the
position of Armenian members of the Georgian parliament representing
the Javakhk region, who have not been successful in presenting
or addressing the concerns of the Javakhk constituency within the
legislature.

The draft resolution call for the formation of a federated Georgia,
under article 3 of the country’s constitution, through which
Samtskhe-Javakhk and the neighboring Kvemo-Kartili will become a state
within the federation, and will be granted rights to self-government,
education, representation in the federal government structure and
other stipulations guaranteed by the constitution.

The meeting concluded with a decision that prior to the April 16
conference, representatives of the Armenian organizations would
engage in grass-roots efforts to rally the Armenian community behind
this resolution.