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Javakhk Armenians Meet With US Embassy Officials

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  • Javakhk Armenians Meet With US Embassy Officials

    JAVAKHK ARMENIANS MEET WITH US EMBASSY OFFICIALS

    A-Info Press
    Monday March 30, 2009

    AKHLKALAK (A-Info)--Officials from the US Embassy in Georgia,
    who were visiting the region Thursday met with the director of the
    A-Info News Agency Artak Gabrielyan who briefed the delegation on
    issues concerning the Armenian community of Samtskh-Javakhketi and
    discussed the community's expectations from the Georgian authorities.

    The delegation consisted of deputy advisor for the US Embassy
    Kent Langdon, political desk staffers Joy Davis-Kischener and Mago
    Chokoberidze and Daniel Renna, a political staffer at the US Embassy
    in Armenia.

    During the visit, the US delegation met with Akhalkalak regional
    council members and discussed issues of concern to the region, as
    well as issues related to Javakhk Armenians.

    At a separate meeting with Gabrielyan and board members from the
    Political Development Center, an NGO operating in Javakh, the two
    sides further discussed issues of concern to the Armenian community
    in Samtskhe-Javakhk and Kvemo-Kartili regions, where Armenians are
    a predominant majority.

    After making a brief presentation about the activities of A-Info,
    Gabrielyan told the US delegation about the disparities in the public
    education system in Javakhk as well as the numerous calls for fair
    representation within local and regional governmental bodies.

    Gabrielyan outlined that the community has appealed to the
    federal authorities to declare Armenian an official language in
    the region and as such further the educational opportunities of the
    population. Gabrielyan also discussed the continuous appeals by the
    community to create an Armenian-Georgian state university in the area.

    Also discussed were the federal authorities' refusal to clearly define
    the role of the regional and local governments and the inclusion of
    Armenian representatives in those bodies.

    Gabrielyan expressed concern about a Georgian government plan to
    resettle Meskheti Turks in the Samtskhe-Javakhk territory.

    Anahit Jamgochyan, the Director of the Political Development Center,
    told the US delegation that in an area where 97 percent of the
    population in Armenian, a significant portion of issues such as
    administration and judicial cases can be better resolved if Armenian
    were recognized as an official language in the region.
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