Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Tensions Simmering In Georgia's Javakheti Region

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Tensions Simmering In Georgia's Javakheti Region

    TENSIONS SIMMERING IN GEORGIA'S JAVAKHETI REGION

    Eurasia Daily Monitor (The Jamestown Foundation)
    Wednesday, August 3, 2005

    By Zaal Anjaparidze

    The recent anti-terrorist operations in Georgia (see EDM July 25, 29)
    have overshadowed coverage of anti-Georgian developments flaring in
    Georgia's turbulent Javakheti region, a southern area predominantly
    populated by ethnic Armenians.

    On July 17, Armenian residents of Samsar blocked efforts by students
    and nuns from Tbilisi to help restore a local church dating to the
    12th century. The Armenians accused the visitors of attempting to
    "Georgianize the Armenian church." The verbal argument deteriorated
    into a brawl that left several of the Georgians severely injured. That
    same day, local Armenians raided a Georgian school in the nearby
    town of Akhalkalaki. The police managed to contain the incident,
    but the situation in the region remains tense.

    The Georgian and Armenian governments have done their best to
    hush up the incident. In a July 21 joint statement, the Georgian
    Orthodox Church and the Georgian diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
    Church expressed regret about the Samsar incident and ascribed it to
    "incorrect information circulating among the local population." Vazgen
    Mirzakhanian, bishop of the Armenian Diocese of Georgia, apologized
    to the Georgian victims.

    Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian's impromptu visit to Georgia
    on July 24-25 evidently sought to relieve the explosive situation in
    the region. During his trip to Javakheti Margarian received a list of
    demands from the local Armenian community to the Georgian government.
    They were presented by leaders of the local civic organizations
    Javakh, United Javakh-Democratic Alliance, and Virk. These groups
    want the Georgian government to stop the alleged discrimination
    of the Armenians, make the Armenian language the regional language
    in Javakheti, stop the "Georgianization" of the region's Armenian
    cultural heritage, begin construction of a highway connecting Javakheti
    with Armenia (which the Armenian government is ready to finance),
    register Virk as a political party, and include Armenia's history
    in the curriculum of Armenian schools in Georgia. These Armenian
    organizations insist on declaring the Armenian language as the second
    state language in Georgia (home of about 300,000 ethnic Armenians)
    or at least in Javakheti, and the adoption a special law on ethnic
    minorities.

    Margarian said that this year the Armenian government has allocated
    $350,000 to support the Armenian schools in Javakheti and is ready
    to increase funding if Tbilisi agrees. He also asked the Georgian
    government to jointly determine the provenance of the churches in
    the region, which are claimed by both religious groups.

    Georgian Parliamentary Chair Nino Burjanadze told Margarian that the
    provocateurs fueling enmity between Georgians and Armenians play into
    the hands of the common enemy, evidently alluding to Russia. However,
    there are reports that some radical Armenian organizations support
    anti-Tbilisi activities in Javakheti.

    Many analysts in Georgia believe that Tbilisi should handle the region
    more carefully to avert new incidents. Soon after the collapse of the
    USSR, some local Armenian leaders proposed political autonomy for the
    region. But despite assistance from international donors to improve
    the region's socio-economic situation, the Georgian government has not
    been able to find a workable solution to the problem of "Javakheti
    Armenians." That local Armenians distrust the central government's
    policies complicates the situation (see EDM, March 23, May 24).

    For example, the Russian military base in the region purchased large
    quantities of local produce. But local leaders doubt Georgian President
    Mikheil Saakashvili's proposal to feed the Georgian army with local
    foodstuffs after the Russian base closes. The Armenian-populated
    Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda regions boast an agricultural yield
    that exceeds the dietary needs of the 20,000-strong Georgian army by
    15-20 times.

    Another irritation came one day after the Samsar incident, when the
    Georgian armed forces completed the large-scale "Armor 2005" exercises
    at the Orfolo range near Javakheti. Georgian Defense Minister Irakli
    Okruashvili hinted that the fictional enemy "Blue Country," which
    according to the scenario had temporarily seized a Georgian region,
    was not fictional at all. "It exists for Georgia indeed," he said.

    The Georgian media accuses the Javakh, United Javakh-Democratic
    Alliance, and Virk civic movements of being behind the regions'
    anti-Tbilisi mood. However, Virk leader David Rstakian claimed that
    these organizations have actually prevented protests by the Armenian
    community from escalating to the separatism seen in Abkhazia and
    South Ossetia.

    Vahan Chakhalian, leader of the United Javakh- Democratic Alliance,
    which unites eight youth organizations, said that the Russian military
    pullout leaves local Armenians defenseless. Chakhalian and other local
    leaders have openly stated that they would retaliate if Georgian units
    replace the Russian troops. They also object to a government-sponsored
    plan to accommodate Georgian families in the region, which they
    claim would artificially "Georgianize" Javakheti. "We have yet to
    see whether the Georgian army enters here," Chakhalian warned.

    Leaders of the local Armenian organizations argue that the local
    authorities in Javakheti misinform Tbilisi about the real situation
    in the region and the preferences of the local establishment. The
    information vacuum and poor knowledge of Georgian laws by the locals,
    caused by a lack of knowledge of Georgian language, is likely the root
    of many problems. Giorgi Khachidze, the Tbilisi-appointed governor
    of Javakheti, says that the methodology of teaching the Georgian
    language needs to be improved. "The Georgian books in the Armenian
    schools are getting dusty, because they don't need them," he said.

    Meanwhile, the socio-economic problems in Javakheti are similar
    to those in other Georgian regions. However, some local groups,
    guided by external forces in Russia and Armenia, may be trying to
    politicize these problems and prepare the ground for the region's
    eventual separation from Georgia.

    (Regnum, July 18, 25, 28, 29; Akhali Versia, July 21; Resonance,
    July 20, TV-Rustavi-2, July 17, Vremya novostei, July 19)

    http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2370100
Working...
X