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Georgian governor dismisses Armenian rioters as "common criminals"

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  • Georgian governor dismisses Armenian rioters as "common criminals"

    Georgian governor dismisses ethnic Armenian rioters as "common criminals"

    Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
    12 Mar 06


    [Presenter] In Akhalkalaki [town in southern Georgia populated mainly
    by ethnic Armenians], where the Russian military base is still
    stationed, a court and university building have been ransacked. The
    alleged pretext was the killing of an Armenian youth in Tsalka
    [another town in southern Georgia with a large ethnic Armenian
    population]. However, new demands were heard in Akhalkalaki, from
    where our correspondent reports.

    [Correspondent] Members of the Armenian public council staged a rally
    in the centre of Akhalkalaki at about noon [on 11 March]. The
    organizers cited a murder in Tsalka several days earlier as the
    reason. Akhalkalaki's Armenian population is convinced that their
    kinsman in Tsalka was killed precisely because he was Armenian.

    [Azat Mipaktsyan, captioned as chairman of the Javakheti
    intelligentsia organization, in Russian] Gevork Gevorkyan was killed
    in Tsalka in what we are told was a common street fight. The people
    rose in order to prevent such incidents in future.

    [Correspondent] Members of the Armenian public organization say that
    the resettlement of people from other parts of Georgia is behind the
    frequent conflicts in Tsalka. They want the authorities to ensure the
    safety of ethnic Armenian residents.

    [Vardan Akopyan, captioned as chairman of Akhalkalaki youth
    organization, in Russian] People are outraged by the fact that the
    Georgians studying there [at the university in Akhalkalaki] are not
    local.

    [Correspondent to Akopyan] Where are they from?

    [Akopyan] For example, from Kutaisi or Zugdidi. They have been
    provided with accommodation. We have a very hard climate here, but all
    the necessary conditions are being created for them and they are also
    being paid scholarships.

    There are already hundreds of such people here.

    [Correspondent] After the rally, people broke into the Akhalkalaki
    District court in protest at the dismissal of ethnic Armenian
    judges. The next object of public anger was the Akhalkalaki branch of
    the [Tbilisi] state university.

    Protesters broke down the main door and ransacked the building. They
    said that Armenians, unlike Georgians, could not study there because
    tuition was in Georgian.

    [Akopyan] The Armenian language should be declared a state language in
    places where Armenians live in compact communities. There are a total
    of almost 200,000 ethnic Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakheti [province
    which includes Akhalkalaki] and in the 13 Armenian villages in Tsalka
    District. We see this as our right, especially as the right of the
    local people, people who were born here. This would lift most of the
    tension.

    [Correspondent] According eyewitnesses, angry people also broke into
    the local office of the [Georgian] Orthodox Church. Nuns say that they
    were looking for arms. [Passage omitted]

    The governor [of Samtskhe-Javakheti, Giorgi Khachidze] has arrived in
    Akhalkalaki to look into the situation.

    [Khachidze] These are common criminals. Criminals have no nationality.
    Some little men organized this. They brought uneducated children here
    who committed these acts of vandalism. These are common criminals who
    are no better than those who killed an ethnic Armenian youth in Tsalka
    several days ago.

    [Correspondent] Criminal proceedings have been launched in connection
    with these incidents [riots], but Samtskhe-Javakheti police have not
    yet arrested anyone.
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