No way
out for the Javakhetian Armenians Article published in 21/12/2005
Issue
By Albertine GIAN in Akhalkalaki
Translated by Ellie FORSHAW and Victoria BRYAN
They request the intervention of the
European Union and international human rights bodies as
mediators in their conflict with the central Georgian
government. In Javakhetia, where the majority of the
population is Armenian, the identity crisis is at the heart of
the problem.
Vahag Tchakhalian, aged 23, is the
president of the ‘Armenian Youth Sports and Culture Union’. In
March 2005, he founded the alliance of village and town
representatives and various organisation leaders from the
Samtskhe-Javakhetia region, in a movement called ‘United
Javakhk’. The main aims of this organisation are the
preservation of the Armenian community through the safeguard
of its secular culture, its unique language and the apostolic
Church, as well as the defence of the rights of Javakhetian
Armenians and the socio-economic development of the
region. Following the example of the Samtskhe-Javakhetia
administrative organisation, “United Javakhk” seeks regional
autonomy. It is the only judicial solution to be backed by
most, and has the aim of defending the Armenian community
against Georgian assimilatory nationalism and against the
danger of increased Turkish presence in
Javakhetia. Javakhetia’s economic slump also needs to be
urgently addressed in order to stop the emigration of its
people to Russia. The stakes are high, on demographic,
cultural, economic and social agendas. It is a battle on all
fronts that the Javakhetia Armenians must wage alone. The
future looks bleak. Here’s why.
What kind of
difficulties do the Armenians in Javakhetia have to
face?
In 1995, the Georgian authorities
artificially divided areas with a majority of Armenian people
into various administrative entities. Thus, the district of
Tsalka, with a high population of Armenians, belongs to the
Kvemo-Kartli province. On the other hand, the district of
Borjomi, with a high population of Georgians and with no
relation whatsoever with the Javakhk, was made part of
Samtskhe-Javakhetia province, whose other districts are
Adigeni, Akhalkalaki, Akhaltsikhe, Aspindza and Ninotsminda.
As a consequence, the percentage of Armenian and Georgian
population in the region is 60% and 40%
respectively.
In public bodies, the percentage of
Armenian personnel is infinitely lower and does not correspond
to the higher percentage of the Armenian population. Thus,
within the administration of the province, only two in every
twenty employees are Armenian. Moreover, in comparison with
other regions of Georgia, Javakhetia is in a very difficult
socio-economic situation. In this part of the country, natural
obstacles (e.g. difficult climate, low temperatures,
mountainous terrain, etc.) do not play a role as major as
other more subjective factors, such as the calculated
“negligence” of Georgian authorities with regard to the
problems in the region (e.g. the appalling state of the roads,
customs barriers, etc.) and the smothering of a certain number
of Armenian entrepreneurial initiatives.
Up until
recently, when electricity generated in Armenia was not yet up
and running, power cuts in the Javakhetia region were
commonplace. The power line coming from Armenia that supplies
the region’s electricity has still not been legalised by the
Georgian government. Unemployment rates in that region reach
100%, pushing unemployed men to emigrate to Russia. This
happened in the past with the dissolution of the USSR, when
around 25% of the region’s population emigrated. The Georgian
authorities have cut government help for the creation of new
local jobs to a minimum.
Ever since the Soviet period
and especially since independence, the many governments that
succeeded each other in Georgia have pursued this political
direction, with the slogan “Georgia belongs to Georgians”. In
Samtskhe-Javakhetia, it is obvious that the government wishes
to totally dislodge the Armenians in the region and to destroy
their culture. To this end, they use all possible means,
backed by the police forces. More violent and methodical
approaches have been adopted ever since the ‘Rose Revolution’
and the accession to power of Mikhael Saakashvili.
Four
recent events are evidence of this. In June 2005, the director
of the only Armenian school in Akhaltsikhe, Liouba
Matevossian, was fired. Robert Mouradian, who is not fluent in
Armenian and who has a bad reputation, was named in her stead.
Following the orders of Youri Pogossov, the current leader of
home affairs in the Akhalkalaki district, the police of
Akhaltsikhe resorted to violence when school children and
their parents demonstrated against the authorities’ arbitrary
decision in this matter.
Another event happened in
June 2005. Members of the special intervention group of the
Georgian Interior Ministry in the Tsalka district stopped the
car of 26-year-old Vladimir Nazaretian. When he protested, the
special forces opened fire. Vladimir was hit in the chest and
in the leg.
On August 13th, a group of Georgian
ecclesiasts and students, escorted by the police forces of the
region, went to the Armenian village of Samsar. They announced
that a political decision had been taken in the highest
circles regarding the construction of a Georgian monastery
near the village, which already boasts an 11th century
Armenian church. On August 16th, after three days of
unsuccessful negotiation, the villagers were forced to throw
out the disruptors.
The last events happened when
members of the Interior Ministry, acting on the orders of the
Ministry, opened fire on the unarmed inhabitants of
Akhalkalaki who were demonstrating against the unfounded
closure of several shops in their town.
Are you
satisfied with the representatives of the Javakhetia region in
the Georgian parliament?
No. The representatives of
the Javakhetia region are extremely passive with regard to the
defence of the rights of the Armenian community. Following the
lead of the Armenian authorities, they do not see any
political problems within Javakhetia. During debates in the
Georgian parliament regarding the more serious problems faced
by the regions and national minorities, the position of the
Armenian delegates is contrary to the interests of the
Armenian community.
For example, when the parliament
debated the question of the suppression of property tax, an
essential part of the regional budget which is not put into
the state’s coffers, not one of the Armenian delegates spoke
out against that decision. Similarly, when the Georgian
parliament forcefully ratified the convention for the
protection of national minorities, without having adopted the
10th and 11th articles which state that national minorities
may rightfully use their native tongue, not a single one of
the five delegates spoke out against the exclusion of these
essential articles.
What do you think of the
construction of a railway line linking the towns of Kars,
Akhalkalaki and Baku?
The people in Javakhetia
disapprove of this project. In the first place, if it did
happen, the number of Turks in the region would rise
dramatically. With this in mind, I would like to state the
following fact, which is not widely known. Between 1918 and
1920, during the Turkish invasion following the genocide of
Armenians in western Armenia, the Turkish army massacred more
than half of the Armenian population in Samtskhe-Javakhetia,
i.e. nearly 40,000 people. The authorities in the independent
republic of Georgia, not only failed to defend the Armenian
community in the region, but actually helped to kill the
Armenians by giving the order to shut the doors and preventing
refugees from entering the safety zones in the centre of
Georgia. This is why an increased presence in the region of
Turks, the country which carried out the genocide and which
still refuses to recognise it, would be unacceptable for the
Armenians of Javakhetia.
Secondly, carrying out this
project could increase the immigration of Meskhet Turks to
Javakhetia. Turkey desires this, in spite of the fact that
Meskhet Turks were expelled from the Aspindza district, where
mainly Georgians live at present. Therefore, this project
would directly threaten the safety of the Armenian people.
Bearing in mind what I said previously, the Armenian community
in Javakhetia would not allow the project to go ahead.
Did you take part in the forum held on 23 and
24 September in Akhalkalaki, following which a resolution
demanding autonomy for Javakhetia was adopted by the majority
of the organisations present?
Of course, but I was
not able to sign the resolution. I took part, albeit
passively, in the forum during which the essential interests
of the Armenian community in Javakhetia were debated. Creating
an autonomous Armenian region, encompassing the areas of
Akhaltsikhe, Aspindza, Akhalkalaki, Ninotsminda and Tsalka,
seems to be the only way of ensuring the physical, demographic
and cultural security of the Armenian majority in the
region.
Demanding the autonomy is not only supported by
the Council of Organisations of Samtskhe-Javakhetia, as the
Georgian authorities would have you believe, but also by the
whole of the Armenian community in the region. Within a
multi-national Georgia, constructing a stable state is only
possible on the basis on a democratic federal model where all
citizens, no matter their nationality, would have equal
opportunities to preserve their national identity. But today,
the Georgian political elite are on a path of imperialistic
chauvinism with Russo-Byzantine tendencies, leaving national
minorities with only the choice of emigration or assimilation.
What do you think of the offer made to both the
secessionist republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and
Adjaria of a statute of autonomy within Georgia?
If
widespread autonomy can be given to 20,000 Ossetians under the
pressure of force, why should the same not be true for the
150,000 Armenians living in Javakhetia alone? The Georgian
authorities do not have the moral right to refuse the request
of the Javakhetian Armenians. Mainly because following the
collapse of the USSR, during the last 14 years, when other
national minorities took up arms against the Georgian
authorities, we were patient, in spite of the fact that we
were the most powerful community, the best organised and with
the greatest number of people. Even today, when we are faced
with events such as those seen in the Armenian community of
Nakhitchevan, we are patient. But no one knows how long our
patience will last…
Apart from Javakhetia, are
there are other major Armenian communities in
Georgia?
Armenian populations can be found in
Adjaria (before the collapse of the USSR, there were 25,000
Armenians, now there are just 15,000). There is a major
community in Tbilisi, although their numbers have been halved
since 1991. In addition, Armenians live in just about every
district in Georgia and they are either partially or
completely assimilated. For example, catholic Armenians used
to live in the district of Adigueni, in the Oude village; now
you will find ‘catholic Georgians’, a denomination which was
unknown until the 20th century.
Following the
retreat of Russian bases from Akhalkalaki, what role do you
think the Russians will play in Javakhetia in the
future?
I would like to extend this question and
not only touch on the influence of Russia, but also that of
other major powers. If, in Javakhetia, political issues can
begin to be solved with the support of the European Union, if
living conditions for the Armenian community in the region can
be gradually improved, if Armenians in Javakhetia feel that
they have the same rights and sense of dignity as Georgian
citizens, then in these circumstances, not a single government
could fail to exert constructive external pressure on the
regional situation. But if all of these issues continue as
they are today, then exterior pressure could become
worse.
Which solutions can you foresee for
Javakhetia to overcome the socio-political crisis that it is
facing today?
When the Georgian and Armenian prime
ministers met, Zourab Nogaideli, the Georgian PM, declared
that he did not need any help and that socio-economic problems
were being resolved. However, in the course of the last six
months, not a single job has been created at a local level. In
our opinion, the Georgian authorities are not the only ones
who are in a position to solve the socio-economic problems in
the region. In order to find solutions, it is necessary to
encourage investment from the Javakhetian Armenians currently
living in Russia and Armenia and also to attract resources
from the Armenian diaspora.
Are the people in
the region satisfied with the stance of the Armenian
government on Javakhetia?
Armenian leaders believe
that the tense atmosphere in Samtskhe-Javakhetia can be
explained by the socio-economic problems in the region and
cannot see any political issues.
I am convinced that
the Armenian authorities have not been informed of the
widespread abuse of rights in the Armenian minority in
Georgia. However, in order to maintain stable relations with
Georgia, they prefer not to challenge it and therefore state
there are no political problems in Javakhetia. I believe that
the Armenian authorities will be forced to change their
position very soon by pressure from those living in Armenia,
from the thousands of Javakhetians and from patriotic Armenian
supporters and those in the diaspora. It would be more
sensible and efficient to recognise the existence of the
issues I have mentioned and to suggest that the Georgian
authorities accept the mediation of international bodies
skilled in defending human rights in order to solve the
numerous problems in Javakhetia.
(1) Region with a
high population of Muslims (Azeri). (2) Current president
of Georgia, elected in January 2004 following the resignation
of Eduard Shevardnadze.
Interview published in
France Arménie, edition dating from 1-15 December 2005.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the authors.
© CAUCAZ.COM |
Article published in 21/12/2005 Issue | By Albertine
GIAN
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