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Georgian Patriarchate appropriates Armenian church in Tbilisi

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The Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate has launched construction work at Tandoyants Armenian Church in Tbilisi and is allegedly planning to build a completely new Georgian Orthodox church on the site, an article by Caucasus analyst Neil Hauer reveals.

Tandoyants was once testimony to the significant Armenian population in Tbilisi. But after decades of neglect, first by Soviet authorities and then by Georgian ones, the church today barely exists. Last November, some in Tbilisi’s Armenian community noticed that construction work had begun on the site of the church, which the Armenian Diocese of Georgia has long claimed as its own.

Cultural activists filed a request for information with the National Agency of State Property later that month and discovered that Tandoyants had been gifted to the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate the previous July, according to the article published on Eurasianet.org.

“The Georgian Patriarchate wants to build a completely new Georgian Orthodox church on the site,” said Eto Gvritishvili, a lawyer with the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), an NGO now engaged in a legal battle over the ownership of Tandoyants. “They claim it is a historic Georgian site.” By way of justification, the official Georgian church claim cites 19th-century documents indicates that Tandoyants stands on the ground previously occupied by a small Georgian church, destroyed by the Persian emperor Shah Abbas in 1622.

In disputing the origins of Tandoyants, the Georgian church has placed blame on a familiar bugbear in Georgian politics. “They [the Georgian Patriarchate] admit that the current church is Armenian, but they claim that it replaced a Georgian church after Russian imperial authorities gave the land to Armenians in the 19th century,” Gvritishvili said.

The official stance of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Orthodox Church in Georgia is that Tandoyants was “illegally transferred” to the Georgian Patriarchate last year.

Tandoyants is not the only historic Armenian church the Georgian Patriarchate has targeted. In fact, there are at least six others the Patriarchate has its sights set on, according to EMC. One is Shamkoretsots in Tbilisi’s historic Armenian quarter, Avlabari. Its condition slowly deteriorated over the decades until a 1989 earthquake shattered the cupola, destroying the iconic dome. The Armenian church has been denied access to the Church of Norashen too. An Armenian attempt to clean the interior several years ago was halted by the Georgian church. But the Georgian Patriarchate has said nothing about ongoing construction adjacent to Norashen which risks damaging the building.

Perhaps the most famous case is that of Sameba Cathedral. Constructed to be the home cathedral of the Georgian Patriarchate, it was built between 1995 and 2004 on the ruins of an older site: the Khojivank Pantheon, an Armenian cemetery from the 17th century. Many gravestones were simply discarded in the process.

Related links:

Eurasianet.org. Georgian Orthodox Church takes aim at Armenian churches

Georgian Armenians climb up 2941m on Mount Ararat

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Armenians from the village of Burnashet in Georgia’s Samtskhe Javakheti province set off to climb Mount Ararat on Friday, August 3, as reported by Akhaltskha.net.

The group of 16 people is at 2941m height at the moment. Before starting the journey Artur Kocharyan told about the goals of the group: “Our group includes people of 14 to 58 years. We are joint by a single concept – to climb mount Ararat and set the Armenian flag on top of it, also the flags of Artsakh, Georgia and Russia.”

 

Thousands Protest Georgian Nightclub Raids In Tbilisi

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(rferl Report) TBILISI — Thousands of people took to the streets in Georgia to protest an overnight antidrug raid by police on two popular nightclubs in the capital, demanding the resignations of the interior minister and the prime minister.

Around 4,000 demonstrators — many dancing to electronic music pulsating from speakers — had gathered outside the Georgian parliament building in Tbilisi by early evening on May 12 in response to the morning raid that drew criticism for what some called an excessive use of police force against clubgoers.

The Interior Ministry said its officers had detained eight suspected drug dealers after storming the two clubs, Bassiani and Cafe Gallery, in the early hours of May 12.

Critics call the operation a PR stunt by police aimed at demonstrating its commitment to enforcing strict antidrug laws and intimidating the thriving and growing club scene in the Georgian capital.

Some clubgoers allege that drugs may have been planted by police.

“The only thing they’ve been trying to do lately is to turn public opinion against humane drug policies,” activist Beka Tsikarishvili told RFE/RL’s Georgian Service at the rally.

“This is what the recent events illustrate. So we really cannot hope that under this administration any positive changes can take place in this country,” Tsikarishvili added.

The raid followed a string of what are believed to be drug-related deaths in Tbilisi in recent weeks.

Police detained several protesters near the clubs at dawn as authorities tried to close off nearby streets.

They later detained several more protesters and activists as clubgoers made their way toward the parliament building to stage a spontaneous protest.

Giorgi Mshvenieradze, the head of the Georgian Democracy Initiative, a nongovernmental organization, said that some in Georgia “view clubbing subculture as something debauched and immoral.”

“This is very bad. But what’s even worse is that the state started playing their game and showed society that on a Friday night it can storm a nightclub with hundreds of special forces, just to detain eight people,” Mshvenieradze told RFE/RL’s Georgian Service.

Mamuka Chelidze, head of the Interior Ministry’s criminal police department, told a news conference that the ministry “has been conducting intensive investigative measures for the last three months to establish the facts of the drug trade in Bassiani and Gallery nightclubs.”

Anna Subeliani, one of the organizers of the rally, told RFE/RL’s Georgian Service that they will not stop until their demands are met.

Another activist, Giorgi Tabagari, called the raid on the two clubs a blow to progressive social movements in Georgia.

Several leading human rights organizations in Georgia have issued a joint petition calling for the government to hold those responsible for the police operation accountable.

The groups said the raid was a “demonstration of force” that “openly and blatantly violated human rights,” and they urged authorities to introduce more humane drug policies.

Georgian Court Sentences Saakashvili In Absentia

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The Tbilisi city court has found former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili guilty of abuse of power

The Tbilisi city court has found former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili guilty of abuse of power in connection with a 2006 murder case and sentenced him in absentia to three years in prison.

Judge Giorgi Arevadze on January 5 announced the verdict against Saakashvili, Georgia’s president from 2004 until 2013, convicting him of abusing his presidential powers by trying to cover up evidence about the murder of Georgian banker Sandro Girgvliani, and issuing pardons for four men who were convicted of the killing.

Saakashvili, who rejects the charges as politically motivated, said on January 5 that his conviction was the result of pressure from one of his major political opponents in Georgia, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who Saakashvili linked to Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom.

“The so-called ‘ruling’ against me by a Georgian court that is fully under control of Gazprom-shareholder Ivanishvili is absolutely illegal and contradicts all international and domestic regulations and common sense,” Saakashvili wrote on Facebook from Ukraine, where he currently resides and is an opposition politician.

“The trial of a president for using his right to pardon, which is not limited by any means, shows that the case is fully politically motivated,” Saakashvili said. “It also shows that Georgian authorities have not been able to find anything against me in the last five years — neither facts of corruption nor other violations of the law.”

Saakashvili said a simultaneous court hearing against him in Kyiv showed that “oligarchic authorities in Ukraine and Georgia are operating in synchronicity and in full coordination with each other” against him because he is “the leader of a battle against corruption, oligarchs, and the robbery of the people.”

Saakashvili said the world knew that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been demanding both Georgian and Ukrainian authorities to implement repressive measures” against him.

Putin “repeated that in his recent press conference,” the 50-year-old Saakashvili said, claiming that talks aimed at “neutralizing” him were conducted between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Ivanishvili in Georgia several days before Poroshenko issued an order to strip him of his Ukrainian citizenship last summer.

“According to my sources, [the issue was also discussed] by Poroshenko and Putin in a telephone conversation on December 29, 2017,” Saakashvili wrote.

Saakashvili’s government-appointed lawyer, Sofio Goglichidze, said after the ruling that the court violated “a number of legal provisions and the constitution” in convicting former Georgian president.

“It is obvious that political persecution is going against Mikheil Saakashvili. It was impossible to deliver a guilty verdict in the case in accordance with the law,” Goglichidze said.

Girgvliani, who headed the foreign department of United Georgian Bank, was found dead in January 2006 outside of Tbilisi with multiple injuries after he was seen arguing in a bar with high-ranking Interior Ministry officials.

Saakashvili was the president of Georgia when Girgvliani was killed and issued presidential pardons for four Georgian men who were convicted of murder in the case in 2006.

In November 2014, when Saakashvili was no longer the Georgian president, prosecutors charged him and other former Georgian officials of being accomplices in the falsification of evidence presented in the murder trial.

Khatia Dekanoidze, a member of Saakashvili’s United National Movement party in Georgia, said the January 5 verdict in Tbilisi might help Ukrainian authorities extradite Saakashvili to Georgia.

“Nobody doubts that the charge was motivated and ordered,” said Dekanoidze, who served as the head of the Ukrainian National Police when Saakashvili was governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region in 2015-16.

“I do not exclude Mikheil Saakashvili’s extradition [to Georgia] because the administrative resources of the two countries are working together” against him, Dekanoidze said in Tbilisi.

Armenian-Georgian high-level talks held in Tbilisi

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Armenian,Georgian, meeting

Armenian-Georgian high-level talks were held in Tbilisi, involving the official delegations of the two countries.

Welcoming the delegation headed by the President of friendly Armenia, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said he was glad that the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Georgia was crowned with a remarkable visit by President Serzh Sargsyan that might give fresh impetus to the development of interstate relations and friendship between the two nations.

The Presidents of Armenia and Georgia stated with satisfaction the growth of trade turnover between the two countries this year, the progress achieved in tourism and the status of bilateral cooperation in a number of other spheres. They noted that the potential of cooperation is much greater, and consistent efforts need to be made in this direction.

Presidents Sargsyan and Margvelashvili attached importance to regional security and peace in terms of providing favorable conditions for the prosperity and economic development of all countries in the region.

During the enlarged meeting, the members of the two delegations reported back the work done in respective areas, the pace of joint projects, the achievements and problems. The Presidents instructed them to strengthen mutual contacts and cooperation.

Georgians from historical district Saingilo in Azerbaijan: Intimidation and threats are Azerbaijanis’ methods

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Georgia-Azerbaijan-problemThe Georgians residing on the territory of the historical Georgian district Saingilo – now in the territory of Azerbaijan – complain of the authorities’ indifference towards their problems in the YouTube video titled “Inhabitants of Saingilo.” They say there is no law there. Security service, intimidation and threats are the methods the Azerbaijanis use.

The inhabitants say that those who go to church are threatened to lose their job. “For example, Fr. Basiliy, the only Orthodox clergyman, is constantly threatened, oppressed and compelled to leave. Say, on the next day after Easter he was banned to sanctify the graves. Lawlessness! There is just no law here!” a local Georgian woman says.

They get no support from the Georgian government, according to her.

“Say, if our clergyman is expelled from Saingilo, we will go to Georgia and hold a protest to demand that all the mosques are closed down. Let them close down all the mosques in Georgia then,” another inhabitant adds.

He says there is only one operating church in Saingilo, and St. George’s Church in village Kurmukhi in Azerbaijani Kakhi district bordering with Georgia has been closed down.

“The president of Georgia himself congratulated the Georgian Azerbaijanis on the holiday of Novruz Bayrami. Yet to us, even the minor officials did not come on Easter, let alone the president. There was no one from Georgia either. This is all very sad. We all need to raise this issue. There is no one-way brotherhood,” one of the locals said.

The Georgians of the historical district Saingilo – which today is in the territory of Azerbaijan – have a number of problems. Over the past years five Georgian clergymen have been compelled to leave the historical Georgian district Saingilo on the demand of the Azerbaijani side. On the local authorities’ decision, in the historical Ereti – in the Azerbaijani territory – the Azerbaijani citizens of Georgian origin (over 10,000) can attend prayers only twice a year, May 6 and November 23, the St. George’s Day. Another demonstration of discrimination is that the Muslim Georgians cannot recover their historical surnames, etc.

Ethnic Georgians have been historically residing in the former Zakatal Region of the Russian Empire. Currently it constitutes the districts of Kakhi, Belakani and Zakatala in Azerbaijan. The total number of the Georgians of those districts, including the Muslim Georgians, is approximately 50,000. Along with other indigenous peoples of the region, they are subjected to oppressions on ethnic and religious ground in Azerbaijan. The local Georgians have repeatedly written appeals to the Georgian and Azerbaijani authorities on the subject.

Source: Panorama.am

Georgia government collapses after ministers quit

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Georgian, Gov-failedGeorgia Prime Minister Irakli Garibasvili’s government collapsed Wednesday after a seventh minister quit his 20-member Georgian Dream coalition Cabinet, AFP reported.

“I am resigning from my post,” sports minister Levan Kipiani told a press conference. The move spells the end of the Cabinet, as replacing one-third of its members automatically requires the entire Cabinet to dissolve.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili has a week to formally nominate a new prime minister proposed by the parliamentary majority.

The prime minister-designate will then have two weeks to pick his team but will have to go back to parliament for a confidence vote.

As the legislature is dominated by the ruling Georgian Dream coalition led by the previous and now acting Prime Minister Garibashvili, it is expected to back his re-appointment.

 

Source: Panorama.am

US designates Georgian man as global terrorist

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global terroristThe United States has placed a Georgian national on a list of individuals it accuses of working with extremist organizations such as the Islamic State (IS) to provide financial and material support to terrorist fighters in Syria, RFE/RL reports.

Tarkhan Batirashvili, described by US authorities as a “Syria-based Georgian national,” was one of 11 individuals listed as “specially designated global terrorists” by the US Treasury Department on September 24.

Batirashvili has held “top military positions” within IS and “has led a number of attacks” over the past several years, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

He also oversaw an Islamic State-controlled prison facility in Syria where foreign hostages may have been held, and he previously led militants from Chechnya and elsewhere in the Caucasus fighting in Syria, the Treasury Department said.

Armenian, Georgian Presidents Meet over Regional Issues

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TBILISI (ArmRadio)—The consistent reinforcement of close Armenian-Georgian relations is among the priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian-Margvelashvili-2Sarkisian said at a joint press conference with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Margvelashvili after their meeting in Tbilisi on Wednesday.

“The fragile peace and stability in the South Caucasus is maintained largely due to the effective and strong cooperation between Armenia and Georgia. We have always respected each other’s decisions, aware that the primary goal of any of us is the strengthening of the state, and have rejoiced over this, as Armenia and Georgia are strong together,” President Sarkisian said.

“The political dialogue is the best impetus for boosting the economic cooperation. Concrete directions have already been outlined in the trade relations between the two counties, which include the energy sector, tourism, manufacturing of agricultural products and others. We have registered growth in the commodity turnover and I’m sure we have large unused reserves,” the President added.

During the meeting in Tbilisi, the leaders of the two countries referred to Armenia’s participation in Eurasian integration processes, particularly the prospects of mutually beneficial cooperation with Georgia in that context.

“I’m confident that by signing the Association Agreement with the EU on June 27 and becoming part of the Free Trade Agreement, Georgia will create opportunities for Armenian businessmen, who see their participation on the European market, to make investments in Georgia,” he said, adding that on the other hand, Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union will open opportunities for Georgian partners in the markets of the CU member states.

As for regional security, the Presidents of the two countries agree that the comprehensive settlement of conflicts is possible exceptionally in a peaceful way in line with the principles of international law.