Armenia: Nationalists agitate for Samtskhe-Javakheti

Following the arrest of two ethnic Armenians in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of the Republic of Georgia, nationalist groups in Armenia plan to hold a demonstration outside the Georgian Embassy in Yerevan on Wednesday. While it is unlikely to be well attended, the activity of such nationalist groups has sharply increased since the short war between Georgia and Russia last August. Chances are that this is no coincidence.

Having openly considered the possibility to use the short conflict over South Ossetia to push for separation from Georgia, nationalist think tanks and analytical centers make no secret of their desire to frustrate good relations with Armenia’s neighbor and are more noticeable than ever before. The secretively funded Mitq Youth Analytical Center, for example, has a map of a “Greater Armenia” on its office wall with the silhouette of a soldier holding a rifle into the air.

Mitq is one of the organizers of Wednesday’s protest.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On the initiative of Mitq ananlitical center, Yerkir Union of Public Organizations on Repatriation and Settlement, Javakhk Expatriates’ Community and 20 Armenian NGOs, a protest action will be held in front of the Georgian Embassy in Armenia on Feb. 25.

“We intend to demand that Georgian authorities release Armenian activists arrested in Samtskhe-Javakheti,” head of Mitq analytical center Edward Abrahamyan told a news conference today.

“These people were arrested for political reasons, being known by their pro Armenian activities,” Abrahamyan said.

Another organization, the Noravank Foundation, also seems more interested in the deterioration of Armenian-Georgian relations rather than in their improvement.

Noravank Foundation expert Tamara Vardanyan emphasized that Georgia has always pursued anti-Armenian policy.

“Armenians are not mentioned in Georgian text books,” she said, adding that the Georgian authorities have always viewed Armenians an obstacle to consolidation of Georgian ethnos.

More respected and internationally known analysts such as Swiss-Armenian Vicken Cheterian, however, appear to disagree.and say reforms are under way.

A workshop held in November for 30-odd history teachers, textbook authors, and ministry and international experts concluded that the Georgian Education Ministry is moving forward in its efforts to change the way history is taught. At the event, organized by the European history educators’ association EuroClio, Georgian educators presented their ongoing project to develop new textbooks with the aim of giving more space to minorities in the official version of history presented to youngsters from majority and minority linguistic communities.

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One thing is clear: In spite of all the difficulties fulfilling the promises of the Rose Revolution, in a turbulent political climate following the catastrophic August war, Georgian education authorities and many educators continue to press for change.

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