Expert: Only European institutions can influence Georgia in issue of Javakh Armenians

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Anti-Armenian attitudes in Georgia are caused by three factors – Russian, Georgian-Abkhaz and Javakh ones, head of the Department for Caucasian Studies at the Caucasus Institute of the Media Sergey Minasyan is quoted as saying by a REGNUM correspondent on June 21.

Speaking ion the gist of the reasons, Minasyan noted that Georgian political elite treats Armenia as a part of Russia’s policy. Secondly, Tbilisi believes that in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict Armenians were fighting with Abkhazians. Finally, Georgia disliked claims of some NGOs at the Armenian-populated region in Georgia of Samtskhe-Javakheti to grant to Armenians rights for self-government and self-determination.

Speaking on the third part, Sergey Minasyan noted that for Armenians knowledge of the official language of the country they live in is not the key condition of their full integration into the Georgian public life. The government is pushing forward the claim by administrative methods, which causes a response by Armenians and they oppose learning Georgian. He also noted that 90% of the Javakheti population are Armenians.

Moreover, according Minasyan, Armenians in Tbilisi, even those who have excellent command of Georgian, do not take high positions in civil service and are not integrated into Georgian society. Henceforth, there is no incentive for studying the language and there are no prospects either. “When Georgia has questions concerning Russia, Ossetia or Abkhazia, it immediately resorts to democratic standards and applies them, but in the issue of ethnic minorities it forgets about those standards,” Sergey Minasyan noted adding that only European institutions can influence Georgia in settling problems of Javakh Armenians and national minorities.