Armenian Georgian Relations

Georgia is on the verge of partition by “historical borders”

In fact what we have now is a totally new Georgia. If we trace the country’s development since 1991 it becomes clear that Tbilisi has been experiencing nothing but losses.

As a rule, misinformation is spread with the particular aim of exploring circumstances, shaping a certain public opinion, and if everything goes according to the plan, information proves to be true. Another advantage of misinformation is anonymity, which under certain conditions may turn into an alibi: we never said it and we know nothing… There was an information leak the other day. If we trust Turkish and Azerbaijani informative sources, Baku and Ankara are going to stiffen pressure on Georgia in order to achieve federalization of the country.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Thus, Turkey is determined to split up Georgia, leaving her with only historical regions (Kartli, Shida Kartli (Gori) and Kakheti), which in 1783 were placed under the Russian patronage according to the Treaty of Georgievsk. The rest, i.e. independent Ajaria, Azerbaijani Kvemo-Kartli (Borchali) and the Turk-Meskhets will be distributed «by rights». It is obvious that under such distribution Javakhk may pass to Armenia, if the sides come to an agreement.

As Turk diplomats claim such federation would be the only guarantee for preservation of Georgia’s territorial integrity. But the question is which Georgia we mean – present Georgia, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia or the Georgia of 1918. There is an impression that the term “territorial integrity” has turned into a song which is sung throughout the world in or out of place.

Nevertheless, talks on Georgia’s partition are already in circulation and it is not difficult to foresee Georgia’s future, especially in case President Saakashvili decides on another reckless military attempt, like the August operation, which, by the way, is quite probable on the eve of the US Presidential Elections… But who will serve as an object for «recovering the constitutional order» this time? It can hardly be Javakhk, as in this case Turkey’s intervention would be inevitable, whereas in all probability Saakashvili would be reluctant to strain relations with Turkey. The latter is a member of NATO and can simply block Georgia’s getting a Membership Action Plan (MAP). Thus, the Georgian President dug his own hole, where he can hardly manage to rise from. The spasmodic attempts to call the West and especially the United States for help are like a voice crying in the wilderness. The world is busy with the financial crisis and Georgia’s problems do not worry it much. However, Tbilisi is reluctant to understand it.

In fact what we have now is a totally new Georgia. If we trace the country’s development since 1991, i.e. after the USSR breakdown, it becomes clear that Tbilisi has been experiencing nothing but losses. Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the First President of the Republic of Georgia, led the country into the chaos of the Civil War, losing Abkhazia. During the reign of Eduard Shevardnadze Ajaria was actually an independent region, which only Mikhail Saakashvili was able to return to Georgia. Now Georgia has lost South Ossetia and, finally, Abkhazia.

Separatist tendencies that exist in the republics of the former USSR once more underline the illogical and inaccurate division of borders, fixed before the World War II. By the way the republics, whose borders are more or less accurate, do not face conflicts, Armenia being among them. On the other hand it is rather inappropriate to speak of the «accuracy» of borders, as the current world map gives too broad interpretations on the precision of this or that border…

Concerning Georgia there is also another consideration that prevails over all others. It is the transportation of energy resources. Unfortunately Mikhail Saakashvili used to believe that without him oil would never get to Europe. However, with the beginning of the military operations in South Ossetia, Turkey and Azerbaijan ceased to trust Tbilisi, considering that unruly Mikhail Saakashvili might put at stake the normal functioning of oil-pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and gas-line Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum. After all, the above-mentioned pipelines both pass through Ajaria, Kvemo-Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti. Thus, the major war in the Caucasus is still ahead. And if we also take into account the fact that together with Turkey Russia is rapidly increasing its presence in the Caucasus, Administration of the future US President is going to face great difficulties.

Meanwhile, RF Foreign Ministry declares that Georgia is trying to launch another war in the Caucasus. The reason for this declaration has been a number of terrorist acts in the territory of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as in the buffer zone of these republics. RF Foreign Ministry Department of Information and Press states: “There is an impression that certain powers in Tbilisi are consciously straining the situation in the region and are trying to provoke new military operations through a series of terrorist acts”.

Karine Ter-Sahakyan

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Georgia cedes its natural gas network to Azerbaijan

by Emil Sanamyan

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The Iran-Armenia gas pipeline at Saralanj. Photolure

Washington, - Georgia agreed to hand over the ownership of its natural gas network, which includes the transit gas pipeline from Russia to Armenia, to the Azerbaijani government, news agencies reported.

Under the November 14 deal, announced by Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili the next day, Azerbaijan would satisfy the bulk of Georgia's natural gas needs in 2009-13 at below-market prices.

The deal was finalized during an energy summit in Baku that brought together a number of central and eastern European heads and senior officials of states interested in Caspian energy.

Also at the summit, Kazakhstan agreed to expand its oil shipments via Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline built with U.S. support.

"Property for debt"

Georgia's deal with Azerbaijan is similar to Armenia's deal with Russia, exchanging formal ownership of the gas network - that could potentially serve as political leverage - for a temporary reprieve in prices.

Until this year, like Armenia, Georgia bought most of its natural gas from Russia. Moscow reportedly came close to buying the Georgian gas network, but the offer was declined by Tbilisi on the U.S. government's insistence, which was concerned with integrity of non-Russian gas supplies.

Although the Georgian-Russian border is closed and official relations are suspended, Russia continues to supply Georgia, and by extension Armenia, with natural gas. The biggest gas consumers in Georgia - the Tbilisi electricity network and a chemical plant - are owned by Russian companies.

While Russian-Georgian talks on South Ossetia and Abkhazia resume in Geneva this week, no normalization in relations is anticipated any time soon.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on November 15, President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia was "ready to build relations with Georgia."

"But not with the current [Saakashvili] regime," Mr. Medvedev said. "That is a red line, which we cannot cross."

Armenia impact

Azerbaijan has now promised to cover more than 60 percent of Georgia's overall gas needs - estimated at 1.8 billion cubic meters of gas a year - at below-market prices. The rest of the supplies to Georgia would still need to come at market prices from Azerbaijan, Russia, or Iran.

Armenia imported more than 2 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia last year. In addition to the now Azerbaijani-owned Georgian transit pipeline, Armenia can now potentially import natural gas from Iran - an important safeguard should new problems arise in supplies via Georgia. The Iran option also becomes more attractive as Russia will begin to raise prices for its supplies starting next year.

Consequences for Armenia of the Georgia deal may become apparent soon. Azerbaijan and Turkey had previously used a promise of lower gas prices to Georgia as leverage against Armenia in the form of Georgian support for the Kars-Akhalkalaki rail bypass and other projects.

The Russian-Georgian war already disrupted air and other traffic between Russia and Armenia. Media reports suggested that Georgia was trying to prevent Russian military cargo, including those resupplying its military base in Gyumri, from reaching Armenia.

Considering the continued importance of Georgia transit to Armenia, it is not surprising that both President Serge Sargsian and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian have visited Georgia since the August war, and Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian is expected to go soon.

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Armenian side opposes formation of commission on Surb Norashen

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/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian side is against formation of a commission to be charged with a task to clear up whom Surb Norashen belongs to. This church is Armenian, said bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, head of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

“Five churches should be returned to the AAC, namely Surb Norashen, Surb Nshan, Shamkhoretsots Surb Astvatsatsin (Karmir Avetaran), Yerevanots Surb Minas and Mugni Surb Gevorg. The fact that these churches are Armenian is not questioned. Georgia’s claims that the foundation of the churches is Georgian are absurd. If there is a Georgian archeologist of genius who could define whom a church belongs to, he would undoubtedly be worth of Noble Prize,” the bishop said.

He also refuted the Georgian Patriarchate’s statement that an agreement on formation of a commission was achieved during the November 26 meeting in Tbilisi. “More than 20 Armenian churches have been already transformed into Georgian ones in 1990ies. The Armenian side could agree to form a commission if the problem of these churches is also addressed,” bishop Mirzakhanyan said, Bagin.info reports.

Presently, 32 reconstructed Armenian churches function in Georgia. Majority of them are situated in Samtskhe Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli.

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Samvel Karapetyan – “We mourn the fact that the Saint Gevorg of Mughni Church in Tbilisi has collapsed. But what about the fate of St. Nishan’s, just 100 meters way?

[ 2009/11/23 | 18:25 ] Feature Stories interview culture
Sona Avagyan

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The Saint Gevorg of Mughni Armenian Church in Tbilisi had a height of some 35 meters and an attractive design, especially on the eastern exterior façade where there were depictions of the benefactors and main altar. There were only two churches with a similar footprint in all of Georgia. The other is St. Mesrop Church in the Shahumyan (formerly Metz Shulaver) settlement in the Marneuli region.

On November 19, the dome of St Gevorg’s came crashing down and the church collapsed. Samvel Karapetyan, who heads the Armenian Architectural Research NGO spoke to “Hetq” about the incident and its significance.

Did St. Gevorg’s collapse due to the fact that it was no longer structurally sound?

Yes, the church structure was unsafe. But this was a result of many decades of neglect. It was Georgia that saw to it that the church deteriorated to the point of collapse. That’s to say, the lead up to the collapse was the result of a specific policy.

Normally, if a structure that possesses some historical value is on the verge of collapse, immediate measures are taken to fortify and secure the building. For example take our churches at Ani that aren’t on the verge of collapsing, some that have only one or two loose stones. The Turks have set up support beams and braces. The same should have been done in the case of St. Gevorg in order to fortify the structure, despite being unsound. The Georgian government can now state ‘we don’t have the requisite funds’, but structural fortifications could have been placed at fairly low cost.

Did anyone raise this concern with the Georgian government? That the church was prone to collapse without necessary renovations?

I know that in 1990, at the end of the Soviet regime, Armenia’s Department of Monuments’ Preservation raised the issue, but I have no knowledge if the issue was raised since then, in the past twenty years. I would assume that it wasn’t.

Wasn’t St. Gevorg’s an Armenian church that had been Georgianized?

No, it hadn’t been subjected to this process. The Georgians were well aware of the church’s poor structural condition and that it would eventually collapse in a few years anyway. That’s why they left it alone. Had it been co-opted, the Georgians would need to have spent huge amounts to repair and renovate the church. In addition, St. Gevorg’s of Mughni, is a church that has played a prominent role on the life of the Armenian community of Tbilisi. Had the Georgians sought to co-opt the church, it would have created a great deal of commotion. Thus, they decided that it would be more convenient for them in the long-run to keep the church in a state of disrepair and wait for its eventual collapse.

During the years 1988-1989, the church served as the Folk Arts Museum. There were various exhibits displayed inside. In 1989, the museum moved and so did all the items on display. At the time, the walls were already showing hairline cracks. I had occasion to visit the church last year. The cracks had grown so large that one could pass through the walls and enter the church. In the twenty years since 1989, one can honestly state that the church’s eventual collapse was the result of official design.

In your estimation, does it now even make sense to talk about the rebuilding of St. Gevorg’s?

Believe me, restoration of the church is a moot point. First of all, the church was a brick structure and when such a church collapses all that’s left is a pile of useless rubble. The same fate befell the Shamkoretsots Karmir Avetaran Church in Havlabar (an historic Armenian neighborhood in Tbilisi) that was blown up in April, 1989. It too was beyond rebuilding since it was a brick structure as well and had been transformed to a heap of rubble. I am convinced that we have lost St. Gevorg of Mughni forever. We didn’t raise the issue of the blowing-up of the Karmir Avetaran Church and now, this church, collapsed on its own. Back then, the Armenian community proposed to the government that they be allowed to pay for the renovation of Shamkoretsots. They not only refused the request but blew-up the church as well.

I can’t say if the Armenian community made a similar request to the government regarding St. Gevorg’s. My guess is that they haven’t. Why? Just take a look at the condition of St Nishan’s. We have about 80,000-100,000 Armenians in Tbilisi alone and many more throughout all of Georgia. Several years ago the church was set ablaze. It still stands but after the fire it’s become deserted; a semi-ruined structure that is now used as a public toilet. And this is sacrilege is happening before the eyes of the Armenian community in Tbilisi.

St Gevorg’s and St. Nishan’s are in close proximity to one another; separated by a mere 100 meters or so. One has collapsed due to years of neglect and we have no knowledge of any official petition by the community or the Diocese (yes, we do have an official Church See there) to the Georgian authorities expressing the desire or will to renovate it. This is also true for St. Nishan’s. Today we mourn the loss of St. Gevorg’s but what about the condition of St. Nishan’s, a church that still stands? Does it await the same fate?

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