Extremist from Armenia became persona non grata in Georgia

Employees of the border police of Georgia didn't allow the leader of Armenian opposition party Yerkir Tsirani and member of the Council of Elders of Yerevan Zarui Postanjyan to enter the country. Armenian politician wanted to visit the city of Akhalkalaki, which has mostly Armenian population, in order to promote "the uprising of Armenians and self-determination of Jawagha, which is currently under Georgian occupation." Postanjyan didn't thy to hide the topic of future meetings with the public. Nevertheless, she was surprised when she wasnt' allowed to enter the country, which she's trying to destabilize by stirring up separatist sentiments in complicated region of Javakheti.

"Guest" from Armenia stressed that Armenian border guards let her pass without any questions, although everyone in Yerevan perfectly knows what she's doing and what plans she has for neighboring country; while their Georgian counterparts didn't allow her to enter without explaining the reason for her visit. In addition, she continues to say that she already visited Akhalkalaki several weeks ago, met with local Armenians and made anti-Georgian speeches, promoting secession of Javakheti from Georgia. She doesn't see anything wrong in this behavior, but she draws attention to the fact that Georgian authorities didn't interfere with her activities at that time. They didn't interfere, but they certainly monitored what she was doing and make conclusions from that. There is a visa-free regime between Georgia and Armenia, but there are agreements that oblige leadership of two neighboring states not to conduct such activities against each other.

After Postanjyan's first visit to Akhalkalaki and her speeches, including calls for "revolution" and "liberation from occupation," Georgian special services sent all the documents to Yerevan, expecting that Armenian authorities themselves will warn Postanjyan about inadmissibility of such actions or won't allow her to enter Georgia through the Bavra checkpoint, thus freeing Georgian colleagues from unpleasant need to deal with this extravagant and very dangerous person.

However, it seems that Yerevan decided to choose a different tactic. At the same time, oppositionist's statements that Armenian authorities "asked" Tbilisi not to let her into the country can't withstand any criticism: Yerevan could "ask" Postanjyan herself to stop undermining Georgian-Armenian relations and could find pretty convincing arguments for that. In the end, Armenia itself is responsible for behavior of its citizens.

Vestnik Kavkaza asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs why Postanjyan wasn't told the reason why she wasn't allowed to enter Georgia. The deparment refused to issue official comment, but during the conversation on this topic, our source hinted that Postanjyan's work falls under several articles of the Criminal Code of Georgia, including "stirring up ethnic hatred" and some other, even more serious articles. In other words, if Postanjyan visits Akhalkalaki again, she can be arrested and brought to the court in full compliance with international law and national legislation.