Javakhk "Joker"

A few days ago, the coordinator of the Council of NGOs of Javakhk (this is the Armenian part of South Georgian Samtskhe - Javakheti - auth.), Artak Gabrielyan, reported on his visit to Brussels and meetings with members of the European Parliament to representatives of the world media.

According to him, one of the major problems is the alienation in the region from the rest of Georgia. "It was like this during Soviet times, and it has remained. Due to language problems, these Armenians see their future not in Georgia, but in Armenia, so now their number in the Armenian Republic is about 600,000,” Gabrielyan said. He complained  that "Georgia does not invest in agriculture and animal husbandry, common in Javakheti,  buying food for a pittance. Instead, the authorities encourage the import of substandard products from Turkey. Georgia is pursuing a policy of repression and assimilation of Armenians, and if this continues, it will succeed. "

The main purpose of the "Javahk movement" at this stage, according to Gabrielyan, is achieving self-government. According to the coordinator, "self- government can solve a series of cultural, linguistic, and economic problems. The Republic of Armenia in its relations with Georgia should consider and put forward the problem of Javakheti, as the problems of this region belong to all Armenians."

Gabrielyan met with Vice-Speaker of the European Parliament Giorgos Papastamakosom, a member of the European Parliament's delegation for the South Caucasus, Traian Ungureanu, a member of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, Andrei Kovachev, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Parliament of Europe, Charles Tannock, a member of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Relations and Human Rights and Jiri Mastalkoy, a member of the European Parliament and the Office of Euronest.

Gabrielyan presented to them the requirements to the Georgian authorities: provision of the autonomous territorial status (with their direct vote in the local assembly) of Samtskhe-Javakheti and the surrounding areas with a majority Armenian Tsalka district in a federal Georgia; enabling the Armenian language in public administration in the municipalities of Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda, in which the Armenians are the majority -  the commitments that Georgia had to make when it joined the Council of Europe in 1999, namely by signing the European Charter of regional languages, socio-economic development and realization of projects in the region, in order to catch up in economic development with the rest of the country; improvement of the Armenian representation in local and state agencies; termination of the systematic resettlement of the non-Armenians from the other regions to Samtskhe - Javakheti.

Artak Gabrielyan also expressed the wish that "the European Union and Europe as a whole should be involved in this process and call on its ally Georgia to adequately address issues related to Javakhk."

Tbilisi did not react to this visit. The Georgian authorities and the expert community considered the emotional reactions to such antics to be absolutely counter-productive, believing that any argument with a list of programs implemented in the Samtskhe - Javakheti region in recent years would not become a powerful argument to counter latent separatism. The argument is a pragmatic interest in the absolute majority of the Armenian population of Javakheti in preserving stability and the ability to compare their current situation in socio-economic terms, as in education, health and communications - with the situation in the region 5-6 years ago.

In this context the view of a former representative of President Shevardnadze for conflict resolution, Irakli Machavariani, expressed in his interview with Vestnik Kavkaza, is interesting:

"Please note that most often provocations come from former residents of the region that are not in Javakheti anymore. We know that some of the "Javakhk Diaspora" took on a mission to make statements on behalf of the Javakhetians. Yet Russian Doukhobors also left the region. But they just do not make such statements. By and large, this problem is not new. This is how different non-governmental organizations that demand autonomy act. But they do not have much impact. What is most important is that Armenia never supported these requirements, neither during the presidency of Levon Ter-Petrossian, nor that of president Robert Kocharian, or Serzh Sargsyan. So the Armenian government has never supported them. The reason of course is not a special love for Georgia. They simply already have a lot of problems. Georgia is in fact the only way for Armenia to Europe. Through Iran they can only get into Asia, but for contacts with Europe they need Georgia. Therefore, separatist or autonomist tendencies in Javakheti never enjoyed the support of the Armenian government. And this means that they have no prospects there."

Most Georgian observers agree that Armenia at this stage is not interested in aggravating the problem of Javakheti. Moreover, Yerevan does not recognize the independence or autonomy of the province and did not openly support the autonomist aspirations. But if we talk about the political intentions of the Armenian elite, the rejection or failure to openly declare support can hardly be considered a decisive factor. It is known that Armenia has not recognized the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, but this has no influence on the de facto situation.

Apparently, the real situation  will be decisive for Armenian-Georgian relations in this sphere. So far the situation is stable, but it has a tendency to get more complicated. Gabrielyan’s visit to Brussels is one of the symptoms. It is quite obvious that the resources needed for such a visit exceed both Gabrielyan and his non-governmental organization.

George Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to VK