The Russian Javakheti diaspora addressed Armenian President Serge Sarksyan and asked him to demand that the Georgian authorities to observe the rights of Armenian ethnic minority in Javakheti (a region in South Georgia with a considerable Armenian population) in the course of his upcoming visit to Tbilisi.
It is interesting that this address was prepared not by the whole Armenian diaspora of Russia, but only by Javakheti expatriates. There have been no actual protest actions against Georgian authorities in the proper region of Javakheti for 5 years, and there were no real protests connected to the arrest of extremist figure Vaagan Chakhalyan.
And it is unlikely that this calmness is due to fear of repressions, as the authors of the address imply. In fact, I believe that the situation can be explained by Javakheti Armenians’ congenital composure: it is almost impossible to move them by farfetched problems. Their ethnic community is quite successful in protecting its integrity and cultural identity as well as in creating conditions for free development. And the community leaders are supportive of present Georgian authorities – as they are much better for Javakheti Armenians as their predecessors.
Mikhail Saakashvili managed to strengthen the statehood and boost people’s wealthier, which is better for everyone, especially as compared to the corrupt regime of Shevarnadze or nationalist hysteria promoted by Gamsakhurdia. Present authorities understand that the only way to resolve ethnic tension in Javakheti region is steady and laborious work that would increase the well-being of Armenian diaspora and reconcile their interests with those of Georgian state in general.
The abovementioned address claims that the authorities deliberately create ‘unbearable political and socio-economic conditions in the region’, but such allegations seem to be ridiculous when the people who actually live in the region don’t agree with them and when the authorities actually invest in social development of Javakheti (builds roads, offers free insurance for pensioners, etc.). Yes, the border with Armenian isn’t wide open, but the customs system is transparent and free of corruption.
So what stops Javakheti diaspora businessmen from investing to the region as well? There are no legal or any other barriers whatsoever… And if there are no reasonable grounds, one has to invent some, like ‘ideological pressure on ethnic minorities exercised by the central government’.
I’ve asked a Javakheti region administration member to comment on the diaspora address, and he told me that Javakheti Armenians are free to use their national symbols and they respect Georgian national symbols in return. ‘I’ve worked in this administration for quite a while and I learned that the best cure for separatism is composure and rationalism’, he told me. ‘Separatism thrives in hyper-emotional conditions. And we need to response to it in calm tone’.
Of course, there is a number of problems connected to national identity, as expert Kaha Gabuniya told VK. But the authorities are being most flexible in these matters, allowing some of the regions’ communities to use Armenian as the language of official documents. ‘We don’t pressure young Armenians to study Georgian – and they come to us to study it themselves as they understand that it will contribute greatly to their future careers. They don’t have to choose Georgian over their mother tongue, they choose to study it as a second language out of rational pragmatic concerns. ’
Georgian authorities didn’t follow the ‘European approach’ in the sphere of ethnic minorities’ public schools and continue to finance them from the federal budget as it was done back in the Soviet era. Georgia is the only country in the world (except for Armenia itself) that has Armenian language-based schools financed by the state itself.
As you see, Georgian authorities exercise moderate and friendly national policy in the region of Javakheti – and it is the best preventive measure against separatism, a possible model for conflict-free coexistence of different ethnic groups on the South Caucasus.
