09 December 2008, 20:53
Assembly of Tbilisi Armenians wants to have Armenian churches back
Today, the Assembly of Tbilisi Armenians has held an action "Justice on the Way" near the Ministry of Culture, Monument Protection and Sports of Georgia with a demand to get back the Armenian churches, which had been taken away by communists at the Eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia.
The action was dated to the fact of the transfer by the authorities of Georgia of all the churches, lands and other property, confiscated by the Soviet power, to the Georgian Orthodox Church.
"The aim of the action is first of all to support the return of all the churches confiscated by Soviet authorities from the Georgian Orthodox Church back to this Church, and, secondly, to remind that the Eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia is in the same situation," Arnold Stepanyan, member of the Assembly of Tbilisi Armenians, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
"The action is called 'Justice on the Way', and we hope that following step will be the return by Georgian leaders of the churches listed in our application, which we have submitted today to the Minister of Culture, back to the Armenian community," he has emphasized.
The Assembly hopes that the image of Georgia will not be questioned because of unfair treatment of ethnic and religious minorities.
About 150 persons took part in the action.
The "News-Armenia" reports that President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili assured Tigran Sarkisyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, in their meeting that he would personally address the problem of the Armenian Church Norashen in Tbilisi.
Author: Svetlana Mkrtichan, CK correspondent
