On September 11 at the session of the National Assembly (Parliament) of the RA the Member of Parliament Shirak Torosyan made an announcement to inform that in Javakhetia not far from the village of Gandzak, the birthplace of the Armenian classical poet Vahan Teryan, the Georgian authorities have started the construction of a correctional facility and intend to move 3 - 4 thousand inmates here from other correctional institutions all over the country.

 This, to quote the M.P., “terrible project will ensure the complete migration of Armenians from the region,” for the existence of the correctional facility will turn the region into a place for exile, a criminogenic zone, and the authorities of Armenia must hinder this prospective development of the events.

Who in Armenia cares for Javakhetia most?

This announcement was sufficient for the issue of Javakhetia to recurrently become one of the most frequently mentioned in the political and expert circles in Armenia. Well, at least for some time, just as it had previously been discussed during the burst of emotions around the problems of the Armenian population in Javakhetia. The reactions of both the power and the forces not burdened with “official formalities” did not exceed the limits of the acceptable and the already classical cliché.

Within the framework of this cliché the opinion of the official structures of Armenia is that the problems of the Armenian population in Javakhetia do not differ much from the problems of other ethnic minorities in Georgia, and that Armenia is ready and willing to contribute in all possible ways to the resolution of the issue in order to ensure normal vital functions of its compatriots, and so on, and so forth. A different opinion held by a number of social and political forces sounds stricter: Georgian authorities are leading a purposeful policy against the Armenian population in Javakhetia in order to displace it from the region, to introduce demographic corrections here and to make a preventive solution of the problems with such a vividly expressed ethnic component.

Such opinions were occasionally expressed of various incidents, directed against the residents of Armenian background in Javakhetia in the course of the past two years. For example, in March 2006 the representatives of the Javakhq Council operating in Armenia within the framework of Public Initiative - Protection of Liberated Territories made an announcement which particularly states: “The Armenian authorities must accept that the core of the Javakhetia issue is primarily of political character. As far as the political status of Javakhetia has not been specified, as long as political guarantees that no one will hurt the Armenians there are not received, the discussion of other issues is pointless.”

So this time again all the speeches and announcements made “by the September traces” of Shirak Torosyan and on this matter, have clearly split into two opposite perspectives. Thus, at the briefing of the press secretary of the President of the RA Victor Soghomonyan, which took place right after the above-mentioned announcement by the M.P., it was declared that the President does not consider the construction of a correctional facility in Javakhetia a factor of criminalizing the region; Armenia also has similar institutions (in Sevan and Koch) but this does not mean that the criminogenic situation in these towns is aggravated, or is different from that in any other region in the country.

The Prime-Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan stated in this regard that he can hardly imagine “how we would ourselves react if one of our neighboring states would address us and would claim: ‘In Syunik or somewhere else you are solving this or that problem…’ I consider our interference into the domestic affairs of Georgia unacceptable. This is a step that oversteps all reasonable limits.”

The Vice-Speaker of the RA Parliament, a member of the Bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) Vahan Hovhannisyan, just like other members of this party, holds the opposite opinion. From his perspective, territories through which an oil-pipeline passes, in which the construction of a railroad and the installation of a gas pipeline are also being planned, are not usually filled in with prisons. “Georgia has announced that it will ascribe particular significance to the issue of ensuring internal security in Javakhetia, and 4000 inmates cannot by any means reinforce this security. This is but obvious. Under the pretext of guarding the prison, they are more interested in increasing the number of ‘stewards’ and military divisions than in the improvement of the living conditions of the inmates in Javakhetia with its severe climate. And I think that our concern is serious, we must let our Georgian colleagues know of the inadmissibility of this project.”

Shirak Torosyan himself, though being the Vice Chairman of the Hzor Hayreniq (Powerful Motherland) Party, most of the members of which come from Javakhetia, maintain close contacts with the residents of that region, and go there frequently, during the Parliamentary elections of May 2007 was balloted in the lists of the Party currently in power - the Republican Party of Armenia. This step was dictated by the consideration that as this February (at the beginning of the electoral campaign into the Parliament of Armenia) the Chairman of the Hzor Hayreniq Party Vardan Vardapetyan announced not a single M.P. in the previous convocations of the Parliament “uttered the word Javakhq, needless to mention its issues, for all avoid their discussion.” In the meantime, there should be at least one power in the Parliament which would raise the issues troubling the Armenians in Javakhq. From Vardapetyan’s perspective, the policy of the Armenian authorities regarding the Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakheti can be named by one word - indifference. Such attitude may cause the ousting of Armenians from Javakhetia, moreover, all the subjective and objective conditions to fulfill this are present. Thus, “In literally a day the relations between Georgia and Russian become aggravated and the Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakhetia, most of the residents of which work abroad to earn their living, have to encounter serious problems. Who will solve the problems of these people? The Armenians in Javakhq need help, for our compatriots, being citizens of the 21st century, must lead decent lives, however, so far the regional councils are not capable of solving any basic social problem.”

The representatives of the Hzor Hayreniq Party, who were balloted in the Republican Party of Armenia lists, did go into the Parliament. However, neither the incumbent Chairman of the Republican Party Serzh Sargsyan, nor its previous leader, who died of a heart attack in the spring of 2007 Andranik Margaryan, nor other Republicans have made any harsh expressions and estimates concerning the policy officially led by Georgia.

 “It should be mentioned that today’s hard social conditions concern not only Javakhetia, but all of Georgia. However, during all the meetings with the Georgian authorities we raise this issue and demand a special attitude towards Javakhetia,” Andranik Margaryan said in one of his interviews last year. He thought that now it was not timely to put forth any political demands, however, if Georgia discussed a bill, stipulating the model of a federal state, in that case, of course, the issue of Javakhetia needs to be taken into account.

Such a, mildly speaking, non-fitment of positions regarding Javakhetia among the representatives of one and the same bloc - the bloc of the Parliamentary majority, is not too vividly expressed yet. But the difference in the tone of estimations seems to tend to become more and more apparent in the future. During the meeting of the Presidents of Armenia R. Kocharyan and of Georgia M. Saakashvili held in Batumi on September 15 the issue of the construction of the prison was not discussed. At least, this is what a number of Armenian media said.

Geopolitics that has fallen upon Javakhetia

The interrelations between Armenians and Georgians so far could have been illustrative of a rare case of interrelations in the South Caucasian region in which the geopolitical interests of other nations have been reflected very slightly. Geopolitics was expressed in the fact that these are two neighboring states with mainly common interests. Along with the aggravation of the Georgian and Russian relations and against the background of the irresolution of the Armenian and Turkish relations, geopolitics has become more and more apparent in the course of years in the Armenian and Georgian relations. It should also be noted that the representatives of official Georgia have frequently announced that the tension in Javakhetia and around this region are caused by outside players. But Armenia, even if it was really “one of those outside players,” did not take one of the first positions in the views of Georgian political figures. While the project of the Kars - Akhalkalaki - Tbilisi - Baku railroad construction was becoming more concrete, in Armenia they began to more often and more firmly state that both Javakhetia and Georgia have become a part of the Turkish - Azerbaijani plans regarding more severely pushing Armenia into a dead end and isolating from communication channels.
In this issue all political forces are united, this is the opinion that prevails in expert circles of the country.

“In fact, not only are we lying to ourselves, but we are lying to our neighbors, our friends - the Georgian people, announcing that the Armenian people will accept this. Today we are obliged to announce that Georgia is taking part in a project directed towards blockading Armenia, and this means that not only strategic cooperation, but cooperation in general can be questioned.” Of course, not all announcements, speeches, and the estimates given by various forces in Armenia regarding the new railway project have such a harsh subtext colored with disappointment and despair as felt from the above-quoted recent announcement made by the Chairman of the Union of Political Scientists, the former member of the National Assembly of the RA Hmayak Hovhannisyan. But they all reflect an understanding of the deepening of the communications situation of Armenia because of the Kars - Akhalkalaki project.

There is no need to quote all these analyses and reasoning. We will only underline the fact that Kars - Akhalkalaki is considered a political project in Armenia; otherwise, there would have been some reaction after the announcement of the Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Gegham Gharibjanyan made in February 2007 before Georgian journalists that Armenia may and is willing to join the Kars - Akhalkalaki project in case Turkey opens up the Armenian - Turkish border. Technically, there cannot be any other way to join the project. We should note that for many years in the course of the discussion of options of creating communication among Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan and furthermore, with the European countries, Armenia has insisted on the recommencement of communications through the Kars - Gyumri railway which has not been functioning since the closure of the Armenian and Turkish border and is more profitable (first of all, from the economic perspective) by a number of parameters.

If the attitude to the Millennium Challenges within the framework of which communication channels may be built between Javakhetia and the other regions in Georgia is pronouncedly positive, to the Kars - Akhalkalaki project it is totally negative. One way excludes the other. Perhaps this is how we can briefly formulate the common approach if we follow all the announcements regarding the two projects.

However, it should be noted that regardless of the similarity in estimations, there is a difference in the interpretations, and it is manifest in the answers to the question “Who is to blame?” If from the perspective of the government and the pro-governmental forces of Armenia the reason consists in the Turkish - Azerbaijani scheme against Armenia, which Georgia is also taking part in (and here it acted in line with its national and economic interests), from the perspective of the oppositional powers in Armenia the cause is the failed foreign policy of the Armenian authorities which have not been able (or do not know how) to hinder the implementation of certain steps threatening to the national interests of the country. Kars - Akhalkalaki may become a delayed-action mine, which has been skillfully laid under the Armenian and Georgian relations; this is the existent opinion in the expert circles of the country. “Armenia was obliged to maintain good relations with its neighbors, that is why we had to find ways to make our neighbors be interested in good relations with Armenia,” a former Prime-Minster of Armenia, the President of the Christian Democratic Party Khosrov Harutyunyan announced. From the perspective of another ex-Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, “Kars - Akhalkalaki is a serious defeat of Armenia in foreign policy. A result of the aggressive policy of Armenia is also the fact that Georgia considers us a country less friendly than Turkey or Azerbaijan. We have turned Javakhetia into a factor against Georgia.”

The Unique “Javakhetia Diaspora”

In Armenia Javakhetia Armenians are referred to as “our compatriots” who live in a severe climate, hard social and economic, and recently also, political conditions. The existence of such a Diaspora, moreover, bordering with Armenia, is a unique circumstance for our country. We have long got used to the fact that the Diaspora is a means of not only intensifying relations with the countries it lives in, but also a hope for the resolution of the intrastate issues with its assistance. 

“The Javakhetia problems” in Armenia mean only the things that have to do with the Armenian population in the region. And this is where the notions of the Armenian and Georgian social and political Establishments coincide. Regardless of the fact that in Georgia this region is called Samtskhe-Javakheti, and that in other parts of the region life is not much better than that in Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda. Still this is already quite a different story and may be titled “Who will solve the problems of Javakhetia? Georgia?”

The article was made by the order of the Samkhretys Karibche (Georgia) newspaper in the frame of the project supported by the EU