Catholicos must visit Akhaltskha during Georgia trip

Artak Gabrielyan, a member of the Samtskhe-Javakhk Armenian NGO’s Council, said today that if Catholicos Garegin II doesn’t travel to Javakhk on his scheduled visit to Georgia, the whole trip wouldn’t make any sense.

Mr. Gabrielyan noted that Armenian organizations in Akhaltskha had petitioned the Catholicos to definitely pay a visit to the Saint Nshan Armenian Church which is threatened with being seized by the Georgian Orthodox Church in a controversial property dispute.

Another speaker at today’s press conference devoted to Javakhk, Valery Arabyan, President of the Lernashkhar Union, added that civic groups are pushing for a separate Armenian Church diocese for the enclave.

He said that while most Armenians living in Georgia reside in Javakhk, there are practically no working churches left there.