On Sunday, November 15th, a Georgian clergyman named Father Tariel Sikinchelashvili, attempted to remove gravestones from the Norashen Armenian church in Tbilisi. Arriving with a retinue of workers and bulldozers, Father Tariel set about removing the stone markers bearing the names of Mikayel and Lidia Tamamshyan and was soon confronted by an angry group of local Armenians.

According to Armenian witnesses to the event during the exchange of words that followed Father Tariel is said to have stated that, “Armenians have always set about removing that which belongs to others”.

After a delegation of Armenian Church representatives and Armenian Deputies arrived on the scene the Georgian priest claimed that he was only temporarily removing the stones in order to clean up the Armenian Church courtyard and the ground below the gravestones. Georgian police soon arrived on the scene and made an official report of the incident. Also on hand was a representative of the Georgian Ombudsman’s office.