In a statement issued to the press, the “Hayartoun Center” of the Georgian Armenian Apostolic Diocese says that the Azerbaijani Embassy in Georgia pressured the owners of an local auditorium to pull out of a lease contract that would have provided the space to the Armenian community to organize a concert celebrating May 9 (Victory Day) and the liberation of Shoushi. The last minute reversal forced Armenians to hold the concert outdoors near the St. Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi. Despite the rain, hundreds attended the concert in the Havlabar neighborhood of Tbilisi. The festival, marking the two holidays, has been celebrated by Armenians in Tbilisi for a few years. “Hayartoun” says that members of the Azerbaijani community in Georgia and ethnic Azeri MPs in the Georgian parliament had issued threats to the Tbilisi Armenian community, demanding that the concert be cancelled.