Georgia bans officials from Armenian NGOs Council meetingMarch 28, 2012 - 15:07 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - On March 27, Council of Armenian Organizations (NGOs) of Samtskhe-Javakheti (Javakhk) held a meeting, with the coordinator of the council Artak Gabrielyan presenting the outcomes of the trip to Brussels and meetings with European officials. Heads of all districts of Javakhk, representative of human rights defender in Akhalkalaki, as well as representatives of various NGOs, youth, state and cultural organizations were invited to the meeting. Before the start of the gathering, many of those invited called and warned they wouldn’t be able to attend the meeting due to “pressure from the authorities.” As a result the event was held in A-Info news agency’s office. Mr. Gabrielyan said that he had briefed the officials on the following 5 main principles that would help to tackle the problem of Javakhk: 1) to stop forcibly changing Javakhk’s demographic picture; 2) to increase Armenian representation in the regional and government institutions; 3) to implement a series of social and economic projects that would bring the economic development of the region in line with the rest of Georgia; 4) to allow the use of the Armenian language in institutions of administrative regions densely populated with Armenians; 5) to grant autonomy to Javakhk and Tsalka. The coordinator of the council expressed regret at the absence of local administration representatives at the gathering. Upon completion of the meeting, Mr. Gabrielyan rendered the future, security, development and democracy in Javakhk possible only in the framework of autonomy. Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. Azerbaijan razes historic Armenian church to ground Azerbaijan has demolished the historic Armenian Church of St. John the Baptist (known as Kanach Zham). |