Georgian authorities and Javakheti Armenians should start talks

PanARMENIAN.Net - Yerkir Union calls on Armenian Diaspora and international community to combine efforts to protect rights of the Armenian population of Samtskhe Javakheti, Georgia, and demand release of United Javakhk democratic alliance leader Vahagn Chakhalyan.



"We held a number of meetings in European countries and submitted a report to the Council of Europe," Yerkir chairman Sevak Artsruni told a news conference in Yerevan.



"The problem of Armenian population of Javakheti is Georgia's domestic affair and can't be viewed in the context of Armenian-Georgian relations," he said. "We regret that some political forces in Armenia are trying to present it as a foreign policy issue."



"We call on the Georgia authorities to respects national minorities' rights and open talks with representatives of the Armenian population of Samtskhe Javakheti," he said.