No Splits or Clashes Between Armenians and Abkhazians in Abkhazia
Currently about 60 thousand Armenians live in Abkhazia: it is the second largest nation in the republic, said in Yerevan Galust Trapizonian, a depute of Abkhazian Parliament and the Co-Chair of the Armenian Community in Abkhazia. In his words, the Armenians take part in the public life of Abkhazia rather actively. "We have three parliamentarians out of 35, three deputy-ministers and one minister on State-standards of Armenian origin. Of course, we could have more Armenians in the power structures. In March of 2007 Parliamentary elections will be held and we hope we can increase the number of our deputies in the parliament," Trapizonian underlined.
In regard of Georgian population, the parliamentarian said that 45 thousand Georgians reside in Galski region, which borders Georgia. "This territory is merely uncontrollable and we are not aware what is going on there. I must say that currently passports are being distributed for internal use, where citizenship will be mentioned. The passports will be on three languages - on Abkhazian, Georgian and Russian. 92 % of the population of Abkhazia has Russian citizenship but they have Russian foreign, not regular passport. The Georgians in Galski region have Georgian passports. If they want to accept Abkhazian citizenship nobody will be against it. It is worth mentioning that according to the population census of 1989 525 thousand people resided in Abkhazia, now only 236 thousand continue to live there," Said Galust Trapizonian.
The Armenian Community Co-Chair also added that there are 37 Armenian acting schools in the republic, where study 2800 children. "In Russian schools the number of Armenian-origin children is much more higher - about 8400. It is connected with the fact that the graduates can continue their education only in Armenia," he stressed.
Talking about armed clashes between the Armenians and Abkhazians after the war, Trapizonian underlined that such things used to happen before 1999. "At those times we had to take under our control the villages in 6 regions of Abkhazia and the state himself provided us with guards. Now there are no splits or clashes between Armenians and Abkhazians. By the way, there are only 7 regions in Abkhazia and the Armenians really make majority after the native population.
In regard of Georgian population, the parliamentarian said that 45 thousand Georgians reside in Galski region, which borders Georgia. "This territory is merely uncontrollable and we are not aware what is going on there. I must say that currently passports are being distributed for internal use, where citizenship will be mentioned. The passports will be on three languages - on Abkhazian, Georgian and Russian. 92 % of the population of Abkhazia has Russian citizenship but they have Russian foreign, not regular passport. The Georgians in Galski region have Georgian passports. If they want to accept Abkhazian citizenship nobody will be against it. It is worth mentioning that according to the population census of 1989 525 thousand people resided in Abkhazia, now only 236 thousand continue to live there," Said Galust Trapizonian.
The Armenian Community Co-Chair also added that there are 37 Armenian acting schools in the republic, where study 2800 children. "In Russian schools the number of Armenian-origin children is much more higher - about 8400. It is connected with the fact that the graduates can continue their education only in Armenia," he stressed.
Talking about armed clashes between the Armenians and Abkhazians after the war, Trapizonian underlined that such things used to happen before 1999. "At those times we had to take under our control the villages in 6 regions of Abkhazia and the state himself provided us with guards. Now there are no splits or clashes between Armenians and Abkhazians. By the way, there are only 7 regions in Abkhazia and the Armenians really make majority after the native population.
