Georgia and Armenia are Christian oases in the Muslim world, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II said during his meeting with the Armenian community representatives.

“We live in difficult times. Armenia and Georgia are Christian oases in the Muslim world. I remember my meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican. He looked at the map and said Georgia and Armenia are in difficult geopolitical situation, and they are Christian oases. Therefore, we must be attentive to each other,” he said.

Patriarch Ilia II said Armenia and Georgia must take care of their relationship.

Representatives of the Armenian community present at the meeting said that they are Georgians and share Georgia's pain. At the same time, they expressed hope that with joint efforts they will be able to overcome all problems.

Poet Givi Shahnazar, members of the Union of Armenians in Georgia and Council on Inter-religious Relations at the Patriarchate were present at the meeting.

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Georgian Prime Minister Irakly Garibashvili will visit Armenia on August 21-22, Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan said during the official opening of the Baze 2014 pan-Armenian youth gathering.

He said the agenda will include discussions on visa regime with Georgia.

From September 1, 2014, foreigners, regardless of their nationality, who wish to come and stay in Georgia for more than 90 days for the purpose of study, work, doing business or family reunion will have to obtain an appropriate visa in the Georgian diplomatic mission or consular office in their country.

On July 7-14, 2014, Mr. Levon Isakhanyan, on behalf of the Apostolic Administration of Roman Catholic of South Caucasus, the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Holy Church in Georgia, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia, and the Evangelical Baptist Churches in Georgia, participated in a UN Human Rights Committee session in Geneva, Switzerland. At its 111th Session, the Committee considered a report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in Georgia, which is available on the Committee’s website http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR%2fC%2fGEO%2f4&Lang=en). Mr. Isakhanyan also presented information concerning religious minorities in Georgia and talked about documented cases of discrimination missing from the Georgian State Report (click to watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJW-zresXLU&list=UUnYQ_RWaAObGP4VrKu_BLVQ).
An alternative detailed report on discrimination against religious minorities in Georgia (available on the Committee’s website http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/GEO/INT_CCPR_CSS_GEO_17551_E.pdf) and a letter signed by four religious leaders representing the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic, the Roman Catholic, the Evangelical Lutheran, and the Evangelical Baptist Churches in Georgia addressed to the Chairperson of the Committee (available on the Committee’s website http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Do ... »»»

On July 19, the Armenian Youth Education and Cultural Center of Akhaltskha solemnly ended the 2014 Javakhk Summer Camp Program. The event began with a performance of the Armenian national anthem.

During the event, nearly 100 young Armenians presented all that they had learned in the course of the 10-day Javakhk Summer Camp Program.

The teens and youth sang several patriotic songs, performed Armenian dances and acted out some plays.

In the end, the participants of the program handed out gifts to their group leaders who had traveled from the USA, Uruguay and Great Britain for the program.

The closing ceremony of the program was also held in Akhalkalak.

Let us remind that on July 10, the 10-day Javakhk Summer Camp Program kicked off at the Armenian Youth Educational and Cultural Center of Akhaltskha. The program was held for the third year in Samtskhe-Javakheti and is carried out with the support of the Armenian Relief Society and through funding from individuals.

On July 19, 2014, a pre-planned attack was perpetrated on the representatives of the Armenian Church of Surb Etchmiadzin located in Tbilisi, which was motivated by ethnic and religious hatred. At around 4 pm, a provocation was organized on a territory adjacent to the yard of the Church. After an unsuccessful attempt to drive from the territory adjacent to the yard of the Church, a person got outraged and began to reproach a clergyman, whose car was allegedly blocking her way. Soon, two openly aggressive men arrived on the scene and helped to take out the vehicle. The clergyman entered the administrative building of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, while young deacons, who stood outside, heard the men using foul language against Armenians. When people began to protest this move, the man got off the vehicle, took a truncheon, continued to use obscene language, picked up a stone, and attempted to hit the representatives of the Armenian Diocese. When the personnel of the Armenian Diocese heard these voices, they rushed outside hoping to calm down the situation. At this time, one of the employees of the Diocese was hit in the back, and a short fight ensued.

About two hours later following this incident, the above-mentioned man mobilized a group of about 50 males, some of them equipped with cold arms. These men approached the Church and began to fight with the clergy and the personnel of the Diocese, using obscene language against Armenians. During this situation, a ba ... »»»

Schoolchildren of the Akhalkalak and Ninotsminda regions of Javakhk witnessed turning events on June 20th and 21st as they participated in the annual “Armenian History” and “Creative Essay” contests held upon the initiative of ARS Georgia. As in the past, the first contest was the “Armenian History” contest, which was held with the participation of nearly 80 students. Once again, the topic for the contest was “Our land is sacred, our water is Chrism, our people are brilliant, God is Almighty”. More and more schoolchildren participate in the contest and show more interest year after year. As a result, there is higher quality. From the angle of preservation of the Armenian identity, knowledge of Armenian history is important for the Armenians of Javakhk and all Armenians, for that matter. After many years, there have been certain changes in the contests.

This year, the schoolchildren of Akhalkalak and Ninotsminda participated in the contests together at the Youth Center of Akhalkalak. For students from Tsalka and Akhaltskha, ARS Georgia had envisaged holding the contests in those regions. The next contest, which was held at the Youth Center of Akhalkalak on June 21, was a turning event in terms of its nature.

The contest began with a welcome speech by Chairwoman of ARS Georgia Karine Tadevosyan, who encouraged the children to be more daring as they write an essay about a topic that is an important issue and represents the pain and sorrow of all Armenia ... »»»

DILIJAN. – The Joint Decision Making Committee (JDMC) of the Territorial Cooperation Programme Armenia-Georgia adopted the Joint Operational Programme on Friday.

The Joint Operational Programme (JOP) sets out the basic framework of the Armenia-Georgia territorial cooperation: the main objectives and priorities, requirements for projects and beneficiaries as well as programme implementation modalities.

The budget of the programme constitutes 1.35 million euro. The programme covers Lori, Shirak, Tavush marzes of Armenia and Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti regions of Georgia. The approval of the joint document paves the way to announcement of a Call for Proposals in July 2014. The Territorial Cooperation Programme Armenia-Georgia will be the first of four programmes in the Eastern Partnership countries to launch the competition for projects.

“Armenia actively supports the idea of territorial cooperation and is the first, together with Georgia, to endorse the JOP,” stressed Mr. Vache Terteryan, First Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration of the Republic of Armenia, Chairman of the inaugural JDMC meeting.

“The Territorial Cooperation Programme Armenia-Georgia will further promote friendly relations between the people of the neighboring regions in such areas as agriculture, tourism development, business, environment, education, culture and sports,”stated Alexei Sekarev, the Team Leader of the EaPTC Support Programme. < ... »»»

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has arrived on an official visit to neighboring Georgia. At the airport he was welcomed by Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze.

As reported earlier, the president is to hold meetings with Georgia’s leadership.

Within the framework of the visit, the Armenian President will hold a private meeting with President Giorgi Margvelashvili of Georgia followed by negotiations with the participation of the two countries’ official delegations and a signing ceremony of documents aimed at enhancing and strengthening the Armenian-Georgian cooperation. Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Giorgi Margvelashvili will sum up the negotiation results in a joint press statement.

The Armenian President will also meet the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament David Usupashvili and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

President Serzh Sargsyan is to visit Tbilisi’s Heroes Square and to lay a wreath at the memorial.
Serzh Sargsyan will attend a gala concert dedicated to the 300th anniversary of Sayat-Nova held at Tbilisi’s Rustaveli National Theatre.