The Head of “Multinational Georgia” civil movement Arnold Stepanyan believes that even if Lukashenko had not arrived in Georgia these days, hardly the Georgian President would visit Yerevan
– Mr. Stepanyan, the level of participation of the Georgian delegation in the events commemorating the centennial of the Armenian Genocide became a reason for discussions in our country. Vice-Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Manana Kobakhidze arrived in Yerevan, who is also the Head of the friendship group with Armenia in the Parliament. Given that Georgia is our neighboring Christian country, to what extent was the level of such participation justified? Is there RA Ambassador to Georgia Yuri Vardanyan’s failure of work on this issue?
– There is no need to connect these issue with each other. We should have a clearer idea of the Georgian reality. Hardly it would be possible to achieve more in 2015, regardless of the factor of any Ambassador.
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– Why?
– Georgia, yes, is a brotherly country, and many good words can be said about the Armenian-Georgian relations, but at the same time, the same words can be said about the Georgian-Turkish relations if we leave the expression of two Christian peoples aside. The Georgian- Turkish relations are of a strategic level, Georgia is economically dependent on Turkey, as well as there is quite an active cooperation in the military sphere. Many other factors affect Georgia’s political and economic relations with Turkey.
– Consequently, did Georgia’s defense minister and chairman of the parliamentary committee for defense and security visit Turkey to attend the event dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the battle of Gallipoli?
– Yes, to attend the 100th anniversary of the battle of Gallipoli, Georgia sent the chairman of the parliamentary committee for defense and security and the defense minister, in other words, the emphasis was put on the partnership in the defense sector in order to highlight the level of military cooperation between Georgia and Turkey. Whereas, in the case of Armenia, participation by the level of Vice-Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Manana Kobakhidze was provided, this is a higher level than the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee, as well as her being the head of the Armenian-Georgian inter-parliamentary group. I think the expectations were too inflated about whom Georgia will send to Armenia, perhaps, there were expectations that the president and the prime minister will arrive. In the case of the president, I must say that President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was on an official visit to Georgia at that time, and he had meeting both with the President and the Prime Minister. Although, even if Lukashenko had not arrived in Georgia, it was unlikely for the President to visit Armenia due to Georgian-Turkish relations, which are on a higher level than the Armenian-Georgian relations. Georgia’s interest towards Turkey is greater than towards Armenia. The choice is made based on pragmatic considerations.
– Given your mentioned factors, we can also conclude why Georgia does not recognize the Armenian Genocide, don’t we?
– Yes, indeed, what comes to the Armenian Genocide, I am sure that everyone – both in the political and social levels, clearly know that there was a genocide in Turkey, and they know it not by hearing or the literature, but they know how many people have come to Georgia that time, and it was then that the people in Georgia had obtained an idea of the Armenian Genocide. Georgia is one of the first countries that accepted the Armenian refugees from Ottoman Turkey, whose descendants are living here to this day.
On the political level, however, it’s hard to imagine that the Georgian parliament may recognize the Armenian Genocide, there are two reasons here, the first of which I have already mentioned, and the second one is the new reality. Azerbaijani minority in Georgia is quite painful to accept the efforts by the Armenian community when the issue of the Armenian Genocide is raised in Georgia. In this case too, actually, the Georgian authorities appear between the devil and the deep sea. Even there was a risk of conflict between local Armenians and Azerbaijanis, and thank God, it was successfully avoided.
In other words, even the discussion of the genocide at the social level causes other processes in Georgia, which create additional threats in the sense of security. Therefore, it is hard to blame the Georgian leadership and the political elite for not attending the events for the centennial of the Armenian Genocide on April 24 at the level of top officials.
EMMA GABRIELYAN
