JAVAKH REPRESENTATIVES CALL FOR AUTONOMY TO STEM TURKISH TIDE
Kristine Aghalaryan

hetq
14:52, March 19, 2012

An Armenian civic leader from Javakhk said today that autonomy
is the only way to combat the growing Turkish presence in the
Armenian-populated region.

Artak Gabrielyan, Coordinator of the Council of Samtskhe-Javakhk
Armenian NGO’s, said that there’s been a growing number of Turks in the
region due to construction on the Kars-Akhalkalak stretch of railroad.

The issue of Javakhk autonomy within a federal Georgia was raised by
local Armenian representatives in talks they recently had in Europe
with members of the Council of Europe.

“I tried to convince the CoE delegates that Georgia could take steps
regarding Javakhk, including granting autonomy, in order to prove
its sincerity regarding Abkhazia and Ossetia.

Gabrielyan noted that the socio-economic plight of Armenians in Javakhk
has drastically worsened of late and that it would be easy for Turkey
to take control of the area through a variety of investment measure.

The Javakhk representative said this would only lead to an exodus of
Armenians from the region.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress