Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
July 21 2014

Georgians and Armenians fight in Tbilisi center

21 July 2014 – 7:07pm

Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

A serious incident based on ethnic enmity took place near the Surb
Echmiadzin Armenian Church, one of the rare operating Armenian
churches in Georgia, in the center of Tbilisi. Several dozens of
people were involved in it, including clergy. It is the first serious
conflict in the historic Armenian Avlabar quarter.

Of course, it is difficult to say what the real reason for the fight
was. The sides have opposite views on the conflict. The chairman of
the Georgian Eparchy of the Armenian Church, Levon Isakhanyan, told
journalists that “everything started from a failed attempt to leave a
territory neighboring the church by a lady driving a car.” It seems
her car was blocked by a car of a clergyman. The clergy was in the
church at a baptismal ceremony.

As she couldn’t get out, the lady,who apparently lives nearby, started
shouting. Her neighbors – Georgians – came to help her. According to
Levon Isakhanyan, they started to insult the Armenians, and a fight
with church members who were standing in the yard started. The
Georgians say that everything started from an insult from the
aforementioned lady.

Some time later about 50 Georgians approached the church. According to
Isakhanyan, “they had various weapons.” A serious fight began.
Participants in the baptismal ceremony heard noise and ran outside.
The fight became very serious. However, the police managed to pull the
parties apart.

Nobody was seriously hurt, some of the fighters were bruised. But the
interesting thing is that members of the clergy of the Curb Echmiadze
Church were actively involved in the fight.

The Armenian Eparchy of Georgia made a statement about “a serious
incident based on ethnic hatred.” The document says that “about 50
people attacked church members and clergy; they were well-organized,
and some of them had cold steel weapons.” The statement says that
“unknown people in expensive suits watched the fight from the side.”
This is a hint about the involvement of officials in the incident.

“We call on the law-enforcement agencies of Georgia to consider the
incident to be a crime based on ethnic and religious hatred,” the
statement says. Its authors stress that the incident “is a result of
anti-Armenian statements by some social activists and religious
activists of the Georgian Orthodox Church, which are spread by the
Georgian mass media.”

The Georgian authorities are trying to diminish public reaction to the
incident, referring to “the domestic nature” of the fight, but
Armenian clergy state that they were insulted for their ethnicity.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress