Georgia's encroachment on church "Norashen" speaks of the hostility of the official Tbilisi towards Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Norashen" is one of the most outstanding and attractive Armenian cultural structures in Tbilisi, having a domical basilica, whose fronts are distinguished by decorative arcade. A middle sized delicate rotunda of the bell tower is situated over the western façade of the roof. The interior of the church is decorated with fresco by an Armenian famous artist Hovnatan
Hovnatanyan. The Church was founded in 1467 by Sadat. The special group that voted for the destruction of "Norashen" had been created in the connection of the construction of the street in the years of 1924-1925 called "Armenian Bazaar" (now Leselidze). Fortunately the decision was not approved of and the church was not destroyed. In 1937 the church of "Norashen" like many other churches on the territory of the USSR, was closed. In the following years the building was used as archive.

Attempts of "Georgianizing"of church "Norashen" started already in 1989, and in 1994-1995 the priest of Georgian Orthodox Church Tariel Sikinchelashvili destroyed the alter of the church. On February 8, 1995 the inscription on the walls made by Master Petros, which stated facts about the reconstruction of the dome in 1650, were ruined. Other Armenian inscriptions, two Khachkars and two beautiful frescos dating back to XIX, which were the works of the
representatives of the school of the Hovnatan were also ruined. The doors with Armenian epigraphy were replaced. St. Echmiadzin gave no response to all that was going on. Moreover, when in 2001 the Georgian Patriarch Iliya
II arrived in Yerevan, the Catholicos of all Armenians did not even touch upon the question about the Armenian churches in Georgia.

The same is happening now. No Synod session of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Holy Echmiadzin regarding the Armenian church "Norashen" in Tbilisi is going to take place. According to one of the sources, "the Armenian Apostolic Church has taken all the possible measures to preserve the Armenian church in Tbilisi. We have done our best, and now it is the government that is to decide." The Holy Echmiadzin does not answer any question, as if the Armenian Church in Tbilisi indeed belongs to the Georgian Orthodox Church. In the main, if things keep on going like they are now, church "Norashen" will indeed become a Georgian temple. It is very unlikely that the Georgian priest would dare such a sacrilege, if he did not have permission from higher authorities and certainty in the fact that the Armenian Church will not strongly mind it.

In the opinion of the political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan, Georgia's encroachment on the church "Norashen" speaks of the hostility of the official Tbilisi towards Armenia. "These rough actions towards the Armenian church in Tbilisi have been continuing for many years now against the background of complete inactivity of the Armenian Apostolic Church and careless attitude of the Armenian Church towards the religious problems the Armenians have to face in Tbilisi and Samtskhe-Javakheti. Losing the Armenian church "Norashen" will definitely bring to the breakdown of the Armenian Community in Tbilisi. And after the Armenians living in the capital the complete destruction of Samtskhe-Javakheti will start. We hope that Garegin II will prove to be a real Catholicos of all Armenians and will not leave the Armenians from Tbilisi alone in this fight; especially taking into consideration the fact that the Catholicos of all Armenians will carry the
responsibility of losing the Armenian church "Norashen", says Melik-Shahnazaryan.

In his tern the chairman of the Armenian Collaboration Center of Georgia Karen Elchyan announced, that the construction works in the yard of the Armenian church "Norashen" in Tbilisi were stopped on May 18 after the interference of the Armenian Community in Georgia. "However, the question is still "hanging in the air". Since the day of the declaration of the Georgian independence the authorities of the country have been promising the Armenian community to pass the law on religions, however, the law is not passed yet. The religious organizations, except for the Georgian Orthodox Church, may be registered only as non-governmental or public institutions. In this way, practically there is only one church existing in Georgia, and that is the Georgian Orthodox Church. This state does not have any legal formation yet, but I believe, that it will happen in the near future," said Elchyan. He also mentioned that if the Georgian authorities and the Armenian Apostolic Church do not take any measures to stop "Georgianizing" the Armenian churches, the Armenian Collaboration Center will have to take actions considering the created situation. Though Karen Elchyan did not say anything about what exactly the measures are going to be. "There are only 6 Armenian churches in Tbilisi, 2 of which function; the church St. Gevorg and St. Virgin Mary in Havlabar. If we are able to save "Norashen", we will have 3 functioning churches," he said, then added that the Armenian churches are not returned to the legitimate owner; the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The Georgian eparchy itself does not have any legal status, which means that even if the demands that the churches are returned, from the legal point of view it is not possible. The case of "Norashen" and the other historical-cultural monuments in Georgia contradicts the friendship between Georgia and Armenia announced by the official Tbilisi. Indeed, the disagreements between the two Christian countries of the South Caucasus cannot be qualified as nonsense. However, one should not forget to mention that Georgia has always been strongly attracted to the Islamic world, which
is proved by the ties that Georgia establishes with Turkey and Azerbaijan.