November 2, 2006 - 15:38 AMT
Armed Collision Not Ruled out in Javakhk
United Javakhk leader Vahagn Chakhalyan does not rule out the opportunity of an armed collision in Samtskhe-Javakheti Armenian-populated province of Georgia, taking into account the similarity of the situation in that region with that in Nagorno Karabakh in the soviet epoch, Chakhalyan stated at a news conference in Yerevan November 2. At that he reminded that the issue is not on the agenda today. As for cooperation with Georgian authorities, Chakhalyan noted, «that cooperation is equal to cooperation with Young Turks in early past century.» He outlined matters that are priority for United Javakhk: inadmissibility of the building of Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway, the issue of the status of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia, the question of studying the Armenian language and history at schools, the founding of the Georgian-Armenian University. Chakhalyan also denied opinions that events in Javakhk are linked to exacerbation of Russian-Georgian relations. «It is strange that Armenian media call anything happening in this region a crisis in Russian-Georgian relations,» Chakhalyan stated, reports IA Regnum.