The Armenian side is against formation of a commission to be charged with a task to clear up whom Surb Norashen belongs to. This church is Armenian, said bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, head of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

"Five churches should be returned to the AAC, namely Surb Norashen, Surb Nshan, Shamkhoretsots Surb Astvatsatsin (Karmir Avetaran), Yerevanots Surb Minas and Mugni Surb Gevorg. The fact that these churches are Armenian is not questioned. Georgia's claims that the foundation of the churches is Georgian are absurd. If there is a Georgian archeologist of genius who could define whom a church belongs to, he would undoubtedly be worth of Noble Prize," the bishop said.

He also refuted the Georgian Patriarchate's statement that an agreement on formation of a commission was achieved during the November 26 meeting in Tbilisi. "More than 20 Armenian churches have been already transformed into Georgian ones in 1990ies. The Armenian side could agree to form a commission if the problem of these churches is also addressed," bishop Mirzakhanyan said, Bagin.info reports.

Presently, 32 reconstructed Armenian churches function in Georgia. Majority of them are situated in Samtskhe Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli.