Epress.am News from Armenia
The Armenian and Georgian parties did not come to an agreement through negotiations and discussions on signing a communique due to lack of time and disagreement over the provisions. The provisions put forth by the Georgian church were unacceptable for the Armenian side, Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin press spokesperson Vahram Melikyan told Epress.am on Thursday.
“We again presented our version of the communique, but we were unable to reach a general agreement. And let me note that the Georgian version of the communique has appeared on Georgian and Armenian sites, which for us is impalpable, and we’re trying to find out why that’s happened,” said Fr. Vahram.
Recall, earlier the Georgian press reported that the work and comparing positions on the communique is still ongoing. At the same time, a Patriarchate of Georgia spokesperson denied reports that the Armenian party refused to sign a communique, the text of which was reportedly as follows:
“Relations between us are developing more and more and entering a new phase, which implies equal legal status of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia and the Georgian Orthodox Church in Armenia, as well as plans for the reopening of Armenian churches in Georgia and Georgian churches in Armenia.”
According to Fr. Vahram, the disagreement did not lie in the issue of the status of the churches, but on the way the provisions in the communique were formulated, the details of which were not provided by the Etchmiadzin spokesperson.