Armenia-Georgia Relations Good on Official Level, But Still Many Wrinkles to Smooth Out: MP

The legislative amendment by the Georgian parliament to grant legal status to religious groups should have been made long ago, since the issue refers to freedom of conscience and Georgian authorities, who proudly showcase their country as being democratic, have to adhere to democratic standards, Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) MP and Javakhq (Javakheti) Patriotic Union President Shirak Torosyan told local daily Aravot today.

“Georgia is a multiethnic country and is obliged to respect also its citizens’ freedom of religion. In this issue, the Georgian authorities were able to display political will and this is welcoming,” he said.

Asked by Aravot whether relations between Armenia and Georgia are becoming normalized or not, the MP said relations are good on an official level and there are no issues which cannot be resolved through negotiations — however, in reality, there are many wrinkles in actual relations which are visible even to the naked eye.

“I think it’s this part that we have to bring to the surface, so that good neighborly relations come out into the real scene. This is mainly conditioned by resolving the issues of Javakhq [Javakheti] Armenians. Without this, Armenia and Georgia cannot normalize relations. And there are issues in Javakhq which will grow deeper if they are not resolved soon,” he said, reports Aravot.