‘I would be honored to be Armenian. The only problem is I’m not Armenian’: Saakashvili

The law on religious denominations in Georgia would’ve been approved even if 100,000 thousand people came out on the street (to protest), said Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in a “Special Report” interview.

According to him, 8 years ago, when the planned adoption of this law was being discussed, about 100 people staged a protest on the streets of Tbilisi. The government at the time decided to postpone consideration of the bill. As Saakashvili noted, “The Communist regime didn’t allow for religious tolerance as they saw a threat” in it.

“Whoever pushes this issue forward is a classic communist relic of the Soviet era. They have the old red stars. This was the empire’s method of governance. The vast majority of politicians turned out to be on this side. [Georgian king] David Aghmashenebeli [also known as “David the Builder” who reigned from 1089-1125] went to synagogue, mosque, the Christian church, the Armenian church.

“Most of the family members of Queen Tamar [who ruled Georgia from 1184-1209/1213] were not ethnic Georgians. We have had great leaders whose mother or father were ethnic Armenians or a member of another ethnic group. Georgia is comprised of all these ethnic groups. [19th, 20th century theologian, scholar and public figure] Mikhail Tamarashvili, [17th, 18th century prince, writer, monk] Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani and other great Georgians were Catholic. And I won’t even talk about [politician and Georgia’s current Minister of Internal Affairs Ivane or] Vano Merabishvili — his greatness is recognized by history,” said the Georgian leader.

Saakashvili remarked that Georgia is a country with a great civilization.

“Representatives of a TV channel in Armenia came to interview me. They told me that they know about my Armenian origins and added they fear that  a complexity will emerge for me on this subject. I replied: I would be honored to be Armenian. The only problem is I’m not Armenian.

“During another TV broadcast, a relic of the Soviet era jumped out of his seat and said that Saakashvili is Armenia. My mother called me and asked, [why were they saying I’m Armenian and why] didn’t I say that I’m not Armenian? We are all a mixture of all ethnic groups, a country with a great civilization,” stressed the Georgian president.