TBILISI (Gruzia Online)–Georgia’s National Christian Movement party staged a demonstration at the Armenian Embassy in Georgia Thursday demanding the return of Georgian churches in Armenia.
The protests come in response to recent demonstrations in Armenia, as well as official and religious condemnations of the destruction of the St. Mary’s Armenian Church–also known as the Norashen Church–in Georgia.
An appeal delivered to embassy staff by the National Christian Movement demonstrators warns: “Armenian brothers don’t succumb to threats.”
“In the northern part of Armenia, in the Lori region there are some 10 Orthodox churches and chapels. Unfortunately, today they are all in ruins. The historic and architectural components of these monumen’s indicate that they belong to the Georgian Orthodox Church and not the Armenian Apostolic Church,” the demonstrators’ appeal indicated.
The demonstrators also demanded the Armenian government and public take proper care of these religious monumen’s.
The Georgian government’s role in the organization of such a protest a day after the Armenian prime minister’s visit to Georgia is quite glaring. Top-level Georgian officials promised the prime minister that the government would intervene in the efforts to take over the Armenian church by Georgian clerics. Apparently this is how the government promise is manifested.
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