Yerevan holds protests against destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Georgia

Today, the city of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, has hosted a students' mass protest action against destruction in Georgia of historical and cultural heritage of the Armenian nation, and, first of all, against encroachments on the Armenian Church Surb Norashen in Tbilisi; the action took place at the building housing the UN representative office.

The participants were students of Yerevan higher schools. They marched from the UN representative office to the Georgia's Embassy in Yerevan, where they handed over a letter to the Ambassador with a demand to stop attempts to capture Armenian historical and cultural monuments in Georgia.

Yesterday, Minister on Diaspora Matters Granush Akopyan had a meeting with Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, Celebrant of the Georgian Eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and General Locum of Samtskhe-Dzhavakhk Father Babken Salbiyan. During the meeting, they discussed the problems of preservation of Armenian historical and cultural monuments in the territory of Georgia, repair of schools in Dzhavakhk and retraining of teachers.

The Minister expressed her concern in the context of the situation. At the same time, Ms Akopyan expressed her hope that Georgian authorities would make possible steps to prevent lawlessness.