TBILISI. – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili spoke, on the air of Imedi television, about why he did not ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), and how shocked he was to see that, “they do not speak Georgian” in Javakhk—Georgian name: Javakheti, is a predominantly-Armenian-populated part of Georgia’s southeastern Samtskhe-Javakheti Province.
“When we came to power, no police or army unit could enter Javakhk; there was a Russian military base there. But owing to international pressure, we got rid of that base, and allies of the new Georgian government appeared there,” Saakashvili said, Gruzia Online news agency of Georgia reports.
The Georgian president also recalled that the construction of a hydro power plant had started in Javakhk, but the construction had later stopped.
Saakashvili stated that he was very much concerned by the “language issue,” and clarified that when he had visited Javakhk the first time, he saw that no one spoke Georgian there.
“We told Georgian [university] students and idealists that we will fund [their] master’s [studies] if they study in Javakhk, and give [them] salaries. Thousands of idealists went there,” Saakashvili said, and added that the children in Javakhk already are speaking Georgian.
He added, however, that the objective of this action was not to oust the Armenian language, but rather to see to it that Georgian becomes the language of success for the youth in the region.
“[Georgian-Armenian former political prisoner Vahagn] Chakhalyan should not have been released from prison. He destroyed the Georgian university and the Georgian [Church] diocese. He would have left prison in six years,” the Georgian president said. He also depicted what would have happened in those six years.
During this period Javakhk would have become one of the key railway hubs of Europe, the standard of living would have increased 2-3 times, and, “the absolute majority of the population of Javakhk would have spoken Georgian,” Mikheil Saakashvili said, and asked: “If Chakhalyan was a common criminal, what was he doing in the parliament yesterday?”
