YEREVAN. – Parliamentary elections are scheduled in Georgia this fall and they also impact the societal life in Javakhk, stated Javakhk Patriotic Union Chairman and Armenian Parliament member Shirak Torosyan, during a press conference on Tuesday.  

Also, he recalled that there were new arrests in Javakhk, specifically a search is declared for Georgian Armenian Melik Raisyan—who used to be a member of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s party, who was twice elected MP, but he became an opposition member two years ago. And the other Georgian-Armenian opposition member, namely, Georgi Mkhchyan, is already arrested.  

As per Shirak Torosyan, they are wanted for allocating office space to the opposition Georgian Dream coalition. 

And reflecting on Vano Merabishvili’s appointment as Georgia’s PM, Torosyan noted that the new PM is a strong figure and he carried out great reforms, but not regarding the Javakhk issue. 

Shirak Torosyan expressed a hope, however, that Vano Merabishvili will start positive changes in the Javakhk issue, too.  

To note, Javakhk—Georgian name: Javakheti—is an Armenian-populated part of Georgia’s southeastern Samtskhe-Javakheti Province.