TBILISI. – Armenia wishes to see Georgia’s Armenian community as a unique bridge which unites and strengthens the two peoples’ friendship, Armenia’s Ambassador to Georgia, Hovhannes Manukyan, told News.ge.  

“It is important that the issues, which are raised by the national minorities, be resolved by considering the mutual interests and the basis of serving for the Motherland,” Manukyan noted.  

In response to the query concerning the danger of separatism in Georgia’s southeastern Samtskhe-Javakheti Province, which is predominantly populated by Armenians, the Ambassador assured that there is no real danger, and added: 

“There are no separatist sentiments there, and I believe there has never been. Of course, you could also hear statements which could correspond to separatist aspirations. But there is no political or social force behind people with such ideas, and they will never receive the support of official Yerevan, which is interested in peace in the region and in Georgia. 

The guarantee for the absence of extremist dispositions in Samtskhe-Javakheti is the fact that the local population does not want it. And the more their rights are protected, the more the region’s socioeconomic situation is improved, the likelihood of someone attempting to stir trouble will be that much less.”