According to sources, the attackers were either from the Svan or Ajar cities of Javakhk. Police have already instituted legal proceedings and some have been arrested. As a result, Armenian-Georgian relations have become tenser. Some people think that the attack was based on differences in nationalities, while others think that it was just another crime.
“It was simply a hooligan act and had nothing to do with the Georgian government. Georgia will never allow any ethnic group to commit any hooligan act against another ethnic group representative. The criminals must be punished according to the law,” said Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Georgia in Armenia Revaz Gachechiladze during a press conference yesterday. According to him, 150-200 people are murdered each year in Georgia and since Georgia is a multi-ethnic country, it is quite possible that the victims are representatives of different ethnic groups.
“If we keep considering the crimes as a result of ethnicity, then we will always have conflicts. But at the present, we don’t have such conflicts in the country,” said R. Gachechiladze and suggested paying close attention to what the mass media has to say and Armenian channels, which we watches.
“The only thing they show on television is sex and violence. The heroes of the movies are the ones that take the gun out first. What else do you expect from the youth?” said the ambassador and recalled the recent hooligan act, which turned into a conflict between Italian and English soccer players.
“Is that really a result of the ethnic conflict between the Italians and English,” said the ambassador ironically.
Besides the crime in Tsalka, R. Gachechiladze also discussed other issues during the press conference. It turned out that Armenia’s bordering country is also leading a special type of politics by trying to establish good ties with all neighboring countries. As for Russiain-Georgian relations, the ambassador to Georgia said that Georgia really doesn’t have any problem with Russia if we don’t look at it from the political perspective.
“The problem is that Georgia doesn’t like Russia’s politics in Abkhazia and Southern Osetia. As a result of its “peacekeeping” mission, Russia is only granting citizenship to Russians living in Georgia. Is that really a peacekeeping mission?” says the Georgian ambassador. The latter even expressed his condolences about “what happened in the beginning of the past century”. As for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the ambassador to Georgia said that judging from the cosmopolitan processes, Georgia will do everything it can “in order to establish more intimate ties with neighboring Armenia.”
Among other topics, the ambassador also discussed the Kars-Akhalkalak railway. He said that Georgia is forced to construct that railway because the Kars-Gyumri railway doesn’t function, however Georgia will be pleased if the latter starts functioning. According to Gachechiladze, Georgia doesn’t have any reason to refuse providing financial aid for the railway construction. Although the cargo brought to the harbors of Georgia is 22 billion tons, however that may not be enough for Georgia’s economic development in the near future. The ambassador claims that the Kars-Akhalkalak railway will benefit Javakhk because it will turn it into a transit center.
“The Kars-Gyumri railway is Armenia’s issue. Don’t be that naïve and think that Georgia will be able to have an influence on Azerbaijan and Turkey, even the OSCE Minsk Group can’t go against those two countries. The Karabagh conflict and Armenian-Turkish ties are holding the Kars-Gyumri railway hostage. If you solve that problem, then we will be more than happy. But we don’t have anything to do with it,” said the Ambassador to Georgia in Armenia and added that Georgia is not the one to blame for the dysfunction of the railway. As for Armenian-Georgian economic ties, the ambassador is not too pleased but says that there are some achievements. For example, Armenian natural juices, cigarettes, cement and other products are sold in Georgian markets. Besides that, it turns out that a group of Armenians are actually building a hotel in the Kobulet rest home. According to the ambassador, the second Armenia-Georgia electric line is under construction and if that line is connected to the Iranian-Armenian line, electricity will be exported from each of the three countries.
“The Georgian government would like to have the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline also run through Georgia and even extend to Europe. That would really benefit Armenia and Georgia. But Armenia was the one that decided to construct a small gas pipeline,” said the Georgian ambassador.