Georgia wants Armenian churches in Georgian occupied Abkhazia not to be subordinated to Russia
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, March 18
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has told Armenian Patriarch Karekin II that Armenian churches in the Georgian Russian-occupied Abkhazia region should not be in the subordination of the Southern Eparchy of Russia.
“The decision is perceived as the violation of the Georgian territorial integrity,” Zurabishvili said during her visit to Armenia and stated that the Armenian Church “must change the decision as soon as possible” and bring the church under the subordination of the Georgian Eparchy of the Armenian Church, as it was in many of the previous years.
Zurabishvili said that Georgian Patriarch Ilia II is “very much worried” regarding the issue and it was his position the churches to be under the subordination of the Georgian eparchy or the Armenian Church directly.
Karekin II stated that “despite the temporary measure” Armenian churches on the territory of Abkhazia are recognized under subordination of the Georgian Eparchy of the Armenian Church by them.
Zurabishvili said that she welcomed the statement “but an agreed outcome must be found for the urgent end of the temporarily measure.”
One more issue raised by Zurabishvili during her official visit to Armenia were the visits of Nagorno-Karabakh delegations to the two Georgian occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
She stated that it is“very sad” that delegations from Nagorno-Karabakh visit the two occupied regions and discuss these two conflicts as if they are of a similar type.
“This is very sad and painful for us,” Zurabishvili said during her meeting with the head of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan.
She stated that Georgia and Armenia should work together and move to a new stage of solving these conflicts based on international rules and regulations and added that otherwise, “everything we are discussing –– economic progress, stability, boosted cooperation, and strengthening of transportation and logistics ties with the EU and other countries –– are only verbal statements.”
