Armenia, Georgia Mull Joint Efforts To Ease Hardship In Javakheti
Radio Free Europe 26/07/2005 09:47
Prime Minister Andranik Markarian ended on Monday a two-day visit to Georgia that focused on Tbilisi’s and Yerevan’s joint efforts to improve the socioeconomic situation in the country’s Javakheti region predominantly populated by Armenians.
[...]
Javakheti’s grave socioeconomic problems are compounded by the extremely poor condition of local roads that have hardly undergone major repairs since the Soviet collapse. Officials announced that the Georgian government will finally start to rebuild them in 2007 with financial assistance which it expects to receive under the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Account program. Armenia and Georgia are the only ex-Soviet states eligible for the scheme.
[...]
The two governments are also making plans for the reconstruction of local secondary schools that have long fallen into disrepair. Officials said a joint plan of actions will be finalized this September.
[...]
The region’s single largest employer, a Russian military base in Akhalkalaki is to be closed in 2008 under a Russian-Georgian agreement signed recently.
The government in Tbilisi has pledged to cushion the resulting loss of hundreds of jobs. Saakashvili said earlier this month that Javakheti farmers will become the principal suppliers of agriculture produce to the Georgian army. [...] the Armenian and Georgian governments also plan to set up several food processing plants in the largely agricultural area.
[...]
Also on the agenda of Markarian’s talks in Tbilisi were increasingly serious disputes over ownership of old churches claimed by the Armenian Apostolic and Georgian Orthodox Churches. One such dispute resulted in a violent clash last week between residents of a Javakheti village and a group of young Georgians that visited a nearby medieval church. The locals believe the visitors were intent on seizing the church.
Speaker Burjanadze welcomed an Armenian proposal for the two governments to set up a commission that will look into the matter on a case-by-case basis.[...].
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Prime Minister Andranik Markarian ended on Monday a two-day visit to Georgia that focused on Tbilisi’s and Yerevan’s joint efforts to improve the socioeconomic situation in the country’s Javakheti region predominantly populated by Armenians.
[...]
Javakheti’s grave socioeconomic problems are compounded by the extremely poor condition of local roads that have hardly undergone major repairs since the Soviet collapse. Officials announced that the Georgian government will finally start to rebuild them in 2007 with financial assistance which it expects to receive under the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Account program. Armenia and Georgia are the only ex-Soviet states eligible for the scheme.
[...]
The two governments are also making plans for the reconstruction of local secondary schools that have long fallen into disrepair. Officials said a joint plan of actions will be finalized this September.
[...]
The region’s single largest employer, a Russian military base in Akhalkalaki is to be closed in 2008 under a Russian-Georgian agreement signed recently.
The government in Tbilisi has pledged to cushion the resulting loss of hundreds of jobs. Saakashvili said earlier this month that Javakheti farmers will become the principal suppliers of agriculture produce to the Georgian army. [...] the Armenian and Georgian governments also plan to set up several food processing plants in the largely agricultural area.
[...]
Also on the agenda of Markarian’s talks in Tbilisi were increasingly serious disputes over ownership of old churches claimed by the Armenian Apostolic and Georgian Orthodox Churches. One such dispute resulted in a violent clash last week between residents of a Javakheti village and a group of young Georgians that visited a nearby medieval church. The locals believe the visitors were intent on seizing the church.
Speaker Burjanadze welcomed an Armenian proposal for the two governments to set up a commission that will look into the matter on a case-by-case basis.[...].
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 4:43 AM
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