Groups in Akhalkalaki Want Armenian as Official Language

Akhalkalaki-based Virk and Javakhk organizations have requested the Georgian authorities to announce Armenian as the second official language in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, which is predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians.

At a news conference on March 16 representatives of these organizations said that they have already sent an appeal to those four parliamentarians, who represent Armenian community, and asked them to push the issue in the Georgian legislative body.

But MP from the ruling National Movement Party Van Baiburt, who is the representative of the Armenian community, said that calls for official status of the Armenian language are “unrealistic.”

A group of non-governmental organizations based in Samtskhe-Javakheti region requested last September the Georgian leadership to consider possibility of granting the region autonomy with “broad authority for self-governance, including the right to hold elections for all bodies of governance.”