Tweet
SITUATION QUIET IN TSALKA
Armenpress
Apr 04 2006
TSALKA, APRIL 4, ARMENPRESS: A-Info news agency operating in the
southern Georgian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti that has a predominantly
Armenian population, said the situation in Tsalka where a group of
Svans (ethnic Georgians) attacked on March 9 and stabbed to death a
23-year-old Armenian man, was now quite.
It said local Armenians expecting a fair trial of several men of this
group arrested on charges of killing the Armenian man. A-Info also said
the Council of Armenian Organizations of Javakheti has become more
vigilant now and avoids any provocative actions. It particularly did
not react to some non-member organizations' calls to stage a rally
on March 16.
Tsalka, population 22,000, is predominantly populated by ethnic
Armenians and Greeks. Up to 2,000 Azerbaijanis also live there. In
the early 1990s, the Georgian government moved a group of ethnic
Georgians (about 2,500, mainly Ajarians and Svans), to Tsalka after
a devastating landslide in their native mountainous villages.
Tsalka is also close to the predominantly Armenian-populated
Samtskhe-Javakheti locality, which is considered a "complex region"
because of the presence of a Russian military base and increasing
demands for political autonomy by some local Armenian groups. Clashes
between ethnic Georgians and the Greek-Armenian community in Tsalka
have been reported for several years, nevertheless, Georgian officials
continuously argue that the conflicts in Tsalka have no ethnic context
and represent mostly "communal violence."
Armenpress
Apr 04 2006
TSALKA, APRIL 4, ARMENPRESS: A-Info news agency operating in the
southern Georgian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti that has a predominantly
Armenian population, said the situation in Tsalka where a group of
Svans (ethnic Georgians) attacked on March 9 and stabbed to death a
23-year-old Armenian man, was now quite.
It said local Armenians expecting a fair trial of several men of this
group arrested on charges of killing the Armenian man. A-Info also said
the Council of Armenian Organizations of Javakheti has become more
vigilant now and avoids any provocative actions. It particularly did
not react to some non-member organizations' calls to stage a rally
on March 16.
Tsalka, population 22,000, is predominantly populated by ethnic
Armenians and Greeks. Up to 2,000 Azerbaijanis also live there. In
the early 1990s, the Georgian government moved a group of ethnic
Georgians (about 2,500, mainly Ajarians and Svans), to Tsalka after
a devastating landslide in their native mountainous villages.
Tsalka is also close to the predominantly Armenian-populated
Samtskhe-Javakheti locality, which is considered a "complex region"
because of the presence of a Russian military base and increasing
demands for political autonomy by some local Armenian groups. Clashes
between ethnic Georgians and the Greek-Armenian community in Tsalka
have been reported for several years, nevertheless, Georgian officials
continuously argue that the conflicts in Tsalka have no ethnic context
and represent mostly "communal violence."