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RUSSIAN MEDIA: ARMENIA WANTS 450 CHURCHES IN GEORGIA
The Messenger, Georgia
Jan 21 2015
By Tea Mariamidze
Tuesday, January 20
According to the Russian source Vetotnikavkaza.net, Armenia has
applied to UNESCO to recognize hundreds of churches located in Georgia
as Armenian.
The agency wrote that Paud Akhundov, a representative of the
Azerbaijani President's Administration, said "caprices" of the
Armenian side were a result of many-centuries "falsification" by
Armenian historians.
Meanwhile, the move was assessed in Tbilisi too. Georgian officials
believed UNESCO was the body to give recommendations on how to preserve
a historical building, but it was not able to decide whom the building
belonged to.
Georgia's Minister of Culture Mikheil Giorgadze stated that even
Georgia's ministry of culture could not decide the fate of the
religious monuments.
"It's not a Culture Ministry's competence to decide religious
belonging. We see all of these churches as historical monuments and
we take care of them regardless to which religion they belong to,"
Giorgadze said.
Nikoloz Antidze, head of Georgia's National Agency for Cultural
Heritage Preservation said that he had some information concerning
the issue.
"We have some information about the issue, but UNESCO is not a court
that is eligible to solve cultural ownership issues. Large-scale
research needs to be conducted," Antidze said.
http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/3290_january_20_2015/3290_tea.html
The Messenger, Georgia
Jan 21 2015
By Tea Mariamidze
Tuesday, January 20
According to the Russian source Vetotnikavkaza.net, Armenia has
applied to UNESCO to recognize hundreds of churches located in Georgia
as Armenian.
The agency wrote that Paud Akhundov, a representative of the
Azerbaijani President's Administration, said "caprices" of the
Armenian side were a result of many-centuries "falsification" by
Armenian historians.
Meanwhile, the move was assessed in Tbilisi too. Georgian officials
believed UNESCO was the body to give recommendations on how to preserve
a historical building, but it was not able to decide whom the building
belonged to.
Georgia's Minister of Culture Mikheil Giorgadze stated that even
Georgia's ministry of culture could not decide the fate of the
religious monuments.
"It's not a Culture Ministry's competence to decide religious
belonging. We see all of these churches as historical monuments and
we take care of them regardless to which religion they belong to,"
Giorgadze said.
Nikoloz Antidze, head of Georgia's National Agency for Cultural
Heritage Preservation said that he had some information concerning
the issue.
"We have some information about the issue, but UNESCO is not a court
that is eligible to solve cultural ownership issues. Large-scale
research needs to be conducted," Antidze said.
http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/3290_january_20_2015/3290_tea.html