The Georgian priest headed the "Operation" to desecrate Armenian graves in Tbilisi

In Tbilisi, the day before, an attempt was made to desecrate the two graves of famous representatives of the Armenian community, buried near the local Armenian temple Surb Norazhen (Church of the Mother of God). This was reported by REGNUM in the press service of the Armenian Center for Cooperation of Georgia (ACSG).

According to the report, on Sunday of November 16, at about 13:00 local time (12:00 Moscow time), the parishioners of the Armenian Cathedral of Tbilisi SURB Gevorg became aware of the next encroachment on the Armenian temple of the SURB Norazhen. Representatives of the Armenian public of the city arrived at the place became witnesses of the act of vandalism - desecration of two graves of famous Armenians - philanthropists of the city of Tbilisi, representatives of the Tamamshev family (Tamamsheyan) - Mikhail Ivanovich and Lidia Petrovna, buried more than a hundred years ago near the walls of the church. With the help of excavators, Georgian workers pushed the stones with the aim of "clean the ground under the tombstones and around them." The work was led by a representative of the Georgian Patriarchate, Priest Tariel Sikinchelashvili, who took this step, according to his own, "as part of his personal program to improve the territory adjacent to the Armenian Church." Employees of the Ombudsman and Patrol apparatus were called to the place of the incident. “The latter had to explain the situation for a long time, explain the reasons for their anxiety, write an explanatory and almost apologize for the“ false ”challenge,” said the representatives of the ATsSG.

Under the pressure of the assembled Tariel, Sikinchelashvili with a group of accomplices of the action was forced to put the tombstones in place. In parallel, representatives of the diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia were negotiating with the Georgian Patriarchate.

Recalling that this is not the first such attempt on the part of his father Tariel Sikinchelashvili to defile Armenian shrines. It is known that back in 2005, he also brought Georgian tombstones from one of the rural cemeteries and were laid in the courtyard of the Norazhen Church. Representatives of the ACSG noted that the destruction of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage, primarily churches and cemeteries, became an integral function of some states of the South Caucasus. The organization’s appeal noted that the promises given by the governments of both countries and representatives of both churches to solve the integrated problem of the Armenian Church in Georgia, which includes the provision of the legal status of the Church and the return of invalid Armenian churches, and the infringement of the constitutional rights of the Armenian and other national and religious minorities of Georgia becomes the norm.

Note that on the same day, November 16, International Day of tolerance is celebrated.

Recall that on October 23, the diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia once again expressed concern and indignation in connection with the act of encroachment on the temple of Surb Norazhen and the territory adjacent to the church, organized by the Tariel Sikinchelashvili. A group of workers subordinate to him began to build an iron fence, which includes religious elements characteristic of the Georgian Orthodox Church, with the aim of protecting the building of the Temple of SURB Norazhen.

The question of attempts to usurpation of the next Armenian church in Tbilisi - Surb Norazhen - was the last time rose by representatives of the ACSG in May of this year, when the Georgian side began to build a fence around this temple. Then many high-ranking officials of the Governments of Georgia and Armenia, including the Prime Minister of the two countries, spoke of this problem. The construction was temporarily stopped, declared illegal, and Georgian Armenians were made a promise to dismantle the fence in the near future. However, contrary to promises, the fence without any interference was completed in October.