21/07/2014 18:47
Georgian MFA: Incident at Armenian church was not of interethnic nature
Georgian Foreign Ministry said the incident outside the Surb Etchmiadzin Armenian Church in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi last Sunday was not of an interethnic nature.
“The incident was not of an interethnic nature. The confrontation took place on the street, in connection with a car’s parking. An investigation is being conducted under Article 125 – battery,” a Foreign Ministry representative told Novosti-Georgia.
The Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church issued a statement earlier today that “around 5:00 pm July 20 a planned attack motived by ethnic and religious hatred happened in the yard of the Surb Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi”. About 50 people attacked priest Manuk Zeynalyan, the head of the unit on legal affairs and cooperation of the Diocese Levon Isakhanyan, and manager Robert Isakhanyan who were cruelly beaten and suffered injuries, the Diocese said.
The press office of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin also issued a statement saying that ‘such radical manifestations are not in the spirit of friendly relations between the Armenian and Georgian peoples which are an important achievement of our common historical past. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin expects the Georgian authorities to prosecute those responsible for the offence against the church and ensure the security and normal life of the Armenian Church and Georgia’s Armenian community”.