Armenians in Georgia
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Total population | |
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168,191–220,000 including Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakheti, Armenians in Tbilisi, Armenians in Abkhazia, Armenians in Azerbaijan, Armenians in Russia |
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Persecution |
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Armenians in Georgia or Georgian Armenians
History
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Medieval Armenian historians and chroniclers, such as
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Armenian merchants, including famous jewelers and oil industrialists invested heavily in business in Georgia and helped build trading houses, cultural centers, schools and churches. The number of Armenians increased progressively such that by the early 19th century, the Armenians far outnumbered Georgians in the capital city of Tbilisi.[citation needed] Tbilisi became a veritable cultural center for Eastern Armenians ("arevelahayer", commonly called Russian-Armenians "rusahayer") just like Istanbul in Turkey became cultural center for the Western Armenians ("arevmedahayer", commonly called Turkish-Armenians "turkahayer" at the time).[citation needed]
As a result of the struggles of the Russian Empire with the Ottomans and its conquest of the Caucasus over the Qajar Iran, the Russian authorities found themselves able to settle Christian Armenian and Greek refugees in the area after 1828,[5] following the ratified Treaty of Turkmenchay with Qajar Iran of 1828, and the Treaty of Adrianople with Ottoman Turkey of 1829.
Architecture
Armenians left rich architectural imprint in Georgia, and Tbilisi has many architectural buildings constructed by Armenian architects of the last centuries. There are many mansions that were built by influential Armenians and comprise some of the most attractive historical buildings in Tbilisi.[citation needed]
As an example of the Armenian presence is the house of Melik-Azaryants in Tbilisi on a principal avenue in Tbilisi called Rustaveli Avenue.
Domes of Armenian churches are seen in all parts of the city center. In the beginning of the 20th century there were as many as 30 Armenian churches in Tbilisi.[citation needed]
Armenian Norashen Church, an architectural monument from 1701 is in ruins. The walls of Norashen, which means "new construction", had been decorated by the frescoes of Hovnatan Hovnatanian, the court painter of Georgian King Heraclius II.[citation needed]
Georgian–Armenian War 1918
The
Armenians in Soviet Georgia
After the establishment of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, and despite the establishment of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, most Armenians decided to stay and enjoyed reasonably prosperous life, except for their religious freedoms, as the Communist government had nationalized most of the Armenian churches and cultural monuments and suppressed the religious freedoms of the general population including the Armenians.[citation needed]
This resulted in dozens of churches closing. By the end of the Soviet era, only two Armenian churches had remained operational.[citation needed]
Armenians in the Republic of Georgia
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Armenians welcomed the establishment of the Republic of Georgia hoping for better living conditions after the collapse of the Soviet rule. However economic as well as social conditions have not been favorable for the community.[citation needed]
One of the biggest problems is the inability of the Armenians in Georgia to use Armenian language in public life.[citation needed] The government's new language policies are a source of strong resentment and it is accused of abolishing minorities' former rights to use Armenian or Russian and thus limiting access to jobs and education.[6] President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan has urged ethnic Armenians to learn the Georgian language, which he said is essential for their integration into the Georgian society.[7]
Armenians in this region of Georgia should think about learning Georgian instead of how they could replace it with Armenian. Without the knowledge of Georgian Armenians in Georgia will not be able to seek senior and high government position and can not run successful businesses.[7]
Tbilisi has only three strictly-Armenian schools and two operating churches.[citation needed]
Some Armenians believe they are victims of a policy to shift Samtskhe-Javakheti region's demographic balance as a number of Georgian families were settled there.[6] Armenians are also underrepresented in the government (holding 5 seats in the 235-member Parliament,[6] for example), leading to the perception of discrimination and mutual distrust.[8] There were several protests, some of which turned violent after clashes with law enforcement agents.[6]
Armenians in Tbilisi
The Armenian history and contribution to the city of Tbilisi is very significant.[citation needed] After the Russian conquest of the area, Armenians fleeing persecution in the Ottoman Empire and Qajar Iran caused a jump in the Armenian population until it reached about 40% of the city total. Many of the mayors and business class were Armenian, and much of the old city was built by Armenians. Until recently the neighborhoods of Avlabari and the area across the river were very heavily Armenian, but that has changed a great deal in the last two decades.[9]
Controversy over destruction and appropriation of Armenian churches
Out of the 29 Armenian churches in Tbilisi at the beginning of the 20th century, only two function today –
Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakheti
In 2014, the ethnic Armenians formed half of the population in the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti.[2]
There were tensions in the region in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the local Armenian United Javakhk Democratic Alliance proposing a local autonomy for Javakheti within Georgia. Both Georgian and Armenian governments have pursued a careful and calming policy in regard with local nationalist movements that helped ease tensions in the region.[11][12][13]
The
Armenians in Abkhazia
The Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia also has a significant population of Armenians.[14] They are the second largest ethnic group in the region after the Abkhazians.[15] Armenians settled in Abkhazia in late 19th and the early 20th centuries and are now the largest ethnic group in Gagra, Sukhumi, and Gulripshi Districts, forming 20% of the Abkhazian population with 45,000 out of a total of 215,000.[citation needed]
During the war in Abkhazia in early 90s, most local Armenians supported Abkhazian secessionists, which resulted in increase of anti-Armenian sentiments within the Georgian society.[16] However, the de facto Abkhaz authorities have been accused by local Armenian NGOs of intentionally decreasing the number of Abkhazian-Armenians.[17]
Armenians in Adjara
Adjara is one of two autonomous republics of Georgia (the other being Abkhazia). Ethnic Georgians make up the majority while Armenians comprise 1.6% of the region's population.[2] After Georgians (93.4%), Armenians (3%) comprise the second-largest ethnic group in the regional center of Batumi.[2]
Religion
Early history
The Armenian church in Georgia has 15 centuries of ecclesiastical presence as it had existed as early as the 5th century AD. Medieval Armenian historian Oukhtannes reported that in the Georgian town of Tsurtavi, there was an Armenian prelacy under the jurisdiction of the Armenian Patriarch, led by a bishop called Movses.[citation needed]
Another historian, Matheos of Urkha, reports that during the reign of Georgia's king David IV the Armenian church was granted status of a recognized diocese. Surb Gevork Armenian Cathedral of Tbilisi was then its administrative centre. Over 600 religious and cultural sites, like churches, seminaries, monasteries are documented, although a large portion of these sites is extinct due to natural disasters, vandalism, and other factors.[citation needed]
Present situation
The Armenians in Georgia belong mainly to the Armenian Apostolic faith, with important numbers of Armenian Catholics as well concentrated in Samtskhe-Javakheti.[citation needed]
Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia
A majority of the Armenians living in Georgia belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church and are under the jurisdiction of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.[citation needed]
Local matters of the Armenian Georgians are run by the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church in Georgia. It is also known as Armenian: Վիրահայոց Թեմ (Virahayots' T'em).[citation needed] The head of the diocese is Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan.[citation needed]
Today, only two Armenian churches are operational in Tbilisi. Several Armenian churches have already been destroyed, converted into Georgian ones, are in disputed about or are in the wake of being "Georgianized".
The reconstruction of churches requires huge investments and so far neither the Armenian Government, nor the Holy See Etchmiadzin or the Armenian Community of Tbilisi can afford it.[citation needed]
Several Armenian churches in Georgia were redecorated to remove any characteristically Armenian architectural features and belong now to Georgian Orthodox or other faiths.[citation needed]
Catholic Armenians in Georgia
In Georgia, there are also an important segment of Armenian Catholics belonging to the Armenian Catholic Church notably in Samtskhe-Javakheti with fewer Armenian Catholics in the rest of the country including Tbilisi.[citation needed]
The Armenian Catholics are ruled by the "Catholic Diocese of Armenia, Georgia and Eastern Europe" that was reopened in 1991 after a long break during the Soviet era. Archbishop Nerses Ter-Nersesian, member of
The faithful of the
Georgian Byzantine-Rite Catholics and the Armenian Rite
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, when almost all Georgian Catholics were of the Latin rite, some wished to use the Byzantine rite used by the Georgian Orthodox Church. The Russian Empire, which had controlled Georgia since the beginning of that century, made use of that rite exclusive to the Eastern Orthodox Church.[citation needed]
Accordingly, some of these Catholic Georgians, clergy as well as laity, adopted the Armenian Rite and joined the Armenian Catholic diocese of Artvin, which had been set up in Russian Transcaucasia in 1850. Only after the granting of religious freedom in Russia in 1905 did some Catholics in Georgia eventually adopt the Byzantine rite.[citation needed]
Education
Capital Tbilisi has three strictly Armenian schools. There are also five Armenian-Russian and Armenian-Georgian schools. All of them teach Armenian language and literature in addition to the official curriculum. But a common complaint is that Armenian History hours are not included. The Armenian Government sends thousands of textbooks in Armenian to the schools. But still, the schools have a deficit of books, furniture, and all need urgent renovation.[citation needed] Annually around 50 Armenian students of Georgian nationality enter Armenian universities.[citation needed]
Media
Tbilisi was an important center for Armenian language publications, including the publishing of Haratch by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation for the period 1906 to 1909. It included as editors and writers renowned political and literary names.[citation needed]
After restrictions by the Russian authorities, the newspaper was replaced by "Horizon" that was not affiliated with any specific political party and went on publishing until 1918.[citation needed]
Presently, an Armenian newspaper Vrastan is published in Tbilisi in Armenian. In 2014, a new newspaper Ardzagank started publishing in Tbilisi.[citation needed]
Organizations
There are a number of Armenian organizations and associations in Georgia. Amongst them:
- United Javakhk Democratic Alliance
- Armenian Community of Tbilisi
- Armenian Center of Cooperation of Georgia (ACCG)
List of notable Armenians in Georgia
Political and social personalities
Khojaminasishvili (Georgian: ხოჯამინასიშვილი) was a wealthy Armenian mercantile family in Georgia which was ennobled, with the dignity of Prince (tavadi), by the Georgian king Heraclius II of Georgia in 1775, and confirmed in their title by the Russian Empire in 1857.
Bebutov (Georgian: ბებუთოვი, Russian: Бебутовы), also known as Bebutashvili (Georgian: ბებუთაშვილი), was a Georgian noble family of Armenian ethnicity which played an important role in the economical and social life of the city of Tbilisi throughout the 17th and 18th century, and later served in the military of the Russian Empire in the 19th century.
Alexander Khatisian (Armenian: Ալեքսանդր Խատիսյան) was an Armenian politician and a journalist. He served as the mayor of Tbilisi from 1910 to 1917. During the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia, he served as a member from the Armenian National Council of Tiflis to the Armenian National Congress (1917) and later to the permanent executive committee selected by the Armenian National Congress. After declaration of the First Republic of Armenia, he served as Foreign Minister and signed the Treaty of Batum with the Ottoman Empire. He was elected as the prime minister from 1919 to 1920.
Hovhannes Kajaznuni (Armenian: Յովհաննէս Քաջազնունի (Yovhannēs Kajaznuni)) (Akhaltsikhe, Georgia 1868 – Yerevan, Armenia 1938) was the first Prime Minister of the First Republic of Armenia from 30 May 1918 to 28 May 1919. He was a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
Arts
Aram Khachaturian (Armenian: Արամ Խաչատրյան (Aram Khachatryan)); Russian: Аpaм Ильич Xaчaтypян) (1903–1978) was a Soviet-Armenian composer whose works were often influenced by Armenian folk music. He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, to a poor Armenian family and immigrated to Moscow.
Mikael Tariverdiev (Russian: Микаэл Таривердиев (1931–1996, was born in Tbilisi and was a prominent Soviet composer of Armenian descent. He headed the Composers' Guild of Soviet Cinematographers' Union from its inception.
Sciences
Sebastian Shaumyan (1916–2007) was a Soviet and American theoretician of linguistics and a passionate partisan of a structuralist analysis. Having learnt German and English in addition to his Armenian, Georgian and Russian, Shaumyan took his degree in philology at Tbilisi State University. Shaumyan published Structural Linguistics in 1965 and founded the Section of Structural Linguistics at the Institute of Russian Language in Moscow. He co-wrote Fundamentals of the Generative Grammar of Russian (1958), and Applicational Generative Model and Transformational Calculus of Russian (1963), both with Soboleva.
Sports
Armenian-Georgian relations
Armenia and Georgia have a long history of cultural and political relations. The interaction peaked in the Middle Ages when both nations engaged in prolific cultural dialogue and allied themselves against the neighboring Muslim empires. There were frequent intermarriages between Armenian and Georgian royal and noble families and both ethnicities intermingled in several border areas.
Armenian-Georgian relations have always been substantive, but they have become even more pronounced in the post-Soviet independence years. Armenia and Georgia governments have had generally positive relations, but there have also been some problems in the past. There are many Armenians living in Georgia in great numbers though no substantive number of Georgians live in Armenia.
Despite the great number of Armenians in Georgia, and having 5 Armenian members, the Georgian Parliament has not passed a law for
See also
- Armenia–Georgia relations
- Armenians in Abkhazia
- Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakheti
- Armenians in Tbilisi
- Samtskhe-Javakheti
- Tsalka
- Armenian National Council of Tiflis
- St. George's Armenian Apostolic Church, Tbilisi
References
- ^ "Ngram Viewer". books.google.com. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Population Census 2014". www.geostat.ge. National Statistics Office of Georgia. November 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ Abkhazia Offers Citizenship to Diaspora. IWPR. CRS No. 314, 10-Nov-05; V.A. Chirikba. Armenians and their Dialects in Abkhazia. In: Evidence and Counter-Evidence, Festschrift Frederik Kortlandt, Volume 2, SSGL 33, Amsterdam – New York: Rodopi, p. 51-67.
- ^ The Caucasus: An Introduction. Oxford University Press, USA (9 September 2010), p. 48
- ISBN 978-3-447-06113-1. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ a b c d Georgia's Armenian and Azeri Minorities, 22 November 2006 (free registration needed to view the full report)
- ^ a b Armenia: Kocharian urges Armenians in Georgia to learn Georgian. Caucaz Europenews. 1 May 2007.
- ^ Reuters AlertNet – Georgia's Armenian and Azeri Minorities
- ^ Armeniapedia.org – Tbilisi
- ^ a b Ghazinyan, Aris (15 December 2008). "Controversy under Cupola: Attempts to defend Armenian churches in Georgia meet protests in Tbilisi". ArmeniaNow. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
- ISBN 91-506-1600-5.
- ISBN 9781109120127.
- ISBN 9781409495581.
- ^ 2003 Census statistics (in Russian)
- ^ Abkhazia Offers Citizenship to Diaspora. IWPR. CRS No. 314, 10-Nov-05.
- ^ "ABKHAZIA ARMENIANS: HOLDING A HOME IN AN UNSTABLE TERRITORY". Armenian General Benevolent Union. 1 November 2004. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- ^ The authorities in Abkhazia intentionally decrease the number of Armenians Archived 31 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Public Radio of Armenia. 2 February 2006.
- ^ "Hetq Online". Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2008. Investigative Journalists of Armenia at Hedq.am reporting about status of Armenian churches in Georgia
Bibliography
- Aris Ghazinyan (1 November 2008). "THE 'ARMENIAN PROBLEM': HAYASTANSIS IN GEORGIA FACE CHALLENGES OVER ETHNICITY". AGBU. Archived from the originalon 22 September 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2009.