Friday, 24 February 2017
“We have all-round agreements with Georgian government” - Karen Karapetyan meets Armenian community in Georgia
On the second day of his official visit to Georgia, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan led the members of his delegation to Heroes Square in Tbilisi and laid a wreath at the monument.
Then the Prime Minister headed for Surb Gevorg Church, where he was welcomed by the Armenian Apostolic Church Georgia Diocese Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan and the representatives of the Armenian community. Arriving at the churchyard, Karen Karapetyan laid flowers on the graves of famous Armenian Generals and Sayat-Nova. Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan delivered a prayer of praise and wished Karen Karapetyan’s Cabinet strength and fortitude. The Primate of Georgia Diocese said they believed in the new government’s success for the sake of the Motherland.
The Head of Government next called at Surb Echmiadzin church in Tbilisi, where he laid flowers at the monument to 1915 Armenian Genocide victims. The Premier toured the church-affiliated Hayartun educational, cultural and youth center and met with the representatives of the Armenian community.
The Prime Minister gave the details of his official visit to Georgia, noting that he considered the visit as quite constructive, warm and informative.
“We are very much pleased with the results of the visit and the warm welcome shown to my delegation. We have discussed all the spheres of mutual interest and have reached all-round agreements. Moreover, we have made an arrangement to upgrade our economic cooperation to a regional level in order to come out in a larger common market, including tourism, the projected free economic zone with Iran and others. Talking about business expansion, we agreed to have the Georgian experience in the field of tourism in return for Armenia’s IT expertise. I feel great enthusiasm and responsibility about the outcome of this constructive trip,” Karen Karapetyan said, noting that the Georgian colleagues had been offered to use the Armenian platform as a gateway to the EEU market. He advised that the sides had agreed to organize an “open day” to discus various projects with Georgian businessmen.
Concerning the alternative road through Upper Lars, the Prime Minister said, “The issue has been discussed. Be sure that it will be settled.”
According to the Prime Minister, in addition to economic exchanges, reference was also made to the strengthening of relations between the two peoples. Karen Karapetyan stressed that sizeable work has to be done n this respect.
“We have a problem to establish ties between future generations, and we agreed to use different platforms to bring youth together. We also talked about Georgia-based Armenians, including the problems faced in Javakhk in terms of education, textbooks, teachers, and there was no such question over which we could not come to mutual understanding,” the Head of Government said.
When asked about his vision of tomorrow’s Armenia, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that we will have a statehood to be proud of no matter where we may be living.
“We have the right and potential for it. We must set ourselves ambitious tasks and reach them through joint effort. All we need is mutual trust and support to move forward.” Karen Karapetyan said to have met with Georgia-based Armenian businessmen who presented their suggestions and concerns, to which the Government will respond soon.
The representatives of the Armenian community of Georgia thanked the Prime Minister for the visit and detailed briefing. They also thanked the Premier for canceling the fee of 1000 drams due from motorcars with Georgian license plates when crossing the Georgian-Armenian border.
In conclusion, the Prime Minister called at the Armenian State Drama Theater after Petros Adamyan in Tbilisi to get acquainted with the current state of affairs. RA Culture Minister Armen Amiryan reported that the Georgian government will allocate Lari 3.5 million for theater renovation.
