12.01.2001, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. The responsibility Georgia took in front of the Council of Europe to repatriate the Turks-meskhetins, banished last century in the 40’s, will end in a clash with the population of Samtskhe-Javaheti region, which is mainly inhabited by ethnic Armenians. The deputy of the Georgian parliament from the Akhalkalaki region Melik Raisyan stated this, as Prime-News reported.
The land in Samtskhe-Javaheti is privatized, and on the place of the old houses, which once belonged to Turks-meskhetins, new buildings are built, he noted. Melik Raisyan didn’t exclude that the catalyst of the opposition may also become the religious factor. Besides, he believes, if about 70 thousand people were banished then, now about 400 thousand plan to return to Georgia.
The head of the Repatriation Service of Georgia Guram Mamulia said that he doesn’t exclude the clash possibility between the residents of Samtskhe-Javaheti and Turks-meskhetins if the latters return. The politicians speaking against the repatriation injure the international prestige of Georgia, Mamulia stated. If by April 27 the parliament won’t adopt a law about repatriation, a question to exclude Georgia from the Council of Europe may arouse. -0-
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