The ARF advocates the security and integration of the Armenians of Javakhk (Samtskhe-Javakheti) into Georgian society. The region is located adjacent to the Republic of Armenia’s northern border. While the ARF does not have an official presence in Javakhk, the Party advances on the international stage its deep concerns for Javakhk Armenians who suffer from systematic government-imposed discrimination in work and education which, in turn, result in economic hardship and isolation.
The ARF demands the Georgian Government’s immediate implementation of – and commitment to – a program to improve the living conditions of Armenians – and all ethnic minorities in Georgia – including a plan to integrate them into Georgia’s social and political society. The ARF also believes that the Georgian Government should recognize the Armenian language as an official language of the Javakhk region.
It is the ARF’s position that Georgia current discriminatory policy of ethnic minority assimilation, rather than the progressive policy of ethnic integration, will only worsen the conditions both for ethnic minorities and Georgia itself. Georgia ‘s government promised the Council of Europe to implement an integration policy, but instead abandoned that path for one engendering instability and unrest.
The Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora have a role to play in bringing about the change Georgia’s ethnic minorities deserve by continuing to push for joint efforts with Georgian authorities to create more favorable social, economic, cultural and educational conditions. Such joint efforts could include a program of social, economic, cultural and educational development
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