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Arno Stepanian Does not have Hope that the Government will Take Any Effective Measures Regarding the Disputed Church

January 12, 2012

The head of the NGO Multinational Georgia, Arno Stepanian, does not have hope any effective measures will be taken by the government regarding the disputed church between Georgian and Armenian sides Surbnshani.

Stepanian stated the following to Pirveli when he commented on the fire eruption and the visit of the Armenian delegation in Georgia.

“The Armenian delegation is going to arrive. The Georgian Minister of Culture will probably receive them well and the Commission might be created. However, I do not think that this will have a good result. We do not have such precedent. The same thing happened when the Moghnisi church was destroyed. The Commission was created, the tender was announced and the company which was going to conduct the expertise work received 60 000 GEL. However, no works were conducted. It seems like the Georgian Minister of Culture is not going to take real steps regarding the 6 Armenian churches,” – Stepanian stated.

As for the possible reasons for the fire eruption, Stepanian does not exclude that this might have happened by chance, since, “The church has no door and sometimes drunkards and drug addicts find shelter there.” He talks about possible, “deliberate provocation,” as well.

According to him, the southern wall of the church burned down as a result of the fire. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) started working to ascertain the motivations.

A group of experts at the Ministry of Culture of Armenia will study the case circumstances on the field. According to Armenia News, the delegation which has already been sent to Tbilisi will be headed by the head of the Agency for the Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments, Serzhik Arakelian.

Surbnshani is situated in the center of Tbilisi. The fire erupted in the church yesterday. This church is one of the 6 disputed churches among Georgia and Armenia.

Information Agency Pirveli

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