Defending the religious rights & freedoms of Armenians in the Republic of Georgia

I am writing to you with a formal request that you mobilize your current political resources, networking, and human capital toward lobbying our government and public officials, requesting them to come to the aid of our ethnic and religious Armenian Community in the Republic of Georgia.

Since the independence of the Republic of Georgia, there have been various reports (Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, U.S. State Department Global Report) about the Georgian Govt.s intentional neglect of the numerous ancient Armenian Churches within its borders, as well as its restriction against officially registering the Armenian Apostolic Church as an active diocese in today's Georgian Republic where several hundred-thousand Armenians reside.

The Georgian Govt.s policies of refusing to recognize the Armenian Apostolic Church as a legal religious entity within the Republic of Georgia, and its restriction from allowing the Armenian Community there from maintaing the physical well being of ancient Armenian Churches within the country's borders, has resulted in the recent collapse of a wall of the ancient Mughno Surp Gevorg Armenian Church, on Nov. 19, 2009 in Tbilisi, Georgia illustrating the tragic consequences of such policies of discrimination & religious intolerance.

The damage and collapse caused by the lack of maintenance and upkeep was to such a degree that nearby buildings were also damaged within the Sololaki District of the Georgian Capital (The Georgian Times). Surp Gevorg Church remains closed due to its critically deteriorating condition, and unfortunately, is not the only Armenian Church suffering from such circumstances in Georgia.

Thus, we the undersigned, urge you to take decisive action by lobbying our government agencies and international human rights groups, to pressure the Government of the Republic of Georgia to entitle and recognize the Georgian-Armenian Community's right to exercise their religious beliefs and preserve their historical religious sites without restriction, persecution, or repercussion by the Government of the Republic of Georgia.