Analyst: Georgian authorities must establisher closer ties with Armenian community

YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS:

The implementation of changes in the civil code of Georgia which grants legal status to the Armenian Apostolic Church and other religious groups is not only the issue of Armenian-Georgian relations but the inner issue of Georgia, director of the Caucasus Institute, political analyst Alexander Iskandaryan told a news conference today, adding that the Georgian Church is a very important institute in the life of Georgia but it is necessary to take into consideration that it is a quite fundamental institution and sometimes has extreme approaches.

"After the visit of the Armenian Catholicos, it has been succeeded to reach the arrangements which were intended. But contrary to the Georgian Patriarch, President Saakashvili approved the amendments", the political analyst said, adding that this whole process makes obvious that the Georgian authorities wished to make these changes.

To eliminate the tensed situation created in Georgia the authorities must establish wider contacts with the Armenian community.