Armenians in Samtskhe–Javakheti ( , ) are ethnic

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

of Georgian nationality living in the Samtskhe–Javakheti region of the Republic of Georgia. The southern part of the region (

Javakheti Javakheti ( ka, ჯავახეთი ) or Javakhk (, ''Javakhk'')' is a historical province in southern Georgia, corresponding to the modern municipalities of Akhalkalaki, Aspindza (partly), Ninotsminda, and partly to the Turkey's Ardahan ...

) borders

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

to the south. Here, ethnic Armenians form the great majority of the population with minorities of

Georgians Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Ge ...

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

and Caucasus Greeks. Among Armenians of Samtskhe–Javakheti, Armenian is the common language spoken.

History

The region known to Armenians as Javakhk has long been tied to the Kingdom of Armenia with an Armenian presence there being recorded for millennia. Many of the Armenians in the region today immigrated from Erzurum Vilayet in the Ottoman Empire after the area became part of Russia in 1829 while most of the Muslims ( Meskhetian Turks and

Adjarians The Adjarians ( ka, აჭარლები, tr), also known as Muslim Georgians, are an ethnographic group of Georgians indigenous to Adjara in southwestern Georgia. Adjarian settlements are also found in the Georgian provinces of Guria, Kv ...

) in the region emigrated to the Ottoman Empire. More Armenians came to region later on as a result of Turkish massacres and the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

driven policy aimed to settle the Christian Armenians at the border of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, since they were enjoying the status of a reliable ally in contrast to the Muslim population. Ethnic Armenians are chiefly concentrated in

Akhalkalaki Akhalkalaki ( ka, ახალქალაქი, tr ; ) is a town in Georgia (country), Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe–Javakheti and the administrative centre of the Akhalkalaki Municipality. Akhalkalaki lies on the edge of the Javakheti ...

and Ninotsminda districts. At the beginning of 1918 in Akhalkalaki region had 120,000 population, from which

were 89,000 (74%),

Meskhetian Turks Meskhetian Turks, also referred to as Turkish Meskhetians, Ahiska Turks, and Turkish Ahiskans, (; ka, მესხეთის თურქები ''Meskhetis turk'ebi'') are a subgroup of ethnic Turkish people formerly inhabiting the Mes ...

were 8,000 (7%), representatives of other nationalities 23,000 (19%) During this period in Ahalkalak district there were 111 villages from which 66 were Armenian, 24 Turkish, 9

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, 10 Georgian (including former Armenian villages Vargav and Hzabavra, the population of which had assimilated with Georgians), and one village with the Armenian-Georgian mixed population. In 1944 the government of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

exiled the Meskhetian Turkish population of Meskheti (approximately 100,000 person) to

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

(

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

and

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

). The five villages of Sagamo, Khavet, Erindja, Davnia, and Karsep in the Akhalkalaki district and the Bogdanovka areas were settled by Armenians. During Zviad Gamsakhurdia's presidency (1991), Javakheti remained ''de facto'' semi-independent and only in November 1991 the Tbilisi-appointed governor was able to take power. The issue of Javakheti was in the 1990s "clearly been perceived as the most dangerous potential ethnic conflict in Georgia", however, no actual armed conflict ever occurred. An incident took place in Akhalkalaki district on 14 August 1998. The Georgian military units were to hold exercises with the Russians in Akhalkalaki, and the local Armenian population was not told about it. The Georgians units entered the Armenian-populated areas and met some 25 Armenians, who "believed that the Georgian army was coming to deport Armenians from their homes". The group of Armenians were armed and allegedly had mortars and other artillery. The Georgian units eventually left, avoiding a possible clash with the armed men. According to the Georgian national security ministry was the incident was a provocation organized by the Javakhk organization. Vahagn Chakhalyan, the leader of United Javakhk, was arrested in 2008. Chakhalyan was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in 2009 for "acquisition and possession of firearms and ammunition, organizing a group action which grossly disrupted public order, hooliganism committed against a government representative." Chakhalyan was released from prison in January 2013 under amnesty law after

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili (; born 18 February 1956), also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili, is a French-Georgian businessman, politician and billionaire oligarch. He is founder and the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party and has ruled G ...

and his Georgia Dream coalition came to power in Georgia.

Demographics

This table is a comparing table of Armenian population of Samtskhe–Javakheti in 1939, 1989, 2002, 2014.

Politics

Tensions in Samtskhe–Javakheti have run high at times. One reason is based in the official Georgian language policy that does, officially, not allow the

Armenian language Armenian (endonym: , , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the sole member of the independent branch of the Armenian language family. It is the native language of the Armenians, Armenian people and the official language of ...

to be used in public or administrative offices, even if citizen and officer speak better Armenian than Georgian. International monitoring missions on the situation of national minorities in Georgia have critically commented in this aspect as recently as 2009. The ethnic Armenian United Javakhk Democratic Alliance calls on a local autonomy for Javakheti within Georgia. Some Armenian political groupings of

and the

Armenian diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

, among them most notably the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (, abbr. ARF (ՀՅԴ) or ARF-D), also known as Dashnaktsutyun (Armenians, Armenian: Դաշնակցություն, Literal translation, lit. "Federation"), is an Armenian nationalism, Armenian nationalist a ...

(ARF) claim that Javakhk (Armenian name for Javakheti) should belong to Armenia,

United Armenia United Armenia (), also known as Greater Armenia or Great Armenia, is an Armenian nationalist, Armenian ethno-nationalist Irredentism, irredentist concept referring to areas within the traditional Armenian homeland—the Armenian Highland, Ar ...

shall include all territories designated as Armenia by the

Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres () was a 1920 treaty signed between some of the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire, but not ratified. The treaty would have required the cession of large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, ...

as well as the regions of Artsakh (

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

), Javakhk (Armenian name for Javakheti), and Nakhchivan. However, Javakhk (Javakheti) is not officially claimed by the government of Armenia. A small number of Turkish Meskhetians returned to Georgia in recent years. With little employment opportunities in the region, the re-migration caused tensions with the local Armenian population. In consequence, the Georgian authorities preferred to settle returning Turkish Meskhetians in other areas in the country. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline and South Caucasus gas pipeline which passed through the region, has met opposition from local Armenians, as well as the planned Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku railway as it isolates Armenia.

Notable people

* Jivani (1846–1909), ''gusan'' (bard) and poet, born in Kartsakh village * Stepan Malkhasyants (1857–1947), academician, philologist, linguist, and lexicographer, born in Akhaltsikhe *

Hovhannes Katchaznouni Hovhannes Kajaznuni or Katchaznouni (; 14 February 1868 – 15 January 1938) was an Armenian architect and politician who served as the first prime minister of the First Republic of Armenia from 6 June 1918 to 7 August 1919. He was a member of th ...

(1868–1938), the first Prime Minister of Armenia from 1918 to 1919, born in Akhaltsikhe * Derenik Demirchian (1877–1956), writer, born in

* Ruben Ter-Minasian (1882–1951), Defense Minister of Armenia in 1920, born in Akhalkalaki *

Hakob Kojoyan Hakob Kojoyan (; December 13, 1883 – April 24, 1959) was an Armenian artist. He mostly worked in the genres of painting and applied art. Hakob Kojoyan assisted Armenian architect Alexander Tamanian in creating the coat of arms for the First R ...

(1883–1959), prominent painter born in

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია ), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region () of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and ...

* Vahan Terian (1885–1920), prominent poet, born in Gandza village * Gregorio Pietro Agagianian (1895–1971), Armenian Catholic Patriarch, Cardinal, papal candidate * Gurgen Dalibaltayan (b. 1926), military commander, Colonel-General, born in Ninotsminda * Karapet Chobanyan (1927–1978), scientist born in Karzakh village * Lusine Zakaryan (1937–1991), soprano, born in Akhaltsikhe * Harutyun Khachatryan (b. 1955), film director, founder of the

Yerevan International Film Festival The ''Golden Apricot'' Yerevan International Film Festival (GAIFF; ) is an annual film festival held in Yerevan, Armenia. The festival was founded in 2004 with the co-operation of the "Golden Apricot" Fund for Cinema Development, the Armenian A ...

born in Akhalkalaki * Levon Khechoyan (1955–2014), writer, born in Baraleti village * Vagharshak Harutiunyan (b. 1956), Armenian Defence Minister from 1999 to 2000 born in

References

Sources

* *

External links

Javakhkh.com portal

Javakhk.net portal

Ararat Center's section: Javakhk: News, Facts and Analyses
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armenians In Samtskhe-Javakheti Armenian diaspora in Georgia (country) People from Samtskhe–Javakheti