Yerevan /Mediamax/. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia mentioned the Armenian community of Georgia in the report “Human rights situation in certain countries.”

“Georgia” section of the report particularly says that “the degree of participation of representatives of the most numerous Azerbaijani and Armenian communities in the public and political life of the country remains extremely low, which does not allow them to fully integrate into Georgian society.”

“The main problem of national minorities is still the ignorance of the state Georgian language. After the Rose Revolution, Georgian authorities introduced a number of laws restricting the use of minority languages and obliging non-indigenous ethnic groups to communicate with government officials in Georgian. Human rights activists note that the authorities are not creating necessary conditions for learning the Georgian language,” the report says.

“Due to the fact that the participation of representatives of national minorities in the political life of Georgia remains low, representatives of ethnic diasporas express their desire for greater independence in order to independently make decisions in the sphere of education and culture, to have leverage over the country’s policy. For example, the Armenian community has been raising the issue of autonomy for Samtskhe-Javakheti for a long time now, and the Azerbaijanis from Kvemo-Kartli are demanding wide representation in local government bodies, where all the main posts are occupied by Georgians. These calls are not supported by the Georgian leadership, which regards them as an expression of separatist sentiments,” the authors of the report write.

“In addition, attacks on the Armenian Apostolic Church have become more frequent in the Georgian media. After the adoption of the Law on “Free Registration of Religious Denominations in Georgia” in 2011, cases of vandalism against Armenian churches have been repeatedly registered,” the report of the Russian Foreign Ministry reads.