On October 13, 2013 in Calouste Gulbenkian Hall of the “Hayartun” Cultural Center at the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia, a meeting with Nino Burjanazde, Georgian Presidential Candidate and the leader of the opposition movement “Democratic Movement – United Georgia”, took place.

The meeting was held in the framework of dialogue platform between on one hand Georgian politicians, public figures and diplomatic corps representatives, on the other hand Georgian citizens of Armenian origin. The aim of dialogue platform was to raise awareness of Georgian citizens of Armenian descent over political process in the country and its interpretation.

Nino Burjanadze presented her electoral program, after that she answered the question of the audience.

The leaders of Armenian public organizations in Tbilisi, politicians, those who were interested in the presidential candidate program and her approach on national minorities attended the meeting.

The host of the event Levon Isakhanian, Head of Department of Legal Affairs, the Relationship with the State, Inter-religious Cooperation at the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia, opened the meeting-discussion, he addressed Nino Burjanadze with a request to present an analysis of the challenges faced by national, religious and linguistic minorities in Georgia.

The presidential candidate presented the real political situation of the country during the last 20 years, the challenges and the steps taken by the government. She also spoke about her presidential program, the policy with the neighboring countries, the social problems of the country, health care reforms, and about her attitude to the ethnic minorities.

The leader of the opposition movement “Democratic Movement – United Georgia” emphasized the integration of multi-ethnic population of the country into civil society, and named the issue of the state language knowledge, however, she noted with satisfaction that the holding of this meeting in the country’s official language was a testament of overcoming that problem.

The presidential candidate, speaking about relations between Georgia and neighboring countries, emphasized that if she was elected as a president, the friendly relations between Armenia and Georgia would tend to further warming and joint large-scale regional projects. She stressed that attention of the state to the national minorities should be a clear indication for the residents of the conflict regions, and this might help to solve problem of the restitution of the lost territories and the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity.

After that the audience raised question concerning the issue of not appointing Georgian citizens of Armenian origin to the office in public institutions, discrimination against Georgian citizens of Armenian decent in various international organizations existing in Georgia, Georgia's ratification of The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, etc.

The presidential candidate gave sincere and complete answers to all the questions.

The Armenian community in Tbilisi is waiting for the readiness on the part of the other presidential candidates to meet with the community members.