The Armenian Church continues to raise issue concerning the restitution of property that has been confiscated from the Diocese in the Soviet Period |
On February 19, 2014 the meeting of religious community representatives with representatives of Diplomatic Corps accredited in Georgia and State officials dealing with human rights was held.
Paata Zakareishvili, the State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, Paata Beltadze, Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, Tamar Chugoshvili, Assistant to the Prime Minister on Human Rights, and others attended the meeting. The meeting was organized by the Tolerance Centre at the Public Defender's Office of Georgia. Levon Isakhanyan, Head of Department of Legal Affairs, the Relationship with the State Institutions, and Inter-religious Cooperation, represented the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia at the meeting. He informed the audience that the Armenian Diocese appreciated the government’s decision to partially pay damages, caused to the Diocese in the Soviet Period, and raised the issue on the restitution of churches that has been confiscated from the Diocese, as well as transfer of real property to the Diocese that is actually in its possession. The State Minister Zakareishvili mentioned that the government had adopted a decree on creation of State Agency on Religious Issues and the Agency would have the competence to deal with the raised issues. At the same time, it was noted that after involvement of the Agency, interdepartmental commission on research of certain issues concerning religious organizations, established on November 29, 2013 and headed by the State Minister Paata Zakareishvili, would probably be disbanded.
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