PARADIGM
02 Jun 2018

Important messages of Nikol Pashinyan's visit to Georgia from Johnny Melikyan’s point of view

What was the importance of Prime Minister Pashinyan's visit to neighboring Georgia?

 

PM Nikol Pashinyan made his first official visit to neighboring Georgia. Some experts consider this visit historical. What was the importance of Pashinyan's visit to Georgia? Answering this question, expert in Georgian studies Johnny Melikyan, first of all, highlights the importance of the visit to Javakheti.

“I guess it was valued as a historical one since after agreeing with official Tbilisi, the Prime Minister got back to Armenia through Javakheti. Equally important was the fact that he was accompanied by Deputy PM, Foreign Minister of Georgia Mikheil Janelidze. Some statements were made by him, in particular, that Georgia is strong with strong Armenia and vice versa, which shows that the discourse is changing. Perhaps, today it seems rhetorical, but there is a readiness,” the expert explains.

The visit to Georgia contained several messages. First, according to Johnny Melikyan, official Yerevan shows that it will conduct a proactive foreign policy, and Georgia has its place in this policy. “The other message was related to Javakheti. Both Yerevan and Tbilisi believe that there is no Javakheti issue. Javakheti is a region where Armenians live, this is a region that connects rather than divides Armenia and Georgia,” says the expert in Georgian studies. Find the details in the program “Paradigm”.