* Voitsekh Guretski - post-graduate student of the Academy of Sciences of Poland

1. Under the current new territorial arrangement of Georgia, Meskheti and Javakheti are united in one region of Meskhet-Javakheti. The other name of the region is Samtskhe-Javakheti. These territories were formerly part of the Samtskhe-Saatabago principality.

2. The same census established that Armenians made up 2.3% of the population in the Kutaisi province (The Russian empire divided Georgia into two provinces - the province of Tiflis and the province of Kutaisi). Overall, Armenians accounted for 9.2% of the entire Georgian population. Refer to: B.Baranowski, K.Baranowski, Istoria Gruzii, Wroclaw, 1987, pp.170-173; Y.D. Anchabadze, N.P.Volkova, The Old Tbilisi, the City and itsDwellers in the 19th Century, Moscow, 1990, p.33.

3. Miroslava Zakrzewska-Dubasova, Istoria Armen, Wroclaw, 1990, pp.168-179; The Issue (Case) of Armenia. Enciclopedia. Edit. K.S. Khudaverdyan, Yerevan, 1991, A.Melkonyan, article "Akhalkalak", pp 67; A. Melkonyan, article "Akhaltska", pp 67-68

4. Refer to Anorzej Maryanski, Przemiany Ludnosciowe w GSRR, Warszawa -Krako,
1995, pp.185-191.

5. According to the census of 1989, 76,541 Armenians (14.6% of the population) lived in Abkhazia.

6. Data for 1989

7. Newspapers Eri (in the Georgian language), April 10,1991 and the Russian language Panorama Nedeli (panorama of the week), No.32, 1997 cite 2.5% of Georgians in Javakheti.

8. Information on the refugees from Georgia's regions. Official note of August 15,1996 of the acting Chairman of the Migration Service of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania.

9. Meskhetian Turks - a mystery for ethnologists. The present article does not deal with the theory of their origin, yet it must be noted that they are mentioned in the works of Herodotus and Strabo and both Turkish as well as Georgian elements participated in the ethnogenesis of this people. According to the census of 1989, 207.5 thousand Meskhetian Turks lived in the Soviet Union. Refer to: The Peoples of Russia, Enciclopedia, edit. V. Tishkov, Moscow, 1994, article Y. Broiso, I. Prokhorov "Turk-Meskhetians", pp.342-344

10. Refer to Vadim Tutunik's "Turks from Meskhetia: Yesterday and Today. This is How it Was." National Repressions in the USSR. 1919-1952. Repressed Nations Today. Edited by Svetlana Aliyeva. Vol. III, Moscow, 1993, pp. 145-163.

11. Ibid.

12. Nodar Broladze, "Meskhetian Turks are awaiting the opportunity to return. Propaganda of the ideology of Islamic fundamentalism is preventing the repatriation." Nezavisimaya Gazeta, No. 135, July 25, 1996.

13. Meskhetian Turks consider that the 78 km. frontier zone was created with the aim of preventing their return to the native land. Refer to V. Tutunik p. 155.

14. Interview with F. Berikyan. Interviewer V. Guretski. Yerevan, August 28, 1997.

15. Interview with G. Karakhanyan. Interviewer V. Guretski.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. According to D. Rstakyan, voting on the independence of Javakheti was a response to President Gamsakhurdia's statement during his visit to Akhaltsikhe that Armenians are guests in Georgia. This statement was regarded in Javakheti as the official policy targeted against ethnic minorities. Rstakyan claims that with the exception of this incident, independence was never mentioned "even at rallies"

19. Rstakyan maintains that bloodshed was averted by the "Javakh" which at that time was in full control of the situation in the province. According to Rstakyan, the conflict would have occurred if the Georgia units had crossed the border of the Akhalkalaki district (this is how war was unleashed in Abkhazia).

20. Interview with Rstakyan and Karakhanyan.

21. Berikyan maintains that the Merab Kostava Foundation tried to persuade the Old Believers to leave Georgia and purchased their houses.

22. V. Guretski's interview with M. Areshidze, Tbilisi, August 15,1977.

23. Interview with Rstakyan and Karakhanyan.

24. The Constitution of Georgia adopted August 24,1995. "Svobodnaya Gruzia", November 7, 1995.

25. Interview with Rstakyan and Karakhanyan.

26. Under the Georgian Constitution, the right of legislative initiative is vested in the president, members of the Parlament, parliamentary factions and commissions, supreme representative bodies of Abkhazia and Ajara or 30,000 electors.

27. Leaflet "Dear Javakhks".

28. Interview with Rstakyan and Karakhanyan. Karakhanyan says that despite the region's "unconstitutional" nature, the formation of its governing bodies is underway where predominantly ethnic Georgians are employed. He claims that most of them, including the drivers are from Tbilisi which increases budget expenditures. According to Karakhanyan, the total salary of the employees of the regional (local government) structures amounts to 40 thousand USD, which is almost equal to the pensions fund of the Akhalkalaki district.

29. Interview with M. Areshidze.

30. Interview with Rstakyan and Karakhanyan.

31. Interview with M. Areshidze.

32. Interview with G. Nikolaishvili. Tbilisi, September 7, 1997.

33. Interview with M. Areshidze.

34. Ibid.

35. A. Kukhianidze "Armenian and Azeri Minorities in Georgia. On Georgia's Internal and Foreign Policies", Ethnic and Regional Conflicts in Eurasia. Book I. Central Asia and Caucasus. (Edited by A. Malashenko, B. Coppiters, D. Trenin). Moscow, Ves Mir Publishing House, 1997, p. 180; The following excerpt from Revaz Sakvarishvili's article should be quoted: "A new conflict is looming is the south of Georgia. Armenian population of the region is demanding autonomy"; The Segodnya newspaper reported on September 6, 1996 that "The Georgian leadership does not want to admit the problem (Javakheti-V.G.). Apparently with two unresolved conflicts, Georgia fears the third one".

36. Interview with Rstakyan and Karakhanyan.

37. According to D. Karakhanyan, joint Georgian-Armenian and Georgian-Russian enterprises could operate in Javakheti, using the equipment from the Russian military base in Akhalkalaki. For obvious reasons, the Georgian authorities have no interest in such "joint-ventures".

38. Many local Armenians work at the Russian military base in Akhalkalaki.

39. According to Areshidze in addition to the absence of jobs, excessive population of Javakheti due to the overpopulation represents one of the major reasons for emigration.

40. Svobodnaya Gruzia, August 12, 1997.

41. Refer to Givi Inasaridze's "teaching Georgian will be enhanced in Samtskhe Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli", Svobodnaya Gruzia, September 6, 1997.

42. Interview with Berikyan.

43. Interview with Rstakyan and Karakhanyan.

44. Georgia is closer with Azerbaijan due to the Transcaucasus transportation corridor and similar problems related with the loss of part of their territories. Because of this Georgia and Azerbaijan both give priority to the principle of "territorial integrity" over the principle of "the right of nations to self-determination." On the other hand Georgia tries to maintain good relations with Yerevan and it managed to remain neutral vis a vis the Karabakh conflict.

45. Refer to the Lragir newspaper, September 14, 1996; Transcaucasian Media Project. Annotated Daily Headlines of the Transcaucasian press. - Compiled by the Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) in collaboration with the VERTIC-IWRP Media Resourse Center in Tbilisi. September, 1996

46. This railway, besides the motorways through Batumi and Akhaltsikhe, is a response to the increase in the trade with Turkey, currently the largest trading partner of Georgia; it would also have great significance for Armenia.

47. Jacek Cichocki, "Rosyjskie zaangazowanie militarne na Zakaukaziu", Analizy, Osrodka studiow wschodnich, No 19, 16.06.1997. The author writes that "Russia's military engagement in the Transcaucasus will in the first place depend on the results of the fight between the power elites in the Kremlin who uphold different conceptions of the policy of the state regarding foreign investment. In the event of opening up of the post-Soviet "geopolitical space" to foreign investors, the role of the military factor in the policy of Russia with regard to the states of the South Caucasus would probably be weakened. If the Russian elite recognises keeping the CIS countries in the zone of Moscow's influence to be its principal aim, Russia would attempt to undertake a number of military actions in the region"

48. One can say that there is no legal basis for the presence of Russian troops in Georgia. During the visit of the then Minister of Defense Pavel Grachev to Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze agreed to the Russian bases, but the agreement with Russia has not been ratified by the Georgian Parliament

49. Giorgi Dvali, "Georgia corrects the geopolitical list. For this Shevardnadze traveled to Armenia", Komersant -Daily, May 6,1997. On the shipments of the Russian weapons to Armenia, refer to: Jacek Cichocki.

50. Interview with M. Areshidze

51. Interview with Rstakyan and Karakhanyan

52. Programme of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation "Dashnaktsutyun"

53. The Turkish press often writes about the Meskhetian Turks, emphasising that their return home would lead to the escalation of anti-Turkish sentiments among Armenians in Georgia and heightening of tensions in the region. Refer to :"Javakhk Union President's Comments on Article of Turkish Newspaper", Yerevan Times, 21 August,1997.