The Georgian Orthodox Church condemns the incident at the Armenian Surb Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi and calls on the participants in the confrontation to make peace.
On July 22 Prelate of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese, Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan met with representative of the Georgian Orthodox Church to discuss what happened on Saturday. The parties noted that the conflict emerged as a result of an incident and does not have a religious or ethnic basis.
“The Georgian Church condemns the incident and calls on participants in the confrontation to make peace,” according to a statement by the Georgian Orthodox Church. “The Church as usual will help to solve the problem and to create peaceful coexistence of religious confessions in the country.”
The Georgian ombudsman earlier addresses law enforcement bodies to properly and effectively investigate the attack on priests at an Armenian church on July 19. On Saturday, about 50 people attacked Surb Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi. The Armenian Diocese says the attack was motivated by religious and ethnic prejudice, but the Interior Ministry denies the incident was a case of discrimination.
