Fire in Georgia’s Armenian church no accident – archaeologist

The recent fire in the Tbilisi based Armenian church of St Nshan was no accident, says Samvel Karapetyan, an Armenian scientist dealing with monument studies.

Speaking to Tert.am, the expert expressed astonishment that such mishaps occur only to Armenian churches.

“It is the third time this church has come under fire. They do not tolerate churches having a great historical value,” he said, adding that such trend has been observed since 1989.

Karapetyan noted that the Georgians have turned many Armenian churches into Georgian places of worship.

“They say those churches used to be Georgian and the Armenian usurers seized them after becoming wealthy, and they are now allegedly reinstating justice,” he said, criticizing the authorities indifference towards national values.