Georgia | Armenia |
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Diplomatic mission | |
Embassy of Georgia, Yerevan | Embassy of Armenia, Tbilisi |
Foreign relations exist between Armenia and Georgia. Both countries were former Soviet republics of the Soviet Union. Both countries' governments have had generally positive relations, but there have also been some problems.
Georgia is a member of GUAM, which leaves Armenia out of regional transportation and energy projects.
Relations with Georgia are of particular importance for Armenia because under the border blockades imposed against Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Georgia offers Armenia its only land connection with Europe, with access to its Black Sea ports. However, because of Armenia's reliance on Russia and Georgia, both of which fought in the 2008 South Ossetia War and thus severed diplomatic and economic relations, 70% of Armenia's imports entered via Georgia, especially from Russia, which has imposed an economic blockade on Georgia.
The Javakheti Region in southern Georgia contains a large Armenian population and although there have been local civic organizations, such as United Javakhk, pushing for autonomy, there has been no violence between Armenians and Georgians in the area since the Georgian–Armenian War ended in 1919. Since independence, Georgian clergy have occupied the Armenian churches, [1] and Armenians in Georgia and Armenia have demonstrated against the destruction. On November 28, 2008, Armenian demonstrators in front of the Georgian embassy in Armenia demanded that the Georgian government immediately cease encroachments on the Armenian churches and punish those guilty, calling the Georgian party's actions White Genocide. [2]
Some Armenians believe they are victims of a policy to shift the Samtskhe-Javakheti region's demographic balance since a number of Georgian families were settled there. Armenians are also underrepresented in the government, which leads to the perception of discrimination and mutual distrust. There were several protests, some of them turning violent after clashes with law enforcement agents. [3]
Georgia also supported Azerbaijan against Armenia in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 62/243, and Armenia has repeatedly voted against the United Nations resolutions on Abkhazia that reiterate the right of return of all displaced persons and refugees to Georgia's breakaway regions. Despite the stated differences, disagreements and conflicting interests, bilateral relations between both countries are stable and developing.
There are nearly 168,102 Armenians in Georgia, among them 81,089 living in Samtskhe-Javakheti region and 53,409 in Tbilisi. [4] The Georgian minority in Armenia stands at 974 according to the 2011 census in Armenia.[ citation needed ]
Armenia | Georgia | |
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Coat of arms | ||
Population | 3,018,854 | 3,713,804 |
Area | 29,743 km2 (11,484sq mi) | 69,700 km2 (26,900sq mi) |
Population Density | 108.4/km2 (280.7/sq mi) | 53.5/km2 (138.6/sq mi) |
Capital | Yerevan | Tbilisi |
Largest City | Yerevan – 1,121,900 (1,230,000 Metro) | Tbilisi – 1,171,100 (1,485,293 Metro) |
Government | Unitary parliamentary republic | Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic |
Official languages | Armenian | Georgian |
Current Leader | President Vahagn Khachaturyan Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan | President Salome Zourabichvili Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili |
Main religions | 92.5% Armenian Apostolic Church, 2.3% other Christian, 0.8% Yazidism, 4.4% None/Other | 83.4% Eastern Orthodoxy, Georgian Orthodox Church, 10.7% Islam, 3.9% Armenian Apostolic Church, 0.8% Roman Catholic Church, 1.2% None/Other |
Ethnic groups | 98.1% Armenians, 1.2% Yazidis, 0.4% Russians, 0.3% other | 86.8% Georgians, 6.2% Azerbaijanis, 4.5% Armenians, 0.7% Russians, 2.1% other |
GDP (nominal) | US$10.106 billion ($3,032 per capita) | US$17.83 billion ($4,285 per capita) |
GDP (PPP) | $43.42 billion ($14,643 per capita) [5] | $63.04 billion ($16,997 per capita) [6] |
Armenia and Georgia have a long history of cultural and political relations. The interaction peaked in the Middle Ages when both nations engaged in prolific cultural dialogue and allied themselves against the neighboring Muslim empires. There were frequent intermarriages between Armenian and Georgian royal and noble families, and both ethnicities intermingled in several border areas.
This close association with Armenia brought upon the country an invasion (65 BC ) by the Roman general Pompey, who was then at war with Mithradates VI of Pontus, and Armenia; but Rome did not establish her power permanently over Iberia. Nineteen years later, the Romans again marched (36 BC) on Iberia forcing King Pharnavaz II to join their campaign against Albania. [7]
During this time Armenia and Pontus were actively expanding at the expense of Rome, taking over its Eastern Mediterranean possessions.
However, the success of the anti-Roman alliance did not last long. As a result of the brilliant Roman campaigns of Pompey and Lucullus from the west, and the Parthian invasion from the south, Armenia lost a significant part of its conquests by 65 BC, devolving into a Roman-Parthian dependency. At the same time, the Kingdom of Pontus was completely destroyed by the Romans and all its territory including Colchis were incorporated into the Roman Empire as her provinces.
The former Kingdom of Colchis became the Roman province of Lazicum ruled by Roman legati. The following 600 years of Georgian history were marked by the struggle between Rome and Persia (Iran) including Parthians and Sassanids who were fighting long wars against each other for the domination in the Middle East including Syria, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Albania, and Iberia.
In the late 4th century, Rome had to give up Albania and most of Armenia to Sassanid Persia. The province of Lazicum was given a degree of autonomy that by the end of the century developed into full independence with the formation of a new Kingdom of Lazica-Egrisi on the territories of smaller principalities of the Zans, Svans, Apsyls, and Sanyghs. This new Western Georgian state survived more than 250 years until 562 when it was absorbed by the Byzantine Empire.
While the Georgian kingdom of Colchis was administered as a Roman province, Caucasian Iberia freely accepted the Roman Imperial protection. A stone inscription discovered at Mtskheta speaks of the 1st-century ruler Mihdrat I (AD 58–106) as "the friend of the Caesars" and the king "of the Roman-loving Iberians." Emperor Vespasian fortified the ancient Mtskheta site of Arzami for the Iberian kings in 75 AD.
In the 2nd century AD, Iberia strengthened her position in the area, especially during the reign of King Pharsman II who achieved full independence from Rome and reconquered some of the previously lost territories from declining Armenia.
In the 3rd century AD, the Lazi tribe came to dominate most of Colchis, establishing the kingdom of Lazica, locally known as Egrisi. Colchis was a scene of the protracted rivalry between the Eastern Roman/Byzantine and Sassanid empires, culminating in the Lazic War from 542 to 562. [8]
With their status of "King of Kings" ( Shahanshah ), [9] Armenian kings authority also carried over to the neighboring states of Georgia, Caucasian Albania and several of the Arab emirates. [10]
The second half of the 11th century was marked by the strategically significant invasion of the Seljuq Turks, who by the end of the 1040s had succeeded in building a vast nomadic empire including most of Central Asia and Persia. In 1071, the Seljuq army destroyed the united Byzantine and Georgian forces in the Battle of Manzikert. By 1081, all of Armenia, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and most of Georgia had been conquered and devastated by the Seljuqs. By the end of the 1080s, Georgians were outnumbered in the region by the invaders. The defeat of the Bagratuni dynasty ended Christian leadership of Armenia for the next millennium.
The struggle against the Seljuq invaders in Georgia was led by the young King David IV Bagrationi (reigning 1089–1125). Georgians freed Shirvan and a large portion of Armenia. Thus in 1124 David also became the King of Armenians, incorporating Northern Armenia into the lands of the Georgian Crown. In 1125 King David died, leaving Georgia with the status of strong regional power.
The temporary fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1204 to the Crusaders left Georgia as the strongest Christian state in the whole East Mediterranean area. Muslim power in Greater Armenia was seriously troubled by the resurgent Georgian monarchy. Many local nobles (nakharars) joined their efforts with the Georgians, leading to liberation of several areas in northern Armenia, which was ruled, under the authority of the Georgian crown, by the Mkhargrdzeli, a prominent Armeno-Georgian noble family.
The kingdom of Georgia flourished during the 10th to 12th centuries, and fell to the Mongol invasions of Georgia by 1243, and after a brief reunion under George V of Georgia to the Timurid Empire.
By 1490, Georgia was fragmented into a number of petty kingdoms and principalities, which throughout the Early Modern period struggled to maintain their autonomy against Iranian (successive Safavid, Afsharid and Qajar dynasties) and Ottoman domination until Georgia was finally annexed by the Russian Empire in 1801. Russian possession over Georgia got nominally finalised with Qajar Iran in 1813 in the Treaty of Gulistan following Russia's victory in the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813). [11] Greater Armenia was from the early 16th century up to including the course of the 19th century was also, more dominantly even, divided between the rivalling neighboring Ottoman and successive Iranian dynasties. In the first half of the 19th century, after several centuries under its rule in the early modern era, Iran was forced to cede its last remaining territories in the Caucasus which included modern-day Armenia (also known as Eastern Armenia) to Imperial Russia following its loss in the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828), which got ratified in the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay. [11] Greater Armenia was now divided between the Ottoman Empire and Russia.
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During the Russian Revolution, the provinces of the Caucasus seceded and formed their own federal state called the Transcaucasian Federation. Competing national interests and war with Turkey led to the dissolution of the republic half a year later, in April 1918.
During the final stages of World War I, the Armenians and Georgians had been defending against the advance of the Ottoman Empire. In June 1918, in order to forestall an Ottoman advance on Tiflis, the Georgian troops had occupied former districts of Tiflis Governorate, the Lori Province which at the time had a 97% Armenian majority. After the Armistice of Mudros and the withdrawal of the Ottomans, the Georgian forces remained. Georgian Menshevik parliamentarian Irakli Tsereteli offered that the Armenians would be safer from the Turks as Georgian citizens. The Georgians offered a quadripartite conference including Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus in order to resolve the issue which the Armenians rejected. In December 1918, the Georgians were confronting a rebellion chiefly in the village of Uzunlar in the Lori region. Within days, hostilities commenced between the two republics. [12]
The Georgian–Armenian War was a border war fought in 1918 between the Democratic Republic of Georgia and the Democratic Republic of Armenia over the parts of then disputed province of Lori.
From March 12, 1922, to December 5, 1936, Armenia and Georgia were a part of the Transcaucasian SFSR together with the Azerbaijan SSR. In 1936, the TSFSR was dissolved under Stalin's orders and the socialist republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia were established instead.
In the Soviet Union, Armenians and Georgians, along with Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Germans, and Jews were judged as "advanced" peoples, and were grouped together as Western nationalities. [13]
Nevertheless, as with various other ethnic minorities who lived in the Soviet Union under Stalin, tens of thousands of Armenians were executed and deported. In 1936, Lavrenty Beria and Stalin worked to deport Armenians to Siberia in an attempt to bring Armenia's population under 700,000 in order to justify an annexation into Georgia. [14] [ unreliable source? ] Thousands of Armenians were forcibly exiled to Altai Krai in 1949. [15] [16]
On March 17, 1991, Armenia, along with the Baltics, Georgia and Moldova, boycotted a union-wide referendum in which 78% of all voters voted for the retention of the Soviet Union in a reformed form. [17]
Georgia declared independence on 9 April 1991 and Armenia did the same on 21 September 1991 following the failed Soviet coup attempt in August. The United States recognized the independence of both nations on December 25, 1991.
Armenian-Georgian relations in the post-independence period have been mixed but cooperative. The two states are both allied with the other one's adversaries (Armenia with Russia, Georgia with Azerbaijan and Turkey)[ citation needed ], but they are nevertheless obliged to maintain cooperative ties: the border blockades imposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan on Armenia makes Georgia (and, via a single route, Iran) the only possible exit and entry point for Armenian imports and exports.
Recent revelations indicate that Yerevan had taken steps to assure Tbilisi that it had Armenia's all-but-official support in the outbreak of the 2008 South Ossetian and Abkhazian conflict. Armenia offered itself as a safe haven for Georgians escaping the conflict, and at one point, temporarily housed at least 500 Georgian families escaping the war. To this day, Armenia has not recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. However, the establishment of diplomatic relations between Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and the separatist Republic of Artsakh has drawn criticism from the Georgian government, notably during President Salome Zourabichvili's visit to Armenia in March 2019. Moreover, the Armenian Apostolic Church's decision to place Armenian churches in Abkhazia under the jurisdiction of its South Russian Eparchy instead of the Church's Eparchy of Georgia was rescinded after a meeting between President Zourabichvili and Catholicos Karekin II.[ citation needed ]
According to Wikileaks, however, Armenia's foreign diplomats grew increasingly frustrated with Tbilisi's inability to respond to calls or diplomatic cables from Yerevan. [18] Despite their reluctance to warmly embrace each other diplomatically, the differences between the two nations are more often highlighted by political rather than social or historical differences.
Positive steps have been taken to strengthen ties between the two nations. In January 2011, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvilli paid an official visit to Armenia immediately after his initial visit to Washington. Both the Georgian and Armenian presidents seem to hold each other in high esteem, and Georgia's push to remove itself from the Russian sphere of influence in the Caucasus Region has translated to an increase of cooperation, positivity and productivity in relations with its immediate neighbors. Tbilisi recently made an effort to address the socioeconomic plight of the Georgian-Armenians living in Javakheti, a source of tension between the two nations, by building a main road that connects the region with Tbilisi as well as proposing new projects in the region, one of which involves the creation of a national park.
The Caucasus, or Caucasia, is a transcontinental region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically been considered as a natural barrier between Eastern Europe and West Asia.
Georgia is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, Russia to the north and northeast, Turkey to the southwest, Armenia to the south, and by Azerbaijan to the southeast. The country covers an area of 69,700 square kilometres (26,900 sq mi), and has a population of 3.7 million people. Tbilisi is its capital and largest city, home to roughly a third of the Georgian population.
In classical antiquity and Greco-Roman geography, Colchis was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia.
In Greco-Roman geography, Iberia was an exonym for the Georgian kingdom of Kartli, known after its core province, which during Classical Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages was a significant monarchy in the Caucasus, either as an independent state or as a dependent of larger empires, notably the Sassanid and Roman empires. Iberia, centered on present-day Eastern Georgia, was bordered by Colchis in the west, Caucasian Albania in the east and Armenia in the south.
The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, which are sometimes collectively known as the Caucasian States. The total area of these countries measures about 186,100 square kilometres. The South Caucasus and the North Caucasus together comprise the larger Caucasus geographical region that divides Eurasia.
The Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, also known as the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, or simply Transcaucasia, was a republic of the Soviet Union that existed from 1922 to 1936.
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Coterminous with the present-day republic of Georgia, it was based on the traditional territory of Georgia, which had existed as a series of independent states in the Caucasus prior to the first occupation of annexation in the course of the 19th century. The Georgian SSR was formed in 1921 and subsequently incorporated in the Soviet Union in 1922. Until 1936 it was a part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, which existed as a union republic within the USSR. From November 18, 1989, the Georgian SSR declared its sovereignty over Soviet laws. The republic was renamed the Republic of Georgia on November 14, 1990, and subsequently became independent before the dissolution of the Soviet Union on April 9, 1991, whereupon each former SSR became a sovereign state.
The Democratic Republic of Georgia was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to February 1921. Recognized by all major European powers of the time, DRG was created in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917, which led to the collapse of the Russian Empire and allowed territories formerly under Saint Petersburg's rule to assert independence. In contrast to Bolshevik Russia, DRG was governed by a moderate, multi-party political system led by the Georgian Social Democratic Party (Mensheviks).
Akhalkalaki is a town in Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe–Javakheti and the administrative centre of the Akhalkalaki Municipality. Akhalkalaki lies on the edge of the Javakheti Plateau. The city is located about 29 kilometres (18 mi) from the border with Armenia. The town's recorded history goes back to the 11th century. As of the 2014 Georgian census the town had a population of 8,295, with 93.8% Armenian majority.
Samtskhe–Javakheti is a region (mkhare) in southern Georgia with a population of 147.400 (2023) and an area of 6,413 km2 (2,476 sq mi). The region has Akhaltsikhe as its administrative center, while Besik Amiranashvili is governor of the region since August 2018. Samtskhe–Javakheti is compiled of the historical Georgian provinces Meskheti, Javakheti and Tori.
For articles related to Georgia, see Category:Georgia (country)
Javakheti or Javakhk is a historical province in southern Georgia, corresponding to the modern municipalities of Akhalkalaki, Aspindza (partly), Ninotsminda, and partly to the Turkey's Ardahan Province. Historically, Javakheti's borders were defined by the Kura River (Mtkvari) to the west, and the Shavsheti, Samsari and Nialiskuri mountains to the north, south and east, respectively. The principal economic activities in this region are subsistence agriculture, particularly potatoes and raising livestock.
The history of Abkhazia, a region in the South Caucasus, spans more than 5,000 years from its settlement by the lower-paleolithic hunter-gatherers to its present status as a partially recognized state.
The German Caucasus expedition was a military expedition sent in late May 1918, by the German Empire to the formerly Russian Transcaucasia during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I. Its prime aim was to stabilize the pro-German Democratic Republic of Georgia and to secure oil supplies for Germany by preventing the Ottoman Empire from gaining access to the oil reserves near Baku on the Absheron Peninsula.
Armenians in Georgia or Georgian Armenians are Armenian people living within the country of Georgia. The Armenian community is mostly concentrated in the capital Tbilisi, Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and Samtskhe-Javakheti region. 2014 Census of Georgia puts the Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakheti at 50.5% of the population. In Abkhazia, Armenians are the third largest ethnic group in the region after the Georgians and the Abkhazian majority.
The history of the Caucasus region may be divided by geography into the history of the North Caucasus (Ciscaucasia), historically in the sphere of influence of Scythia and of Southern Russia, and that of the South Caucasus in the sphere of influence of Persia, Anatolia, and Assyria.
The nation of Georgia was first unified as a kingdom under the Bagrationi dynasty by the King Bagrat III of Georgia in the early 11th century, arising from a number of predecessor states of the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia. The Kingdom of Georgia flourished during the 10th to 12th centuries under King David IV the Builder and Queen Tamar the Great, and fell to the Mongol invasion by 1243, and after a brief reunion under George V the Brilliant to the Timurid Empire. By 1490, Georgia was fragmented into a number of petty kingdoms and principalities, which throughout the Early Modern period struggled to maintain their autonomy against Ottoman and Iranian domination until Georgia was finally annexed by the Russian Empire in the 19th century. After a brief period of independence as Democratic Republic of Georgia, the country soon ended up being a Soviet republic until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The current republic of Georgia has been independent since 1991.
Arab rule in Georgia, natively known as Araboba refers to the period in the History of Georgia when all or part of the country was under political domination of Muslim Arab rulers, from the first Arab incursions in the mid-7th century until the final defeat of the Emirate of Tbilisi at the hands of King David IV in 1122. Compared with other regions which endured Muslim conquests, Georgia's culture, and even political structure was not much affected by the Arab presence, as the people kept their faith, the nobles their fiefdoms, and the foreign rulers mostly insisted on the payment of tribute, which they could not always enforce. Still, repeated invasions and military campaigns by the Arabs devastated Georgia on many occasions, and the Caliphs retained suzerainty over large parts of the country and exerted influence over the internal power dynamics during most of the period.
Before the unification of the country by the Bagrationi dynasty in the 10th century, several Georgian states including Iberia and Colchis, managed to subsist between the Roman Empire to the West and the Sassanid Empire to the East. Between the 11th and 15th centuries, the Kingdom of Georgia was a major regional power, which withstood invasions by the Seljuk Empire, Mongol Empire, and Timurid Empire, before its fragmentation and submission to the Ottoman and Safavid Empires. Many Georgians fought in the armies of the empires that ruled the country from the 16th century, be it the Safavids, the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union, and the nation kept a reputation for military valor and skill. Since 1991, the newly independent Georgia has taken part in many conflicts: its conflicts with Russia culminated in the 2008 Russo–Georgian War, while its alliance with the United States led to Georgia's participation in the Afghan and Iraq Wars.
The Armenia–Georgia border is the international boundary between Armenia and Georgia. It is 219 km (136 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Turkey in the west to the tripoint with Azerbaijan in the east.