Hayk Sanosyan, President of the "Georgia Armenian Unity” organization, said today that that Armenian churches in Georgia would only recive official legal status with the mediation of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin.

"Our church must explore new avenues and relations so that we can resolve this problem,” he stated at a press conference. When asked if the parliaments of the two nations would have to intervene as well, Mr. Sanosyan answered that each Armenian should raise the issue as well as various government bodies.

Mr. Sanosyan likened the neglect of the Georgian authorities regarding Armenian cultural and religious monuments to a "Stalinist-Beria” mindset that has always existed in Georgia. As a result, he noted that churches had been destroyed or used for storage, and that schools had been closed.

Mr. Sanosyan has ready with statistics as well to back up his views on the matter. He said that out of the thirty Armenian churches once operating in Tbilisi, only two remained today – Saint Gevorg and Saint Etchmiadzin.

He called for greater contact between the two governments to resolve the issue. "Our cultural minister needs to work closely with her Georgian counterpart, and the same goes with the education ministers. Such collaboration should exist across the board,” Mr. Sanosyan said.