On the second day of the official visit to Georgia, the governmental delegation led by Armenia’s Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan visited the Holy Etchmiadzin Armenian Church in Tbilisi where they were greeted by Primate of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese of the ArmenianApostolicChurch, Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan and representatives of the Georgian-Armenian community.

The Prime Minister-led delegation laid flowers near the monument to the victims of the Armenian Genocide placed at the Holy Etchmiadzin Armenian Church of Tbilisi, toured the “Hayartun” Educational, Cultural and Youth Center of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese adjunct to the church and attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition dedicated to the 190^th anniversary of the Nersisyan Armenian School.

In his speech, the RA Prime Minister expressed gratitude to the Georgian-Armenians for the cordial reception and attached importance to the role of the community in the development of the Armenian-Georgian friendship. According to Hovik Abrahamyan, the Armenians of Georgia served as a reliable bridge linking the two friendly and neighboring nations together and a strong and reliable base.

Touching upon the results of the official visit to Georgia, the head of government mentioned that the Armenian-Georgian relations are developing in an atmosphere of mutual confidence, which is a guarantee for further development and strengthening of relations.

Hovik Abrahamyan assured that the issues concerning Georgian-Armenians are always in the focus of the Armenian authorities and that the Government of the Republic of Armenia has helped the Georgian-Armenian community organize cultural, scientific and educational events and has contributed to the strengthening of relations with the homeland through different programs throughout the past years. The Prime Minister attached importance to the presence of the organized and consolidated community, which provides the opportunity to preserve linguistic and cultural values and help the new generation of Armenians of the Diaspora preserve the Armenian identity. At the end, the head of government assured that the Armenian authorities will continue to make efforts to support the Georgian-Armenian community.

Director of the “Hayartun” Educational, Cultural and Youth Center Levon Chidilyan, Director of the Davtyan Family Puppet Center Janna Davtyan and coordinator of non-Georgian language educational materials of the Department of National Educational Programs at the Georgian Ministry of Education and Scinece Karine Manukyan were granted the Commemorative Medal of the RA Prime Minister for their notable contributions to the preservation of the Armenian identity.

Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan has granted the Hakob Meghapart Medal of the Ministry of Diaspora and the Mekhitarist Congregation to editor-in-chief of “Kamurj” Yearbook Anahit Bostanjyan and the Komitas Medal to choirmaster of the “Nerses Shnorhali” Children’s Choir Maria Abulyan.

The Prime Minister wished the members of the Georgian-Armenian community a Happy New Year and made a donation to the pre-school of the “Hayartun” Educational, Cultural and YouthCenter.