Armenia–Georgia relations

Foreign relations exist between Armenia and Georgia. Both countries were former Soviet republics of the Soviet Union. Relations between the two were originally tense for a while after their independence, which included multiple occurrences of voting against each other at the United Nations. However in recent years, relations between the two have vastly improved and modern relations are now seen as friendly. Both countries are members of the Council of Europe, the European Political Community, and the EU's Eastern Partnership and Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.

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 pushing for autonomy, such as United Javakhk, 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, and Armenians in Georgia and Armenia have demonstrated against their 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. 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.

Georgia supported Azerbaijan against Armenia in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 62/243, and Armenia has voted against several 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 and conflicting interests, bilateral relations between both countries are stable and developing. In 2019, Armenia broke with Russia on a vote about the right of Georgians to return to their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. During a UN resolution held on 4 June, Armenia did not vote against Georgia in regards to the return of displaced people. The move was hailed as a sign of Armenia's attempt to strengthen relations with Georgia. In June 2024, Armenia again supported Georgia by voting in favour of a UN resolution calling for the right to return of Georgians to Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Armenian vote was heralded a "historic moment" by Georgian media.

Minorities There are nearly 168,102 Armenians in Georgia, among them 81,089 living in Samtskhe–Javakheti region and 53,409 in Tbilisi.2002 Georgia census . The Georgian minority in Armenia stands at 974 according to the 2011 census in Armenia.

Country comparison Coat of arms Population3,018,854 3,713,804Area29,743 km2 (11,484sq mi)69,700 km2 (26,900sq mi)Population Density108.4/km2 (280.7/sq mi)53.5/km2 (138.6/sq mi)CapitalYerevanTbilisiLargest CityYerevan – 1,121,900 (1,230,000 Metro)Tbilisi – 1,171,100 (1,485,293 Metro)GovernmentUnitary parliamentary republicUnitary parliamentary constitutional republicOfficial languagesArmenianGeorgian Abkhazian Current LeaderPresident Vahagn Khachaturyan Prime Minister Nikol PashinyanPresident Mikheil Kavelashvili Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze Main religions92.5% Armenian Apostolic Church, 2.3% other Christian, 0.8% Yazidism, 4.4% None/Other83.4% Eastern Orthodoxy, Georgian Orthodox Church, 10.7% Islam, 3.9% Armenian Apostolic Church, 0.8% Roman Catholic Church, 1.2% None/OtherEthnic groups98.1% Armenians, 1.2% Yazidis, 0.4% Russians, 0.3% other86.8% Georgians, 6.2% Azerbaijanis, 4.5% Armenians, 0.7% Russians, 2.1% otherGDP (nominal)US$25.4 billion ($8,575 per capita)US$33 billion ($8,825 per capita)GDP (PPP)$64.4 billion ($21,746 per capita)$94 billion ($24,348 per capita)

History

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.

The Roman conquest

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.Braund, D., Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia 550 BC – AD 562, Oxford University Press, 1996, p 36

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.

Early Middle Ages

With their status of "King of Kings" (Shahanshah),Tim Greenwood, Emergence of the Bagratuni Kingdoms, p. 52, in Armenian Kars and Ani, Richard Hovannisian, ed. Armenian kings authority also carried over to the neighboring states of Georgia, Caucasian Albania and several of the Arab emirates.(in Armenian) Arakelyan, Babken N. «Աշոտ Ա» (Ashot I). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. i. Yerevan: Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1974, pp. 486-487.

Middle Ages

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.

Mongol invasions

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.

Ottoman and Persian domination 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).Timothy C. Dowling Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond pp 728-729 ABC-CLIO, 2 Dec. 2014 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. Greater Armenia was now divided between the Ottoman Empire and Russia.

Provinces of the Russian Empire

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Transcaucasian Federation (1917–1918)

During the Russian Revolution, the provinces of the Caucasus seceded and formed their own federal state called the Transcaucasian Federation. Competing national interests and the war with the Ottoman Empire led to the dissolution of the republic half a year later, in April 1918.

Georgian–Armenian War (1918)