On April 21 the Khachkar(cross-stone) commemorating victims of the Armenian Genocide was solemnly consecrated in the yard of Surb Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi. The installation of the Khachkar was initiated by the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia, which was donated by residing in Petersburg Hrachya Poghosyan. This is the first Khachkar in Tbilisi. The Khachkar was created in Armenia and is identical to one among thousands of Old Jugha Khachkars destroyed by Azeri soldiers (Craftsman: Varazdat Hambardzumyan).

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Georgia Hovhannes Manoukian, Georgian MP Ruslan Poghosian, General Consul of the Republic of Armenia to Adjara, Guria and Imereti Aram Grigoryan, Armen Bayanduryan, artistic director of Tbilisi State Drama Theatre after Petros Adamyan, the Head of the Roman Catholic Church in Georgia, His Eminence Bishop Giuseppe Pasotto, the Bishop of the Evangelical Baptist Church in Georgia, His Eminence Malkhaz Songulashvili, the Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia, His Eminence Bishop Hans-Joachim Kiderlen, Taron Shagoyan, Caucasian Regional Department Head at the RA Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, guests from Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kvemo-Kartli, the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, different regions of the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation attended the solemn ceremony. Sponsor Hrachya Poghosyan with his family and relatives attended the sanctification.

The Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia, His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, through the offices of the Vicar-General of Javakhk Supreme Archimandrite Babken Salbiyan and the clergy conducted a requiem service, after which the sanctification of the Khachkar took place.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Georgia Hovhannes Manoukian, Ashot Melkonian, Director of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Science of the Republic of Armenia, the Bishop of the Evangelical Baptist Church in Georgia, His Eminence Malkhaz Songulashvili, intellectuals Givi Shakhnazari and Anahit Bostanjyan, Lieutenant General Murad Sargsyan and St.Petersburg native Yuri Klenov delivered a speech during the ceremony. At the end of the event sponsor Hrachya Poghosyan addressed the audience.

On behalf of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Georgia, sponsor Poghosyan’s family and Armenians of St. Petersburg wreathes were laid at the Khachkar. The people gathered in the yard of the church and the vicinity placed flowers at the Armenian Khachkar pedestal.

After that under the auspices of the RA Ministry of Diaspora a concert of classical music featuring “Zangakner”(Chimes) Ensemble from Yerevan, artistic director Shahen Keshishian, was given in the conference hall of Courtyard Marriott Hotel.

One more time paying the tribute to the memory of one million and a half innocent victims, the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia and the Armenians of Tbilisi expressed their sincere appreciation to Hrachya Poghosyan for his loyalty to his people. Georgian mass media covered the Khachkar opening ceremony.