August 8 marks 11 years since the start of the Russian-Georgian armed conflict, and August 10 marks 99 years since the signing of the Sevres Peace Treaty. Not ratified by Turkey and never entered into force, but created, with the filing of the then American President Woodrow Wilsnon, “great Armenia” at the expense of Turkish territories.

It would seem that there is no connection between these dates. But recalling the Sevres Peace Treaty, Armenian nationalists very often show an eloquent poster of that time depicting then-American President Woodrow Wilsnon.
Wilson is depicted with a map of the so-called "Wilson's Armenia" (yerkramas.org). On it territories are painted red that were unconditionally proposed to be transferred to the Armenians. And among these "Armenian" territories, Georgian Samtskhe-Javkheti, or as the Armenian nationalists call "Javakhk", is painted with especially "bold red". Armenian nationalists have no doubt that Woodrow Wilson would give this territory to the Armenians.

Moreover, I would like to recall the scandalous statement of the former Armenian ambassador to Canada, Ara Papyan, made just a week (!) before the events of August 8, 2008, when the Kremlin and the Armenian lobby influencing the Kremlin knew very well what was expected, namely the invasion of the Russian army to Georgia and the occupation of a significant part of its territory.

And just at that moment, the former Armenian ambassador to Canada raised the issue of “Javakhk’s affiliation”, as recorded by the Armenian media in particular panarmenian.net:

“Modern Georgia does not have any rights to Javakhk, since after the war between Armenia and Georgia in 1918, not a single state border agreement was signed between the two states. This was stated in Yerevan by the head of the Center for Social Studies “Modus Vivendi”, the former Armenian Ambassador to Canada, historian Ara Papyan. He noted that the issue of borders in the South Caucasus, as the issue of the Armenian-Turkish border, should be resolved based on the principle of international law through the implementation of an arbitral award by US President Woodrow Wilson, as well as the principles proposed by the League of Nation on February 24, 1920.

According to Ara Papyan, the decision of the CPSU Central Committee on Javakhk and Karabakh should not become the basis for considering the borders of Armenia with Georgia and Azerbaijan. He also noted that the leaders of post-Soviet Georgia had a negative attitude towards the Soviet period in Georgia and believed that the Soviet period was a period of foreign occupation. “If someone today questions the decision of the Paris Conference on Armenia, then this person questions the entire legal and political system of Europe and the Middle East,” he said. As Papyan noted, the report of the special commission operating within the framework of the Paris Conference and dealing with the issue of the borders of Armenia says that in case of disputed territorial issues between Armenia and Georgia, as well as between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the League of Nations Commission should solve the border problem, which will set boundaries based on ethnic data. “The accession of Javakhk to Georgia was carried out by the force of the occupation regime, and the crime does not give rise to rights,” Ara Papyan noted.

"The Armenian-Georgian war because of Javakhk affiliation began on December 5, 1918. However, as a result of British intervention, hostilities were stopped on December 31, 1918. In January 1919, an agreement was reached at a conference in Tiflis, according to which, before the Entente Supreme Council decided on the border between Georgia and Armenia, the northern part of the Borchali district was transferred to Georgia, the southern part to Armenia, and the middle was declared a "neutral zone" (Lori and Zangezur) and administratively obeyed the English governor general. After the establishment of Soviet power in Armenia and Georgia, the issue of Javakhk’s ownership was again raised. The overwhelming majority of the region’s population, primarily the Akhalkalaki region, favored the region’s joining Soviet Armenia. The issue of belonging to the Akhalkalaki region was resolved at the plenum of the Caucus of the CPSU (B.) On July 7, 1921 and was referred to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia. Lori was immediately annexed to Armenia. On July 16, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Georgian SSR decided that, "given the political as well as economic ties between the Akhalkalaki region and Tiflis, accepting the offer of the Armenian comrades is not acceptable." Javakhk was transferred to Soviet Georgia. After the end of World War I, in the framework of the Paris Conference, which decided the fate of post-war Europe and the Middle East, a peace treaty between Armenia and Turkey was signed in Sevres on August 10, according to which Armenia agreed to submit to US President Woodrow Wilson to arbitrate its borders both with Turkey and and with Georgia and Azerbaijan”.

The “recollections” of Armenian nationalists about the Sevres Treaty and Woodrow Wilson, Armenian separatism in the Georgian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti and aggression under the influence of the Armenian lobby of Russia against Georgia in August 2008 are closely interconnected.

It seems that only a miracle allowed Georgia to avoid in 2008 a complete disintegration of the territory and the loss of Samtskhe-Jvakheti. More precisely, most likely, the position of Turkey, which made it clear that the occupation of the Russian Federation of South Georgia in August 2008 (to which Russia was pushed by the Armenian lobby), is categorically unacceptable.

As a result, the Armenian nationalists at that time had to "moderate their appetites" and confine themselves to the separatist Abkhazia, which had already been turned into an "Armenian patrimony" by that time. Recall that the Armenians already constitute the majority, and where, in 1992-1993, the same Georgian militants expelled the native Georgian population from the Baghramyan battalion and other formations.

But Armenian nationalists did not forget about their claims to Samtskhe-Jvakheti. As well as attempts to revive the Treaty of Sevres to capture the alien: Turkish and Georgian lands. Georgian politicians should remember this when building relations with their southern neighbor and especially considering how infected Samtskhe-Javakheti is with separatist sentiments among Armenians living there.

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