Open Letter to Georgia’s Minister of Interior Giorgi Gakharia 18.07.2019 . Akhalkalaki, Politics
I, a US citizen, Eduard Enfiajyan, having my roots in Akhaltsikhe, faced a problem on June 30, 2019, at the Tbilisi airport. I could have never imagined that it could have happened to me. The point is that my visit to Georgia was forbidden by Georgian authorities because of the incomprehensible reason, in the context of my public activities. I never spoke badly about Georgia and moreover, I always supported the sovereignty and territorial integrity of that country – Georgia.
I think this should be enough for the Georgian authorities to respect my human rights and allow me to visit my ancestral graves and their homeland, where I spent my childhood. Perhaps it would be advisable for the Georgian authorities to open their archives and find out what my ancestors had contributed to the social life of Akhaltiskhe and/or to find out how they participated in 1918, during the Akhaltsikhe’s defense against the invading Turkish army, saving Samtskhe-Javakheti region and Georgia from destruction, absorption, and Turkification.
My political and public activities cannot harm the Republic of Georgia in any way. On the contrary, as much as I could, I have always tried to smooth up the wrinkly matters concerning Javakheti for the sake of our nations’ tomorrow. I have always publicly expressed support for the idea of restoring Georgia’s territorial integrity and against Russia’s occupational policy towards Georgia. In this case, it is not clear to me how Russian Communist Member of Russia’s Parliament, Sergey Gavrilov, who voted for the seizure of Georgia’s territories, was not forbidden entry to Georgia and access to the Parliament of that country, and I, a citizen of the United States of America, Eduard Enfiajyan, am forbidden to enter Georgia.
I am convinced that Georgian authorities and the Ministry of Interior should solve this problem and admit that what happened to me was at least a misunderstanding. Therefore, I urge the Georgian authorities, and especially the Ministry of Interior, to review and reconsider the entry ban to Georgia against me.
Best Regards,
Eduard Enfiajyan
