Azernews.Az

An Armenian separatist group has expanded its activity in neighboring Georgia, Georgian media reported.
The United Javakh organization has made headlines due to the terror acts it has committed in the past months and anti-Georgian propaganda.
Tbilisi has adequately reacted to the developments. Georgian power-wielding agencies have repeatedly carried out operations to crack down on the separatist group after disturbances in the Javakhetia region located on the Georgian-Armenian border. The operations started after a shooting took place a while ago from the Armenian side of the border and an explosion rocked near the house of a police chief in the Akhalkalaki district.
In a raid conducted in the office of the organization and the Youth radio it owns, Georgian police brought in over 20 separatists for questioning, while Gurgen Shirinian, who is said to be the main culprit of the developments, managed to escape.
United Javakh has been involved in destructive activity in the region for several years. Among its key objectives is impeding construction of the major Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway that goes through Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia and to prove Javakhetia's allegedly being Armenia's historical land. Moreover, the group is conducting extensive propaganda among the local Armenian population to put pressure on the Georgian government.
Head of the Mitk analytical center, Eduard Abramian, admitted that United Javakh was engaged in clear-cut destructive activity. The Armenian analyst claimed that Turkey's increasing influence in Georgia and the implementation of large-scale regional projects without Armenia should be countered. He maintained that hampering projects going through Georgian territory by various means was "the right tactics", adding that using Javakhetia Armenians to pressure Tbilisi was necessary to accomplish that goal.