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CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2) Georgian. The language barrier creates additional difficulties while trying to pursue higher education and find an appropriate job in Georgia. The high unemployment rate causes continuous demographic change in Javakhk. While trying to make a living, many Javakhk Armenians have to leave their homes mostly for Russia. 50 Georgian authorities have recently been attempting to deprive the communal regions of Georgia of several aspects of independence, and Samtskhe-Javakheti is among them. For instance, the local self-governing bodies have been separated from the executive ones. Since then the latter has been appointed by Presidential Decree. Karapetyan states that the appointed officials are usually local Armenians but are chosen when they seem more accepting of the government’s policies concerning Javakheti. As a result, the demands on behalf of the Armenian minority of Javakhk are not fully delivered to the authorities, and many issues remain unresolved. 51 Regarding representation in the Georgian Parliament, the Armenian minority gained three seats during the 2016 elections, which Tonoyan calls “symbolic” and “limited”. 52 The Georgian government is concerned with “irredentist claims” heard from Javakhk Armenians based on its fears with the precedent of Nagorno Karabakh, although those are nothing more than “grassroots level” statements. 53 There have been several attempts by specific groups or individuals from the local Armenian population to speak up for their rights, especially in the early 1990s and mid-2000s. However, those attempts gradually faded away when the Georgian government quickly managed to co-opt the leaders. 54 In their turn, Armenian authorities have made every possible effort to not inflame separatist sentiments in Javakhk and have never encouraged those aspirations. Armenia has always cared about maintaining normal relations with its northern neighbor, since Georgia is the only transit route for Armenia to Western markets and the deterioration of relations between the two countries may negatively affect the Armenian economy. 55                                                              50 Jonathan Wheatley, “Obstacles Impeding the Regional Integration of the Javakheti Region of Georgia”, European Centre for Minority Issues (2004), 10, https://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/redakteure/publications/pdf/working_paper_22.pdf. 51 Karapetyan, “Hay-Vratsakan Hamaynqy”, 40-42. 52 Tonoyan “Rising Armenian-Georgia Tensions”, 296. 53 Gachechiladze, “Geopolitics in the South Caucasus”, 122. 54 Vahram Ter-Matevosyan & Brent Currie, “A conflict that did not happen: revisiting the Javakhk affair in Georgia”, Nations and Nationalism 25, no. 1 (2018): 15. 55 Asanishvili, “Main Security Challenges”, 51-70. 31