At a press conference held today, Shirak Torosyan, a parliament MP and President of the "Javakhk Patriotic Union" stated that Armenian civic groups in the Samtskhe-Javakhk and Kvemo-Kartli regions of Georgia have issued a joint statement in which they call for a union of the two Armenian regions and that it must be granted self-autonomy. He stated that the Javakhk-Armenian community envisages a federal administrative framework for the country in which these Armenian populated areas would be granted a measure of self-government. Mr. Torosyan confirmed reports that the Georgian authorities were planning for a new round of arrests of Javakhk activists as a result of the recently convened meeting of Armenian community and social representatives in Akhalkalak. "In the present state of tense Georgian politics, it is more than possible that the Georgian authorities will implement new conspiracies in order to divert the attention of the Georgian opposition towards domestic matters and charge the opposition of creating a situation in which national minorities have taken advantage of the internal unrest to make territorial demands," noted Mr. Torosyan. Mr. Torosyan said that the Javakhk-Armenian community had a number of complaints against the Georgian government but that the community isn't taking part in opposition activities since it holds out no realistic expectations from the opposition. He said the opposition has yet to make any statement regarding a change of policy towards the national minorities in Georgia. Mr. Torosyan noted that there might be a small segment of the Javakhk community that resides in Tbilisi on work related matters and that takes part in the demonstrations, but there is no widespread participation since the opposition hasn't attempted to rally the forces of the national minorities around it. Mr. Torosyan concluded by saying, "A situation has been created in which the Javakhk-Armenian community is totally disappointed with the Saakahshvili regime, which carries out a nationalist policy, but it has no expectations from the opposition either."