ABUILDING ARMENIAN CHURCH SET ON FIRE IN BUDENNOVSK RUSSIAN TOWN
PanArmenian News Network
July 18 2005
18.07.2005 02:52
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The monument to Armenians, the founders of the town
was desecrated for the second time during the recent six months,
Yerkramas, the newspaper of Armenians of South of Russia reports.
According to Editor-in-chief Tigran Tavadian, the opening ceremony of
the memorial to the Fathers – Founders of the town of Saint Cross
took place October 17, 2004. The memorial is constituted of an
8-meter high arch, a Khachrar (cross stone) and a composition of
stones. The bell mounted under the arch has gathered the flock of the
Armenian Church for many years. For the first time the vandals
desecrated the monument in February 2005. The other day another act
of vandalism was committed. Lanterns were broken, the Khachkar was
damaged with fragments of concrete and dead body of a cat was thrown
under the arch. According to the source, the action bore a ritual
character. However on July 16 a recurrent incident took place. The
abuilding Armenian Church was set to fire. The fence was burnt and
the flame reached the Church itself. The witnesses do not doubt it
was arson. It is not ruled out that the vandals purposed the
objective to stir up tension in the town. “The inactivity of the law
enforcers, who are more interested in persecuting peaceful workers
without registration than in catching criminals, arouses
indignation”, Tigran Tavadian stated. To remind, the town of Surb
Khach (Saint Cross, presently Budennovsk) was founded by Armenian
migrants from Karabakh in 1799.