Author: Andres-Papazian

Expatica France
June 11 2010

Azerbaijan blacklists French lawmakers for Karabakh visit

Azerbaijan said Friday it was adding seven members of a French
parliamentary delegation to a blacklist of people banned from the
country for visiting its breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan has recently stepped up efforts to prevent foreigners from
visiting Nagorny Karabakh and last month had declared five Russian
lawmakers persona non grata for visiting the region.

“We have confirmed that they visited the occupied territories and as a
result have included their names on the list of people whose presence
in Azerbaijan is undesirable,” foreign ministry spokesman Elkhan
Polukhov told AFP.

He said French National Assembly members Arlette Grosskost, Pascale
Crozon, Richard Mallie, Rene Rouquet, Francois Rochebloine and Michel
Diefenbacher would be added to the blacklist after visiting Karabakh
this week.

Also banned was Jean-Pierre Delannoy, the secretary of the assembly’s
France-Armenia Friendship Group.

“This policy of the Azerbaijani state concerns politicians of any rank
from any country,” Polukhov said.

“People holding certain positions or representing elected bodies must
more seriously consider proposals to visit Azerbaijan’s occupied
territories.”

Baku has repeatedly warned foreigners against travelling to the
region, which is only accessible through Armenia, without permission
from Azerbaijani authorities.

Backed by Yerevan, ethnic Armenian separatists in Karabakh broke from
Baku’s control in a war in the early 1990s that claimed an estimated
30,000 lives.

Internationally mediated negotiations have failed to resolve the
dispute and tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia remain high.

From: A. Papazian

Aysor, Armenia
June 11 2010

We appear to live in three different countries, says Hovhannisian

`If you attentively leaf through newspapers of various orientations,
watch TV, and listen to the radio, then an impression comes as if you
have been living in three different countries,’ said leader of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun Vahan Hovhannisian after a week-long monitoring of the
Armenian media.

According to politician, people in one county are enthusiastically
watching new economical achievements of the government, innovation
programmes and new technologies that develop there. The second
country’s people `have no other problems but to doubt about whether a
group of 20-30 individuals of the Armenian National Movement [ANM]
will manage to burst at the Opera Square and hold a rally there.’

`However, I live in the third country, where people for a very long
time don’t believe any promises, programmes and announcements by
authorities and don’t care about activities of the ANM members. In
this country the people are interested only in serious day-to-day
issues, among them raising prices, justice and legal affairs,
activities of the police and courts, situation and security in the
country. Unfortunately, people experience these troubles, not the two
extremely false images,’ said Vahan Hovhannisian.

`As soon as one is trying to talk about real life, he observes
nervousness of those two fronts,’ he added.

From: A. Papazian

National Assembly, Armenia
parliament.am
June 11 2010

RA NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan Congratulates the Speaker of the
Parliament of Republic of Nagorno Karabakh

On June 10 the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan congratulated the Speaker of the National
Assembly of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh Ashot Ghulyan.

`On behalf of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and
personally on my behalf I send my warm and sincere congratulations on
your re-election in the high post of the Speaker of the National
Assembly.

I am sure that the warm relations, which were established between our
parliaments later will also continue to develop in the spirit of
cooperation and understanding.’

From: A. Papazian

Aysor, Armenia
June 11 2010

EU to use experience of working with Armenia

The European Union Advisory Group to the Republic of Armenia opened
its Fourth Advisory Board Meeting today in Yerevan within the
framework of Armenia-EU partnership program. The meeting was
co-chaired by RA National Security Council Secretary Arthur
Baghdasaryan and head of the EU delegation to Armenia Raul de
Luzenberger. EU Advisory Group fourth quarterly statement (for
January-March, 2010) was presented as well as draft Actions Plan for
April-September, 2010 was discussed.

A. Baghdasaryan summing up EU Advisory Group one year activity in
Armenia in his greeting speech appreciated the work done. He said that
three cooperation spheres ` visa, justice freedom and free trade, have
already produced good results.
A. Baghdasaryan also expressed hope that signing the Association
Agreement and Free Trade Agreement will further activize
implementation of reforms in Armenia, what will also promote
Armenia-EU partnership.

Raul de Luzenberger, in his turn, expressed happiness with the
positive estimations mentioning that the Advisory Group activity in
Armenia is the first experience of such work. He said that Armenian
experience will be used in the work with other countries, first of
which will be Moldova. He also stressed the necessity of extension of
financial programs stages within the framework of the EU Eastern
Partnership program.

At the meeting, UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia Mrs. Dafina
Gercheva also expressed satisfaction with the work done by the EU
Advisory Group in Armenia mentioning the results recorded in the human
rights, anti-corruption programs, legal and other spheres. Mrs.
Gercheva also rated as important signing the Free Trade Agreement with
EU aiming at making the reforms in Armenia permanent.

From: A. Papazian

Aysor, Armenia
June 11 2010

Monte: Armenian people’s Holy Martyr

Artsakh fight hero Monte Melkonian’s 17th death anniversary will be
marked on June 12. Special activities division diversion intelligence
group Commander Vova Vardanov and Monte Melkonian Fund Head Alek
Yenigomshyan shared their memories of Monte.

V. Vardanov telling about his acquaintance with Monte mentioned that
Monte had the kindest character traits: `I got acquainted with a
Diasporan Armenian boy whose name was Monte. However, he introduced
himself as Avo. I was categorically against involving a Diasporan
Armenian in the division but speaking to him I understood that he was
Armenian even more than many.’

Former member of ASALA, Monte’s friend and Monte Melkonian Fund Head
Alek Yenigomshyan said: `Monte is Armenian people’s Holy Martyr. He
was an ideological and moral figure.’ According to Yenigomshyan, Monte
was a pure person who never used his status of commander for his
personal interests.

`The current political and other spheres commanders need to learn much
from Monte Melkonian’s traits. Monte had an unspeakable willpower, the
word `desperation’ did not exist for him, even at the hardest moments
he was full of belief and was able to gain great victories with his
victory will,’ A. Yenigomshyan stressed.

From: A. Papazian

news.az, Azerbaijan
June 11 2010

Nalbandian’s statement ‘made for inner consumption’
Fri 11 June 2010 | 13:25 GMT Text size:

Rasim Musabeyov Now Armenians offer to return to the negotiation
situation of three years ago.

The statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry that his country
accepts the Madrid principles would be interesting if voiced at
Nalbandian’s meeting with the Minsk Group co-chairs who put the final
document of the updated Madrid principles on the table.

But Nalbandian said this at the session of the parliament parliament
in a specific manner which shows that the statement is for inner
consumption”, said political scientist Rasim Musabeyov.

The Armenian FM did not give a response that could satisfy the
co-chairs, the political scientist said.

‘There is an important difference between the Madrid principles and
updated Madrid principles, otherwise, the negotiations would have not
been held in the past three years.

Foreign ministers and presidents of the two countries have met ten
times, making positions of Azerbaijan and Armenian closer which
finally transformed into the updated Madrid principles. And now
Armenians offer to return to the negotiation situation of three years
ago. This is the indirect hampering of the negotiation process’, said
Musabeyov.

Novosti-Azerbaijan

From: A. Papazian

Trend, Azerbaijan
June 11 2010

Political analyst: Situation in Armenia is tense amid new phase of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement
11.06.2010 17:12
Azerbaijan, Baku, June 11 / Trend M. Aliyev /

Socio-political situation in Armenia is tense on the eve of a new
phase of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, said Friday the
Center for Political Innovation and Technologies head, political
analyst Mubariz Ahmadoglu said.

“At present, Armenia has bad relations with all its neighbors.
Communications are closed. The country’s debt amounts to $4,5 billion
given the state budget worth $1.8 billion. Moreover, Armenia has very
tense relations between Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and Armenia’s
Armenians. “There is growing demographic crisis in the country,”
Ahmadoglu said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

Comparing the first and current phases of the conflict, the head of
the center said that there were factors that ensured the victory of
Armenia. Armenia was a very attractive republic for the West because
it fulfilled its order for the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“The Spitak Earthquake was an excellent reason for the Armenians
involved in the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict, finances, arms and human
beings,” he said.

From: A. Papazian

CounterPunch.org
June 11 2010

Will Erdogan Blink?

By FRANKLIN C. SPINNEY

A recent article by Patrick Cockburn, one of the ablest reporters
covering the Middle East, provides an excellent character portrait of
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan. It is certainly consistent with
what little I have been able to learn about this fascinating
politician. Regardless of what you may think of Erdogan, and he has
many detractors (I am not one), he is certainly establishing himself
as an influential world leader who must be reckoned with in an
emerging multi-polar world.

Cockburn’s report is must reading, because Erdogan has maneuvered
himself onto the moral high ground in a very serious crisis he did not
create. Consider please the following:

By standing tall against Israel’s murderous commando attack on the
unarmed ship in international waters that was carrying aid to the
besieged inhabitants of Gaza, and by promising to be on another ship
trying to break the blockade, Erdogan has set an example that
contrasts sharply with the latest generation of pusillanimous leaders
in the United States. They have refused to condemn Israel’s attack,
even though a US citizen was among those murdered — thus continuing
the pattern of unprincipled moral weakness that began when President
Johnson refused to act decisively after the Israelis deliberately
attacked the USS Liberty in international waters in June 1967,
murdering over 30 American sailors.

Not surprisingly, Erdogan has become the newest bête noire of the
neocons. They have embarked on a concerted effort in their media
outlets to smear him as well as to trash our relations with Turkey,
starting with screeds in the Wall Street Journal and Weekly Standard.
Their hypocrisy is stunning. Many of these same neocons assiduously
cultivated the so-called strategic Israeli-Turkish alliance in the
1990s and, in fact, lobbied Congress on the behalf of Turkey. AIPAC is
lobbying Congress for a resolution of support for Israel’s attack, or
failing that, is pressuring congressmen to not criticize Israel. AIPAC
and the neocons are also stoking up the Armenian lobby to criticize
the modern Turkish Republic for the genocidal crimes which occurred
during the waning days of a decrepit Ottoman Empire. This is logically
equivalent to criticizing German Chancellor Angela Merkel for Adolf
Hitler’s crimes. Some congressmen have already made strong public
statements of support for Israel, and by extension a condemnation for
Turkey, while the majority — like the good Germans of the 1930s —
have done likewise by remaining silent. Israel just hoisted Obama on
his petard (again) by requesting increased arms aid from the United
States which, of course, will be rubber stamped by a compliant
Congress. Meanwhile, according to the Jerusalem Post, the Deputy Chief
of Staff of the Israeli Army, just threatened to sink any Turkish
warships carrying Erdogan, if it was escorting another flotilla of aid
ships trying to break the blockade of Gaza. The threat is serious,
because it was made on Israeli Army Radio, an outlet for policy
pronouncements intended to lather up the Israeli citizens for battle.

To add final insult to this march of folly, Sheera Fenkle just
reported that the blockade of Gaza is not about stopping arms
shipments to Hamas, because in her words, ‘McClatchy obtained an
Israeli government document that describes the blockade not as a
security measure but as “economic warfare” against the Islamist group
Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory.’ Put another way,
Israel’s own documents suggest that the Israeli government understands
the blockade is about an illegal collective punishment of the Gazan
people for having the temerity to elect Hamas to govern Gaza in a free
election. Ironically, it was the short-sighted Israelis who promoted
Hamas in its early years during the late 1980s as a tactical means to
divide and weaken Palestinian allegiances to the PLO.

So Turkey and Israel are maneuvering themselves and the United States
into a trap between the moral high ground and the moral low ground for
very different reasons. In the eyes of most of the world, Turkey is
playing a constructive grand strategic card, while Israel is playing a
destructive strategic card. One holds out hope for peace and justice
while the other continues its warlike business as usual. But there is
more. An Israeli attack on Turkey would be also an attack on the NATO
Alliance. Under the terms of the NATO Treaty, such an attack should
trigger what is known as an Article 5 response — an attack on a NATO
ally is an attack on all. This is what the US used to justify a NATO
response to 9-11 in Afghanistan, even though the Afghan case was far
less clear than the Turkish-Israeli imbroglio, because the Taliban was
at most an accomplice to the 9-11 crime and may not have known about
it in advance. If Israel carries through on its threat to attack a
NATO warship, it would be a clear act of war. If the US (and the rest
of NATO) does not respond, you can kiss NATO and Turkey goodbye, and
the US would lose moral standing in the world to a greater degree than
that engineered by George Bush and his fellow neocon travelers —
which is no small achievement. Nobody could ever trust the United
States to live up to its formal treaty obligations. Our relations with
Russia and China would be weakened dangerously, and Iran’s position in
the Middle East would be strengthened. The fall of dominoes would go
on in all sorts of directions.

To borrow the unforgettable words of British Foreign Minister Edward
Grey in the fateful summer of 1914, “the lights are going out all
over” the Middle East, in NATO headquarters, and in the White House
(assuming they were turned on). If Erdogan presses forward with his
public promise to be on another Gaza aid ship or an escorting Turkish
warship and if Israel acts on its threat to sink the ship carrying
him, then like the chain of events of August 1914, the march to war
could very well take on a life of its own.

We know what Israel will do if, as is likely, the US stands passively
on the sidelines again, so the questions of the hour seem to be: Will
Erdogan blink? Will the US force him to blink?

Study Cockburn’s report and judge for yourself if blinking is a part
of Erdogan’s character, particularly, when he has maneuvered himself
onto the moral high ground, and it is obvious to all but a few that
the low grounders, like PM Netanyau, are playing the hapless Mr. Obama
for a moral dupe — again.

Franklin `Chuck’ Spinney is a former military analyst for the
Pentagon. He currently lives on a sailboat in the Mediterranean and
can be reached at [email protected]

From: A. Papazian

Jerusalem Post
June 11 2010

How Erdogan overplayed his hand

By AMOTZ ASA-EL
06/11/2010 16:18

So the Mossad, the navy and the government were caught off guard, not
to mention Israel’s PR system, such as it is. Yet at the end of the
day theirs were tactical failures alongside a sensible strategy, which
is to defend the Jews and fight their enemies. In Turkey it has been
the other way around, with a tactically impressive foreign policy now
proving strategically catastrophic.

For seven years Recep Tayyip Erdogan has fooled everyone about his
agenda and character. The more time elapsed, however, the more the
makeup wore thin and the masks came off, and now the entire costume
party has ended amid much tragedy and farce.

Erdogan’s quest for `zero problems’ with Turkey’s many neighbors
struck the international community as the kind of Islam the world so
badly craved: pragmatic, tolerant and dialoguing. Turkey’s leaders
smooched with their Greek archenemies, celebrated a pact with the
Armenians, allowed Kurdish TV broadcasts, accommodated Syria and for
the first time in decades visited Iraq.

True, some of these packages proved more poorly sewn than initially
claimed. The Armenian deal stalled as it involved no Turkish
concession on genocide recognition, and the gestures toward the Kurds
left out what matters most ` permission to run schools in Kurdish.
Still, Turkey lent no reason to suspect its sincerity.

Not anymore. Erdogan has now made his country’s many historic enemies
suspect that he is a liar, a wolf in sheep’s clothing who thinks he
can fool everyone all the time.

SUSPICIONS THAT Erdogan is a diplomatic swindler arose already two
weeks after he entered office in spring ’03, when the Turkish
parliament vetoed America’s entry into northern Iraq through Turkey.
At the time, few understood this development, which was overcome
militarily with an improvised, but well executed, airborne landing.

Politically, it was Erdoganesque cunning at its purest. The American
operation he nearly derailed was not the kind for which Turkish
governments seek legislative approval. Yet Erdogan manufactured a
`prohibition’ which allowed him to pretend to be constrained by the
very democracy that had made America wage its war in the first place.

Similarly, initial impressions that Erdogan was a moderate Muslim out
to uphold Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s legacy eventually gave way to a
crawling counterrevolution, whereby the secular military, media and
judiciary have been gradually strong-armed into submission.

And that, in fact, is the problem with Erdogan’s many half-truths,
diversions and downright lies; they can only last so long. Eventually
everyone begins to suspect they are being taken for a ride.

To hear Erdogan yelling at us, the Jews, as he did this week `Thou
shalt not murder’ (`I will now say it in Hebrew!’) is grotesque. This
is the man who won’t recognize his country’s mass murder of the
Armenians last century, the great lover of humanity whose typically
escapist response to the American and Swedish legislatures’
recognition of the Armenian genocide was to furiously recall his
ambassadors from Washington and Stockholm.

Turkey’s many historic victims, from Serbia and Bulgaria through
Romania and Hungary to Cyprus, Armenia, Kurdistan and the Arabs are
now quietly taking stock of the man behind the Flotilla Affair, and
they have no choice but to suspect they have business with the kind of
Turk they would all rather forget. The man is trouble, an Islamist
loose cannon in a world brimming with Islamist fervor, malcontents and
agents.

IT IS only a matter of time before the Turkish middle class joins the
elite in wondering just how much Erdogan’s adventurism will cost them.

It is bad enough that he embarrasses his people when he says, for
instance, that he can’t allow schools to teach in Kurdish because that
kind of minority right is not accorded anywhere in the world. Of
course it’s allowed, for instance in Israel, where Arab schools teach
in Arabic. And it is of course bad enough when Erdogan is so
inconsistent as to demand that Germany allow its 0.3 percent Turkish
minority the kind of cultural autonomy he won’t allow his own 15%
Kurdish minority.

It is also bad for Turkey that its leader is now perceived across the
world as a demagogue. Erdogan missed the irony of him, the man who
hosted Sudan’s convicted perpetrator of genocide Omar Bashir, publicly
hollering at Nobel Peace laureate Shimon Peres, `You are killing
babies in Gaza.’ Millions of others, however, did not miss the irony,
and they realize they have business with a thug whose definition of
morality and immorality is what is good or bad for him, rather than
what is good or bad regardless of him.

It is certainly bad for Turkey to be associated with anti-Semitism, a
disease with which it was never previously plagued.

Erdogan likes to declare that he loathes anti-Semitism. He visited the
chief rabbi of Turkey after a terror attack on a synagogue in
Istanbul, and this week he hosted Israeli rabbi Menachem Froman. Alas,
such gestures, beside suggesting he distinguishes between the Jews’
right to their faith and their right to their land, become meaningless
when he succumbs to the basest anti-Semitic profanity ` the blood
libel. As long as he is in power, Turkey will be at odds with the
entire Jewish people, a proven recipe for the kind of decline that
befell Spain after the expulsion and Russia after communism, not to
mention Germany after Nazism.

Yet the worst thing for Turkey is to be associated with provocation per se.

Erdogan has convinced his country’s many historic enemies, most of all
Russia, that he is a dangerous hothead who must be contained. For
Russia, modern Turkey is but a reincarnation of the power with which
it had 12-odd wars between 1568 and 1917. For Russia, Ankara’s
meddling in superpower politics by intriguing with Iran and Brazil was
an alarm bell, the kind Erdogan was originally careful to avoid
ringing, until he became overconfident, forgetting that a nuclearized
Islamic axis of the sort everyone now suspects he is cultivating is
for Vladimir Putin what a Cuban A-bomb was for John F. Kennedy.

All intelligence services suspicious of Turkey ` and they add up to at
least a dozen ` know the truth about the flotilla. They know it was
inspired, and very likely masterminded, by Erdogan; that it was a
metaphor for his entire foreign policy, a loudly trumpeted, well
financed and poorly camouflaged voyage of zealots who elbowed their
way into a ship of fools, in order to pick a fight where the world
least needed one. Erdogan has now made all suspect Turkey of quietly
feeding the very Islamism that is the bane of the entire world. What
action all this will produce is a separate question, but the mask has
come off, and it’s too late to put it back on.

From: A. Papazian

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Karine Abalyan
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail:
[email protected]

Website:

June 11, 2010

________________________________________________

ORLANDO, FL COMMUNITY CELEBRATES CONSECRATION OF NEW CHURCH

The consecration of Orlando’s new Soorp Haroutiun Armenian Church last
weekend closed one chapter in a community’s longstanding building project –
an initiative launched in central Florida by a small but determined mission
parish two-and-a-half decades ago – and opened a new chapter involving the
development of a rich, full-fledged parish life.

The consecration weekend began on Saturday, June 5, with the traditional
Turenpatzek (or door-opening) Service. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate
of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), assisted by four
clergy – the Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian, dean of New York’s St. Vartan
Armenian Cathedral and coordinator of the consecration services; the Rev.
Fr. Hovnan Demerjian, pastor of St. Hagop Church of St. Petersburg, Fla.;
the Rev. Fr. Vartan Joulfayan, pastor of St. Mary Church of Hollywood, Fla.;
and the Rev. Fr. Shnork Souin, pastor of St. Mary Church of Livingston, N.J.
– kneeled before the church doors and knocked on the portal three times in a
symbolic gesture asking the Lord to “open to us this door of thy mercy.”

The Primate then led a procession into the church, where some 250 people
gathered to witness the historic moment. “What a glorious day this is – a
day of joy and pride for the city of Orlando, for the people of this parish
and its leaders, for your generous benefactors, for myself and for our
entire Diocese,” Archbishop Barsamian said.

“It’s a miracle that in nine months this church was built on land where
there was nothing,” he added, congratulating parish leaders, benefactors
Hratch and Suzanne Toufayan and their family, and all community members who
helped realize the dream of erecting an Armenian church in the area. A
reception followed in the church hall.

On Sunday, June 6, Archbishop Barsamian officially consecrated the new house
of worship, anointing with holy muron (oil) the altar, baptismal font, and
pillars of the sanctuary. The church was named Soorp Haroutiun Armenian
Church: “Holy Resurrection.” “Haroutiun” was also the name of Hratch
Toufayan’s late father.

The consecration fell on the Feast of Holy Etchmiadzin, a day commemorating
St. Gregory the Illuminator’s vision of Christ striking the ground with a
golden hammer and instructing Gregory to erect a church on the site. St.
Gregory proclaimed to the Armenian people, “Come, let us build the holy
altar of light, for in it light shines on us in the land of Armenia.”

In his sermon, Archbishop Barsamian reminded the faithful that 1,700 years
ago the people of Armenia responded to St. Gregory’s call by erecting the
Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin. That initial step launched what would
become a rich tradition of building churches throughout Armenia, and later,
in the diaspora, the Primate said.

Archbishop Barsamian stressed that it is the spirit of the Armenian people –
their unfailing commitment to their Christian faith – that has illuminated
these places of worship and continues to do so to this day.

“The altar of light is not just a structure of stone and marble, but it is
something bigger,” he said. “It is the light in each of us, brought together
in imitation of Christ. Ultimately, we are the light of the world.”

He went on to speak about ways the Armenian Christian faith empowered
Armenians in the face of persecution and oppression. From the 5th-century
Battle of Avarayr to the 20th-century marches through the desert of Der Zor
and the irreligiousness characterizing the Communist era, the Armenian faith
has remained firm in the hearts of its people, he said.

“The survivors of these dark episodes in our history always continued to
build new churches,” Archbishop Barsamian said. “And today, the Armenian
community in Orlando is likewise responding to St. Gregory’s call: ‘Come,
let us build the holy altar of light.'”

A bridge across generations

The consecration service concluded with the first celebration of the Divine
Liturgy at St. Haroutiun Church. The choir members, altar servers, and
parishioners of the local Armenian churches participated in the services.
Also serving on the altar were the grandchildren of Hratch Toufayan, the
church’s main godfather. Maestro Khoren Mekanejian, coordinator of Music
Ministry at the Diocese, led the singing of the hymns.

Guests then gathered at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel, part of the Walt
Disney Resort complex, for a celebratory banquet.

Addressing the gathering, His Excellency Ambassdor Tatoul Markarian,
Armenia’s ambassador to the United States, congratulated the Orlando parish
on its remarkable accomplishment. “Undoubtedly, building a new Armenian
church is a sign of the vitality of the Armenian community of the greater
Orlando area,” he said. “It means our next generations will be not only
well-established and loyal citizens of this great country, but also
dedicated representatives of our nation and our church, and great
compatriots of our homeland, Armenia.”

“May this wonderful community and the church flourish to the benefit of
Armenia and the entire Armenian nation,” he added.

Diocesan Council chair Oscar Tatosian spoke about the faith and commitment
of the Orlando parish. “This church was built on a thousand individual acts
of faith, by contributions bold and subtle,” he said. “What we celebrate
today is not the building, but the new community of faithful – a community
that is a bridge from our faithful ancestors to a generation not yet born.”

Also representing the Diocesan Council was vice chair Dr. Raffy Hovanessian.

The program featured performances by guest soloist Maro Partamian and
pianist Sara Nazarian. Samantha George played the viola.

Serving spiritual needs

St. Haroutiun Church had its beginnings in 1985, when then-Primate
Archbishop Torkom Manoogian established a mission parish in the Orlando area
and the community began considering the construction of a church.

A five-acre plot was purchased in 1993, and a smaller purchase followed
three years later. As property values rose, the parish council decided to
sell both parcels and purchase a third section of land on which to build the
new church. The sale, completed in 2005, helped the community raise money
for construction costs.

Designed by the late Ramon H. Hovsepian of Worcester, Mass., the new church
would feature a copper dome and elements of traditional Armenian Church
architecture. The house of worship would, first and foremost, serve the
community’s spiritual needs. But organizers hoped it would also become an
important cultural beacon, inspiring its members to carry forth the Armenian
language and traditions.

A little more than a year ago, the Orlando parish received the final permit
needed to proceed with the project. Construction began last August, with the
official groundbreaking and cornerstone-blessing ceremony taking place on
September 27.

It was also on that day that Archbishop Barsamian announced that the
Toufayan family of New Jersey had pledged $750,000 for the church. Longtime
supporters of the Eastern Diocese and the global Armenian Church, Hratch and
Suzanne Toufayan run a bakery in Orlando, and their son, Greg Toufayan,
sometimes serves on the altar at the Orlando parish. Greg Toufayan also
served on the building committee for Soorp Haroutiun Church.

Other godfathers of the new church include Richard Bargamian, Charles and
Sara Chemenian, Ethel Duffett, Dr. Albert G. Eckian, Haig Hagopian, Lucine
Mardirosian-Harvey, Dr. Michael Keotahlian, John Shahinian, Simon Tashjian,
Samuel Vardanian, Marietta Vazquez, Drs. Aram and Aida Tchobanian, and Jerry
L. Youderian. In addition, hundreds of others have volunteered their
services over the years to ensure the success of the initiative.

Parishioners also noted the contributions of Lucine Mardirosian-Harvey, who
has been involved with the project since its earliest days, attending
countless planning and zoning board meetings and helping gather support for
the undertaking.

“We accomplished what we set out to do,” she said, adding that the community
would now focus on developing spiritual and educational programs to meet the
needs of its members.

Ms. Mardirosian-Harvey was honored for her efforts at the consecration
banquet, when Archbishop Barsamian presented her with the “St. Nersess
Shnorhali” medal and pontifical encyclical issued by His Holiness Karekin
II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

“It is a great joy for us that the Armenian community of Orlando, after many
years of hard work and dedication, built this church,” the Catholicos wrote.
“You, dear Lucine Mardirosian-Harvey, are among those who first initiated
this undertaking, whose unshakable faith kept this community standing and
inspired the sons and daughters of our people to take up responsibilities
and to make sacrifices for this God-pleasing project.”

His Holiness Karekin II urged the parish to “always tend to the well-being
of Soorp Haroutiun Church with endless love and zeal, and preserve your
national and spiritual life under her shadow.”

Also recognized at the banquet was parish council chair Aram Nazarian, who
received the Diocese’s “St. Vartan Award.”

“It was a very emotional time,” Mr. Nazarian said of the consecration. He
said that the parish is proud of its achievement, but aware of the work
still ahead.

A diverse, growing community

Having a permanent place of worship will help centralize the parish’s
ministry and make it easier to reach out to the local Armenian community,
Mr. Nazarian said. In the works are plans to offer Bible study courses,
strengthen the ACYOA, and create other church organizations. The church has
already established an outreach committee to evaluate the needs of the
community and to brainstorm ways to fulfill them.

Dr. Albert G. Eckian, who chairs the outreach committee and served as the
master of ceremonies at the consecration banquet, said the community is
diverse, with members representing Armenia and all parts of the diaspora,
including Iran, Turkey, and South America, as well as various regions across
the United States.

With an increase in the number of young families settling in the area in
recent years, Dr. Eckian said “there is a great need for teaching not only
the sacraments of the Armenian Church, but also its culture and language.”

“We know that everything will take a little bit of time,” Mr. Nazarian said.
“With the direction of the Diocese, we hope to set goals and to work to
attain them.”

In the coming months, the parish will continue to be served by visiting
priests. In July, the Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian and Sam Mikaelian,
coordinator of development at the Diocese, are scheduled to conduct a
workshop for the parish council on strategies for designing some of these
new programs.

“I was pleased to be able to offer my services again to help a parish
community realize its dream of consecrating an Armenian Church,” Fr. Chevian
said. “Now it’s up to the community to give the edifice life and vitality.”

Parishioners say they have no doubt that the parish will blossom in the
coming years.

“I am very optimistic that now that we have a church that reminds us of our
Armenian roots and our Armenian homeland, it will become a focal point not
only for the central Florida community, but for many visitors we have in
Orlando,” Dr. Eckian said. “And I am optimistic that this church will grow
in a much faster and rapid way.”

###

Photos attached.

Photo 1: Orlando’s new Soorp Haroutiun Armenian Church, consecrated on Jun.
6 by Diocesan Primate Abp. Khajag Barsamian. (Photo: L. Altiparmakian)

Photo 2: Abp. Kajag Barsamian, flanked by (l-r) Fr. Hovnan Demerjian and Fr.
Vartan Joulfayan, conducts the “Door-opening” (Turenpatsek) ceremony which
preceded the consecration of the Soorp Haroutiun Church in Orlando, Fla.

Photo 3: Diocesan Primate Abp. Khajag Barsamian consecrates the altar of the
new Orlando church, flanked by (l-r) Fr. Mardiros Chevian and Fr. Hovnan
Demerjian. (Photo: L. Altiparmakian)

Photo 4: As part of the June 6 consecration, Abp. Barsamian anoints a pillar
of Orlando’s new Soorp Harouiun Armenian Church. (Photo: L. Altiparmakian)

Photo 5: Abp. Khajag Barsamian addresses members of the Orlando Armenian
community during the consecration of their new church. Seated at lower left
are church benefactors Hratch and Suzanne Toufayan, as well as Armenia’s
ambassador to the U.S., Amb. Tatoul Markarian. (Photo: L. Altiparmakian)

Photo 6: The St. Nersess Shnorhali Medal, bestowed by Catholicos Karekin II,
is presented by Diocesan Primate Abp. Khajag Barsamian to Lucine
Mardirosian-Harvey, a parish leader whose longtime dream was to build an
Armenian Church in Orlando. (Photo: L. Altiparmakian)

From: A. Papazian