Author: Christine Harutyunian

Wyoming News, WY
Dec 10 2004
Armenian family released from immigration center
DENVER (AP) – An Armenian family held in an immigration detention
center in Denver for nearly five weeks has been unexpectedly
released.
”I’m shaking. It happened so fast. It’s incredible. I feel like I’m
in a dream,” said Gevorg Sargsyan, moments after he, his sister
Meri, brother Hayk and father Ruben walked out of the center
Thursday.
The Sargsyan family was taken into custody while their attorney was
trying to obtain visas for them, based on their contention they were
victims of a con man who trafficked in fraudulent visas. That battle
is not over.
The family has lived and worked in the western Colorado town of
Ridgway for more than six years.
Hayk is a senior honor student at Ridgway High School. Gevorg was on
the dean’s list at the University of Colorado, where he was studying
chemical engineering. Meri was well known for playing piano in local
churches. Ruben, a space-optics scientist in Armenia, had been
working multiple jobs to provide for his family.
His wife, Susan, and their daughter Nvart, who both work in Ouray and
Ridgway, were not taken into custody because their immigration cases
were being heard separately.
Ouray County residents have raised more than $30,000 for their legal
defense, written hundreds of letters and e-mails and asked officials
from regional immigration officials to President Bush to take another
look at the case and allow the family to stay.
”We are very glad ICE made this decision,” said Pete Whiskeman, a
Ridgway businessman who has helped lead the effort.
Carl Rusnok, a Dallas-based spokesman for the immigration division,
said the Sargsyans were released on orders from Washington on
Thursday.
”They were released because they are not a threat to national
security and not a flight risk,” Rusnok said. ”Frankly, we can use
the detention space for more dangerous criminals.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Teenagers Act Out Tragedy to Reduce Tensions
By Anna Smolchenko, Special to The Moscow Times
Moscow Times
Dec 8 2004
Mike Solovyanov / MT
Actors performing the scene where a Russian boy, Yasha, is killed
trying to stop fighting between his Ingush and Ossetian friends.
A diverse group of teenagers with no acting experience has taken to
the Moscow stage with a play aimed at overcoming ethnic tensions
between Ingush and Ossetians.
They came from Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Moscow and St. Petersburg
— and had only met one week before the show.
The play, “The Time Is Right,” staged at the Central House of Artists
on Stary Arbat on Nov. 26 was no commercial production, but a drama
therapy project organized by the nonprofit Podval theater studio.
The 15- to 19-year-olds first met in a recreation center near Moscow,
where they got to know each other and took a crash course in acting.
“I don’t know how much it has to do with theater, but I do know it
has to do with love and faith,” said Yulia Shevelyova, the director
of Podval, introducing the teenagers’ performance.
The group uses art therapy techniques, role-play and training to
reach out to children and teenagers.
Podval takes its name from its home in the basement of an old
building on Ostozhenka. Shevelyova, a singer by training, and Vitaly
Vorobyov, a former engineer, founded the group in 1986. For the last
11 years Podval has been using drama to break down barriers between
Lithuanians, Poles and Russians living in Lithuania; Azeris and
Armenians; Jews and Russians; Catholics and Protestants in Northern
Ireland; and most recently, Chechens, Ingush and Ossetians.
The Beslan school attack in September that left more than 330 people
dead, including many children, reopened old wounds between the
Ossetian and Ingush peoples, who share bitter memories of interethnic
clashes in 1992. According to Podval, in that conflict 350 Ingush and
192 Ossetians were killed and more than 30,000 Ingush and 5,000
Ossetians were displaced from their homes.
The play, staged three months after the Beslan tragedy, brought
together Ingush and Ossetian teenagers to speak out against hate and
violence. Wearing blue, white and red T-shirts, the colors of
Russia’s national flag, they sang and danced variations of the
Caucasus lezghinka, at times intertwined with rap, and Russian round
dances.
The play’s storyline begins in August this year, just before the
Beslan school attack. On a trip to Moscow an Ingush boy, Amir, meets
Astemir and Ezira, a brother and sister from North Ossetia, through
his Russian friend Yasha. Amir falls in love with Ezira and is eager
to win her heart.
The tension between Amir and the girl’s brother is palpable, and when
the Beslan tragedy unfolds, it crushes the last hopes of the Ingush
Romeo. Fueled by mutual suspicion and grief, the Ingush and Ossetian
characters resort to threats and violence. They only stop when their
Russian friend, Yasha, is killed after trying to stop the fighting.
“Yulia Semyonovna [Shevelyova] prepared the play’s basic storyline,
but the words and dances were ours,” said 16-year-old Amir Matiyev,
from Nazran, Ingushetia, who played Amir.
Onstage the teenage actors, in lines they wrote themselves for the
play, slammed police corruption and posed several searching
questions.
“Why do we have to feel like foreigners in our own country’s
capital?” asked one actor, who played an Ingush in the play.
“As long as you pay, you can smuggle whatever you like, including a
nuclear warhead,” said another character.
“Why did television lie about the number of hostages?” asked a third.
“What else can a man do who has lost everyone overnight?” asked
15-year-old Ezira Dzioyeva from Beslan, playing the part of Ezira,
referring to the North Ossetians who have said they are ready to take
up arms to avenge their relatives.
Matiyev said that two of his friends had died in Beslan, but he had
never felt any hatred toward Ossetians, Russians or any other ethnic
group.
After finishing the performance, Dzioyeva started to cry. “I played
myself,” she said in the wings. “It wasn’t hard.” She said that she
and the other actors had tried to express what they felt and that the
play “reflects all our realities.”
Like some of the other teenagers in the play, she said it was her
first time in Moscow. “Tomorrow we are leaving,” she said with tears
in her eyes.
Vladimir Pozner, Channel One television anchor and president of the
Russian Television Academy, told the audience before the performance
that the play hoped to show a way to heal ethnic divides. “There is
nothing sillier, more stupid and shameful than rejecting or disliking
another person because he speaks a different language or has a
different skin color,” he said.
Pozner, who is a Podval trustee, hosted two television programs in
the early 1990s that brought together teenagers from different parts
of the Soviet Union affected by ethnic conflict, including witnesses
of a tank incursion into Lithuania and pogroms in Baku, Azerbaijan,
and Osh, Kyrgyzstan. “It’s through the kids that we can find
solutions that adults fail to find,” Pozner said.
The play was sponsored by Charities Aid Foundation, a British-based
charity that has been working in Russia since 1993, as part of its
response to the Beslan tragedy.
Through its LifeLine program, CAF has raised some $2.5 million for
medical treatment for victims of the Beslan tragedy, including
plastic surgery and the purchase of artificial limbs. It is also
offering longer-term help, such as psychological counseling.
More than $53,000 was raised for the Beslan LifeLine drive by
Independent Media, the parent company of The Moscow Times.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DENTAL CENTER AT ASU
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
02 Dec 04
The dental center provided with modern equipment has been operating at
Artsakh State University for three months already. On November 26 the
official opening of the dental center took place. In his address vice
rector Artem Abrahamian mentioned that the dream of ASU to have a
dental center at last came true, for which he thanked the rector of
the university. During his visit to Iran last year the rector of the
university Hamlet Grigorian managed to obtain modern dental equipment
with the help of the Union of Armenian Doctors of Iran. According to
him, education in any field must be practical. The center has three
dentist chairs, x-ray apparatus. Three doctors provide dental service
with the participation of students. The center provides free dental
care to students. Lecturers are given 50 per cent discount. The
dental center may admit also a limited number of other patients.
AA.
02-12-2004

40 Armenian nationals ousted from Russian province
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 23 2004
Forty Armenians have recently been evicted from Russia’s Krasnodar
province, Russian press reports said on Monday.
Officials of the province explain Armenians’ banishment with their
illegal migration and living in the region without any official
registration. However, the move was due to the fact that local
Armenians demand autonomy and claim that Krasnodar is a “historical
Armenian land”, a reliable source told AssA-Irada.
The leadership of Krasnodar, which is densely populated by Armenians,
began to oust Armenians from the province several months ago after
considering the increasing discontent of the local residents.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri presenter accuses OSCE’s “Christian” mediators of pro-Armenian bias
ANS TV, Baku,
14 Nov 04
An Azerbaijani TV presenter has accused of bias the OSCE’s mediatory
group, set up to resolve the conflict over the disputed territory of
Nagornyy Karabakh. Presenting ANS TV’s “Otan Hafta” weekly review
programme, Mirsahin Agayev said that the OSCE Minsk Group is taking
Armenia’s side in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, as it is
composed of Christian states. The following is an excerpt from the
report by Azerbaijani TV station ANS on 14 November; subheadings
inserted editorially:
[Presenter Mirsahin] Yasir Arafat has died. There is a big vacuum in
the Middle East following his death. Arafat seems to be a man who can
influence developments even in his absence. [Passage omitted: details
of Arafat’s death].
Azerbaijan has also appealed to the UN, which stood in silent tribute
to Arafat. However, it would be naive to suppose that it will stand
again on this issue. Somebody has to die for this purpose. But there
is no death so far. There is still a cease-fire.
Minsk Group as spring-board for diplomats
[Presenter, over video of Karabakh, UN General Assembly session and
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen’s meeting] Azerbaijan has moved an
initiative to table its main problem, the situation around the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, at the 59th session of the UN General
Assembly and this initiative has caused naturally Armenia’s and,
unnaturally, the OSCE Minsk Group’s concern. The Minsk Group should
have seen the impetus of the direct or indirect involvement of almost
all the world’s countries in the resolution of the problem and should,
maybe really should, have grasped the chance to speed up a solution to
the issue to which it has been a hostage for more than 10 years. But
it failed to see and grasp this. Let us investigate the factors that
provoke these strange conditions and the co-chairmen’s concern. First
of all, the Minsk Group tackles the Nagornyy Karabakh issue as a
hobby. In fact, this group provides a useful opportunity for several
countries to have their representatives undergo diplomatic
courses. The representatives of the countries, which are the co-chairs
of the Minsk Group, learn diplomacy on us, under the pretext of
tackling the Karabakh problem, and gain an opportunity to make tourist
trips not only to two cities in the Caucasus, but also to dozens of
other big cities in the world. For example, after several years of
visits and meetings it becomes known that Kazimirov [former Minsk
Group co-chairman from Russia] is sent to some country as an
ambassador. So are other co-chairmen. Therefore, it almost seems that
it is not beneficial at all for the organizers of the Minsk Group, who
have set up an unnatural infrastructure for 10 years and lived well on
it, to resolve the Karabakh issue. In order not to be accused of
subjectivity let us refer to quotes and recall the following:
[Late Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, 1993-2003, captioned, shown
speaking in Russian with Azeri voice-over] It has been 14-15 years
since the Nagornyy Karabakh problem surfaced, while it has been 10
years since the establishment of the OSCE Minsk Group. The USA, France
and Russia became co-chairs in the group in 1997. A long time has
passed since then, but there is no result yet.
[Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, captioned, shown speaking] The
activity of the Minsk Group has been unsuccessful and has given no
result for these 10 years. I don’t want to look into the reasons; we
all know them. But this is a fact.
OSCE “closer” to Armenia
[Presenter, over video of scenes, presumably in Karabakh] We hear
these statements nearly every day, conclude submissively every time
that there is no alternative to the Minsk Group, which was assigned
the task of solving the conflict, wait for the old 31 December and in
our new year congratulations hope that all our refugees will celebrate
the next new year on their own land. And our wish comes true, because
for 10 years refugee children have been celebrating their holidays on
the land where they were born: in Baku, Barda and Bilasuvar. The
Minsk Group co-chairmen tirelessly keep saying that the Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents should solve the issue themselves. Thus,
Azerbaijan and Armenia expects the Minsk Group to solve the problem,
while the Minsk Group co-chairmen expect the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents to do so. And the circle closes. It opens and closes.
We have said that the initiative to discuss the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict at the level of the UN General Assembly irritates the Minsk
Group co-chairmen, as well as Armenia. But, on the other hand, we have
always felt that the co-chairmen are closer to Armenia than to
Azerbaijan. It has always been felt both in their uncertain stances on
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and in their consistent and
insistent efforts to tout Nagornyy Karabakh as a party to the
negotiations.
UN resolutions “old”
Russian co-chairman Yuriy Merzlyakov’s stance on the UN’s still
unenforced resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenia’s armed
formations from the occupied lands [of Azerbaijan] may be described as
the group’s way of approaching the problem. Let us recall that
notorious statement issued in Baku.
[Merzlyakov, Russian co-chairman of OSCE Minsk Group, captioned, shown
speaking in Russian with Azeri voice-over] The UN Security Council
adopting resolutions doesn’t mean their enforcement. Recall how many
resolutions the UN passed on the Middle East and Cyprus. Have all of
them been enforced?
[Presenter, over video of Armenian President Kocharyan and Karabakh
separatist leader Gukasyan speaking] A similar statement was made by
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and the head of the separatist
Nagornyy Karabakh regime, Arkadiy Gukasyan. They also said that the UN
resolutions, which were issued 10 years ago, are old now. Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan’s visit to Moscow this week was worth
mentioning for two interesting points. We could also say for
separatist meetings. For example, Oskanyan addresses a meeting of the
foreign ministers of the member countries of the CIS Collective
Security Treaty and criticizes Baku’s UN initiative and the CIS states
that support it. And this is after he asked for the deadline
postponing a meeting with the Azerbaijani foreign minister to be
extended. And these accusations are made not in the CIS, which
Azerbaijan is a member to, but in front of members of the CIS
Collective Security Treaty, which Azerbaijan is not a party to. In
fact, Armenia addresses its military allies. The Armenian minister’s
meeting with the Minsk Group co-chairman in Moscow, Yuriy Merzlyakov,
could probably be taken as normal. But the minister usually meets the
French co-chairman sitting in Paris there, too. We found out from the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry that the Minsk Group co-chairmen are not
expected to meet our officials in the same format soon. So, it means
that Oskanyan’s Moscow meetings are separatist.
Minsk Group co-chairmen “bestowed” on Armenia
The Minsk Group co-chairmen have been bestowed on Armenia by God, to
be exact by Holy Jesus. Also because all the co-chairs are Christian
states. The prospect of discussing the Nagornyy Karabakh issue at the
UN General Assembly presents a chance for other Muslim countries to be
involved in the issue. Of course, it is talk, too. It is not action
either. Every day lost in these talks postpones the restoration of
Azerbaijan’s authority over Nagornyy Karabakh. And the most horrible
thing has already happened. It is very hard to admit that a
considerable part of society has already got used to Azerbaijan
without Karabakh. Even people’s diplomats negotiate with
representatives not from Armenia, but from separatist Nagornyy
Karabakh and dare to publicly announce that they are doing so in order
to erase the enemy stereotypes from memory. We, Azerbaijanis, who like
to talk about being a man turn out to have egg on our faces. Armenian
Ruben Abramyan [a participant in an international conference on
cooperation in energy and transportation in Baku] is already in the
capital of a state [part of which] he has occupied and is talking
about some energy. Maybe, it is better. Azerbaijan should have thought
over its energy problem long ago. These people don’t have a gun
capable of shooting a man. It is dark.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Moscow News (Russia)
November 10, 2004
NINOO BURDZHANADZE CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC ON PROSPECTS FOR
GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS
By Yury Vasilyev The Moscow News
On an official visit to Moscow, Georgian Parliament Speaker Nino
Burdzhanadze offered Russia friendship – but only on certain terms
Russian-Georgian relations have seen a breakthrough – of sorts. Nino
Burdzhanadze, speaker of the Georgian parliament, finally made it to
Moscow. The on again, off again dialogue between Moscow and Tbilisi
has been dragging on for many months; according to the Georgian side,
this is through no fault of its own. Talks have oficially resumed,
but this does not make either side particularly happy.
“What is going on in Russian-Georgian relations oftentimes does not
fit into the bounds of international law,” says Nino Burdzhanadze,
who holds a degree in international law from the Moscow State
University. “But I believe that sooner or later we will manage to
bring these relations back to normal. It would be preferable if this
happened sooner rather than later, of course.”
Why has the relationship not worked out?
I dare say that I have more complaints to make against Russia than
against Georgia. Although of course I can also see shortfalls on our
side. Over the past 10 years our relations have been steadily
deteriorating to the point where it is very difficult to turn the
situation around even if we try. Yet if there is no will…
Not so long ago our relations were discussed at the PACE. On the
Georgian side there was Speaker Burdzhanadze, while the Russian side
was represented by Konstantin Kosachev, head of the RF State Duma
Foreign Relations Committee. Were you not irked by this disparity in
status?
Not at all. I am quite happy dealing with Mr. Kosachev. He is an
intelligent person who has a good understanding of this set of
problems. My main purpose at the time was not to challenge our
Russian counterparts to a duel, to stir debate, but only to inform
our European colleagues about the outstanding problems in
Russian-Georgian relations.
Did Russia pointedly refuse to participate in a two-way discussion?
Not exactly. It was simply that in response to all of our proposals
for a meeting we received discreet indications to the effect that “it
would be better to put off your visit.” But then after Strasbourg, as
you can see, I got an opportunity to come to Moscow, and I very much
hope that Mr. Gryzlov (speaker of the RF State Duma. – Ed.) will soon
visit Tbilisi. In Moscow we had a productive discussion on all
issues, and not only with him.
Specifically what issues?
The most sensitive ones, at least as far as we are concerned. Very
often, despite all of President Putin’s statements about Russia’s
respect for Georgia’s territorial integrity, this is not what we are
seeing in reality. For example, a railway link has been reopened
between Sukhumi (the capital of Abkhazia. – Ed.) and Moscow, but the
Russian side did not bother to coordinate the move with Tbilisi. They
did not even deign to inform us.
In other words, it would have been enough if Moscow duly notified
you?
It would certainly not have been enough, but at least that would have
been civil. But when you are not even asked whether trains may cross
your state borders – moreover, they tried to pull a fast one on us
(the rail link was purportedly reopened by some commercial
structures) – it is very difficult to talk. I realize that each side
has its own interests to look after. But when I am told here that
“the residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are socially
disadvantaged and so we granted them RF citizenship,” I think of the
300,000 Georgian refugees from Abkhazia whose situation is just as
bad, yet they cannot even go to their motherland to visit the graves
of their parents or children.
Do you realize that the citizenship situation is practically
irreversible?
But it was granted unlawfully.
The procedure falls within the jurisdiction of the Russian
authorities. They may grant or refuse citizenship at their
discretion.
That’s just how it was done…
A new generation is growing up in Russia that does not see Georgia as
a friend but, rather, as an enemy. We are witnessing a similar
pattern among the Georgian youth with regard to Russia. After the
horrible tragedy in Beslan – when we empathized with you- Georgia
received yet another slap on the face from Moscow: Foreign Minister
Lavrov all but put the blame for Beslan on Georgia. True, later the
situation was rectified, but it hurts all the same. And that was the
time when the railway line to Sukhumi was reopened. The victims of
Beslan had not as yet been buried, but a brass band was playing in
the Abkhaz capital with people celebrating the departure of the first
train to Moscow. Over the past 10 years, more than 1,500 civilians
have been killed and some 6,000 houses burned in Abkhazia’s
ethnic-Georgian district of Gali. Against this backdrop, I am told in
the course of negotiations in Moscow: “Admit that the Chechens are
terrorists but the Abkhaz are not.” Well, yes, if you think of bomb
attacks on residential buildings and the seizure of a school, you
might agree with this. But then the relatives of those killed in the
Gali district have their own vision of such things.
I feel extremely uncomfortable with the fact that I have to assure
some people in Moscow that we really sympathized with Russia and that
I even have to provide evidence of this sympathy. But look at our
relations with the United States: America always stood by us, coming
through whenever Georgia needed support and even direct assistance,
and it demanded nothing in return for that.
Here is just one example. The return of the Meskhetian Turks to their
native land in Georgia was one precondition for Georgia’s
participation in Coun-cil of Europe (CE) structures. The Americans,
however, made an unprecedented move by relocating thousands of ethnic
Turks living in Krasnodar Krai to the United States and granting them
residence permits. Thus the “CE problem” was taken care of. How is
the Kremlin supposed to react to this?
You oversimplify the situation. But even if everything is the way you
say it is, is this bad? Yes, we have obligations to the Meskhetian
Turks. But, first, the deadline is 2014. Second, we have never
refused to help the repatriation of these people. Yet today ethnic
Armenians live in this area. Returning the Turks there means
provoking a massacre. Third, if Russia wants to be on friendly terms
with us, it should realize that with 300,000 refugees from Abkhazia,
Georgia is not in a position to admit thousands of Meskhetian Turks
in addition to this. So what’s wrong about America’s desire to help
our people?
Nothing’s wrong. The only question is how America’s political
interest in Georgia – which comes through not only in the Meskhetian
problem – is going to turn out for Russia.
Let’s face it: This is not a case of getting something for nothing.
But the United States is helping us build a normal democratic state,
not creating more problems for us. What stops you, for instance, from
facilitating the course of democracy in Georgia? But no, many people
in Russia want to see it as a divided country, easily controlled by
Moscow. So who would you make friends with if you were in our shoes?
Nonetheless, I would like to stress once again: We still want to be
friendly with Russia.
Do you see a way out of the Abkhaz conundrum?
Believe me, the Abkhaz people will realize sooner or later that it is
better to live in peace with Georgia – just as we had lived for
hundreds of years until the Russian empire moved into Abkhazia. What
happened in the presidential election (a pro-Russian candidate,
Khadzhimba, failed to win. – Ed.) is a slap in the face for the
Russian authorities. They were sure that they could control
everything in this land, but the people of Abkhazia showed that this
is not quite so. Thank God for this: At last, they understood what is
good for the Abkhaz people. At times the situation becomes simply
ridiculous: On the one hand, the Abkhaz authorities show us that they
are fighting for independence and international recognition. On the
other, they ask the State Duma to admit Abkhazia to the Russian
Federation. This also holds true for South Ossetia: Separatist
leaders talk about sovereignty, but a point of entry to Tskhinvali
(the capital of South Ossetia. – Ed.) is adorned with a huge picture
of V.V. Putin bearing the inscription “Putin – Our President.” I
greatly respect him, but independence and “Putin Our President” are
things that do not go very well together.
Nevertheless, Georgia declares its readiness to open its
privatization market to Russian business. What are you going to give
and what do you demand in return?
We are not giving anything just like that – this is a matter of
negotiations. We invited Russian businessmen, indicating that we
would be happy to see investment capital. Georgia is ready to open
itself up to economic cooperation, but on a mutually beneficial
basis. We must be sure that Russia’s presence in the Georgian economy
will not work against our national interests.
Are you happy with the RAO UES Unified Energy System’s presence in
the energy sector?
Mr. Chubais keeps his promises, in particular the promise to supply
power to Georgia. If the relations between our two countries are
built on such a pragmatic and constructive foundation, I am confident
that we will be able to avoid many problems.MN
FACT BOX
Burdzhanadze, Nino Anzorovna, was born on July 16, 1964; in 1981,
finished A. Tsereteli Secondary School #2 in the city of Kutaisi with
a gold medal, entering the Tbilisi I. Dzhavakhishvili University
School of Law in the same year; in 1986, she was admitted to the
graduate school at the Moscow State University (MGU) International
Law Department, in 1990 defending a Cand.Sc. dissertation, titled
Problems of International Organizations and International Maritime
Law; from 1991, associate professor at the Tbilisi University
International Law and International Relations Department; author of
approximately 20 academic papers, published in Georgian, Russian, and
English; since 1995, an elected member of the Georgian parliament;
from 1998, chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on
Constitutional and Legal Affairs and Law Enforcement; from 2000, head
of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee.
In November 2001, Nino Burdzhanadze was elected speaker of the
Georgian parliament. On November 22, 2003, following Eduard
Shevardnadze’s resignation, she was acting president, running the
country until a new head of state was elected (January 26, 2004),
thereupon resuming her functions as speaker of parliament.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ukraine offers mediation between Azerbaijan, Armenia
Interfax-Ukraine news agency
14 Oct 04
Kiev, 14 October: Ukraine is ready to take part in efforts to settle
the conflict in Nagornyy Karabakh [dispute between Azerbaijan and
Armenia], Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko has said.
Ukraine is interested to see conflicts located close to its borders
being settled as soon as possible, he told journalists in Kiev today
after a meeting with Azeri Prime Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
Ukraine would like to see more effort by the international community
and the involvement of all main international players, so that the
talks between the two conflicting sides will find support not only on
the level of experts but also on the level of leaders of the states
and organizations which can influence the process, Hryshchenko said.
“We are ready to join these efforts and we are ready to join the
form of a settlement which will probably require the participation
of Russia or the UN, as it is done in other regions of the world,”
Hryshchenko said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKA News Agency
Oct 5 2004
Karabakh conflict in the end leads to the issue of human rights
protection – RA NA Vice Speaker
Bulgaria is ready to play effective role in peaceful settlement of
Karabakh conflict
Presidents of Armenia and Bulgaria: Karabakh conflict settlement
should be reached only through peace
Presidents of Armenia and Bulgaria discuss level of bilateral
cooperation
The Secretary General of NATO: NATO to pay special attention to the
South Caucasus
A polling center to operate in Armenia for citizens of the ukraine to
participate in the presidential elections
The session of the standing committee on defense and national
security of CIS Interparliamentary Assembly will be held in Armenia
on October 6-8
*********************************************************************
KARABAKH CONFLICT IN THE END LEADS TO THE ISSUE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
PROTECTION – RA NA VICE SPEAKER
YEREVAN, October 5. /ARKA/. Karabakh conflict in the end leads to the
issue of human rights protection, RA NA Vice Speaker Vahan
Hovannisian stated at the meeting with Foreign Minister of Finland
Erkki Tuomioja. According to Hovannisian, more than 150 thousand
population of Karabakh tries to build their life on democratic
standards. “In case of elections they face the fact that
international organizationsdeclare them invalid”, he noted.
The parties stressed the importance of strengthening of
interparliament relations between Finland and Armenia. At this,
Hovannisian confirmed the invitation of Finnish Speaker in Armenia.
L.D. -0–
*********************************************************************
BULGARIA IS READY TO PLAY EFFECTIVE ROLE IN PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF
KARABAKH CONFLICT
YEREVAN, October 5. /ARKA/. Bulgaria is ready to play effective role
in peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict, the President of
Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov stated at the meeting with RA NA Vice
Speaker Vahan Hovannisian, RA NA told ARKA. Parvanov noted that
Bulgaria wants to develop relations with Armenia multilateral
political and economic links. “International organizations allow us
not only to communicate, but also support each other”, he said.
Hovannisian in his turn said that problems at Balkans and South
Caucasus are often similar and Bulgaria understands them and tries to
assist their settlement. He also stressed the necessity of
development of transport links between Armenia and Bulgaria. “It is
very important today, when Russia fighting against terrorism closed
Caucasus land road”, Vice Speaker said. L.D. –0–
*********************************************************************
PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA AND BULGARIA: KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT
SHOULD BE REACHED ONLY THROUGH PEACE
YEREVAN, October 5. /ARKA/. Armenia and Bulgaria share the opinion
concerning the peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
According to the Press Service Department of RA President, this was
stated in the joint announcement of Armenian and Bulgarian Presidents
Robert Kocharian and Georgi Parvanov. Tit says that Armenia and
Bulgaria welcome the activation of negotiation process on Nagorno
Karabakh settlement in 2004. Being country members of OSCE, Armenia
and Bulgaria support the efforts of OSCE Minsk group and its
Co-chairmen in search of a lasting and comprehensive solution
acceptable for both sides of the conflict. L.V.–0–
*********************************************************************
PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA AND BULGARIA DISCUSS LEVEL OF BILATERAL
COOPERATION
YEREVAN, October 5. /ARKA/. Presidents of Armenia and Bulgaria,
Robert Kocharian and Georgi Parvanov, discussed level of bilateral
cooperation, RA President’s press office told ARKA. The parties
discussed all agenda of bilateral relations, different international
processes and regional issues. They expressed readiness considering
assistance to future deepening of bilateral political dialogue and
activation of bilateral cooperation.
After the meeting of the presidents the discussions of
Armenian-Bulgarian relations took place in expanding structure. The
parties considered opportunities of future activation of bilateral
economic cooperation. L.D. –0–
*********************************************************************
THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF NATO: NATO TO PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE
SOUTH CAUCASUS
YEREVAN, October 5. /ARKA/. The newly appointed Ambassador of Armenia
to NATO Samuel Lazarian handed his credentials to Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer, the Secretary General of NATO. According to RA MFA Press
Secretary Department, in the course of the meeting the parties
discussed the details of the coming visit of J. Scheffer to Armenia.
The parties also touched upon the issues of Armenia-NATO cooperation,
the internal development processes in the South -Caucasus region, and
the issues of conflicts settlement. J. Scheffer assured that NATO
would pay special attention to the South Caucasus with the aim of
creating basis for ensuring stability in the region. A.H. –0–
*********************************************************************
A POLLING CENTER TO OPERATE IN ARMENIA FOR CITIZENS OF THE UKRAINE TO
PARTICIPATE IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
YEREVAN, October 5. /ARKA/. A polling center will operate in Armenia
for citizens of the Ukraine to participate in the presidential
elections that will be held on October 31, 2004. According to the
Press Service Center of the Ukraine Embassy in Armenia, citizens of
the Ukraine will be able to participate in the election in polling
center ¹15 adjunct to the Ukrainian Embassy in Armenia (res # 5/1, 29
Arabkir Str., Yerevan,). The elections will be held on October 31,
2004 from 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m.
All citizens of the Ukraine, who are on a consular registration in
the Ukrainian Embassy in Armenia, are included into the lists of the
electors. Those citizens of the Ukraine, who are not on a consular
registration and have no documents enabling them to vote, can
personally submit an application to the commission of election center
¹15 till October 23, 2004 requesting their inclusion into the lists
of electors. In this case they will have to mention their address in
Armenia or abroad and the address in the Ukraine by submitting their
passports or the corresponding ID documents. In case of having a
document enabling them to vote, citizens of the Ukraine can any day,
including the day of voting, submit an application to the election
commission for their inclusion in to the lists. A.H. –0–
*********************************************************************
THE SESSION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENSE AND NATIONAL
SECURITY OF CIS INTERPARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY WILL BE HELD IN ARMENIA
ON OCTOBER 6-8
YEREVAN, October 5. /ARKA/. The session of the standing committee on
defense and national security of CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and
the conference of the Chairmen of the CIS Parliamentary commissions
on defense and national security will be held in Yerevan on October
6-8. According to RA NA Press Service Department, on October 6 the
session of the standing committee on defense and national security of
CIS Interparliamentary Assembly will take place, and on October 7 –
the joint session of the Chairmen of the CIS Commissions on defense
and national security and of the corresponding commission of
Interparliamentary Assembly. On October 8 the session of the Chairmen
of the CIS commissions on defense and national security and the
session of the members of commissions of the Parliaments of
states-members of the Organization for Collective Security treaty
will take place.
The members of the delegations will meet RA President Robert
Kocharyan, the Catholicos of all Armenians Garegin the Second, the
Head of the Police of Armenia Haik Harutyunyan, and will put wreaths
to the memorial of the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. A.H.
-0–
*********************************************************************
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Hellenic News of America
Oct 3 2004
THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION(S) OF THE MIDDLE EAST
A question of Belief
Rev. Dr. Miltiades B. Efthimiou, Protopresbyter
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
PROLOGUE
The recent bombings of Christian Churches in Iraq prompts us to ask,
is there a Christian religion or even a Christian minority in Iraq
and even in the Middle East? The following study is an overview of
these Christian religions in this troubled area following a trip to
this area along with members of the National Council of Churches
several years ago.
In my capacity as Ecumenical Officer for both the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of North and South America and the Standing Conference of
Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), it was apparent
that western peoples must begin to understand the religious
complexities of the Middle East at a time when religious
confrontation and extremism become increasingly a mark of our times.
Christian, Muslim and Jewish peoples are confronting one another at
an alarming rate.
The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of Christians,
Moslems and Jews, as well as an overview of the Christian Churches of
the Middle East. This is a tentative undertaking, since momentous
changes on a daily basis, further complicate a critical understanding
by most Americans of the Middle East and its religious orientation,
because of their unfamiliarity with religions and cultures that are
not western or Christian. For example, sectarian identities have
often been subjected to the manipulation of clerical as well as
political leaders, all in the name of power and/or a Supreme Being.
And these leaders, (Jewish, Moslem Shiite, Moslem Sunni or Kurdish,)
are subject to their national identities. For Moslems, though,
`national identities are not fixed’, said professor S. Kransner of
Stanford University. Indeed, it is rightfully suggested that Shia,
Iraqi, Arab Muslims, choose identities depending on circumstances and
which will benefit them in the long run. Jews are in this mix. The
Christians of the Middle East, a distinct minority, are in this mix.
(See the second part of this article for a thorough discussion of the
Christian churches of the Middle East.)
To understand the complexities of this issue, one needs to understand
the three non-Jewish main ethnic groups:
SUNNI MUSLIMS: This sect is comprised of about 85% of the
worldʼs Muslims.37% are Iraqi. They believe that the first four
Caliphs, (highest religious rulers), were the rightful successors to
the prophet Mohammed. Saddam Hussein is Sunni.
SHIITE MUSLIMS; They represent about 60% of the Iraqi population,
and, therefore, are the dominant religious sect of this region. They
reject the authority of the first three caliphs and claim that the
true leaders of Islam descend from Ali, the fourth caliph, son-in-law
of Mohammed.
KURDS; a non-Arabic people, they are the largest ethnic group in the
world without their own homeland. Kurds are concentrated to the north
of Iraq and to the south of Turkey. Kurds are made up of Sunnis and
Shiites.
Would an alliance of all Moslems help in the peace process in the
Middle East? It would depend, as professor Krasner suggests, not so
much on a sense of nationalism, but the ability to work out a
power-sharing arrangement which would be beneficial to everyone,
including Jews.
For all concerned, efforts to bring all groups together in a serious
way, could reduce the spread of Middle East nationalism and tensions.
Understanding the religions of the Middle East will help speed the
process.
I am indebted to the Middle East Council of Churches and to Fr.
Ronald G. Robersonʼs work The Eastern Christian Churches – A
Brief Survey (1993 edition). I would also recommend Dialogue With
People of Other Christian Faiths, prepared by the Division of
Overseas Ministries of the National Council of Churches of Christ,
U.S.A. I would also recommend the book, God is One, by R. Marston
Speight, second edition.
THE CHRISTIANS OF THE MIDDLE EAST*
The churches of the Middle East can be grouped into 5 families
representing about 15 million Christians (approximately 9 million
residing in the Middle East). The largest is the family of Oriental
Orthodox Churches – the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, the Armenian
Apostolic Church living in various Arab countries in addition to the
Armenians of the Republic of Armenia; and the Syrian Orthodox Church.
Each is fully self-governing, though they are in communion with one
another.
The second family of churches is the Byzantine Orthodox Churches.
They are often referred to as Eastern or Greek Orthodox. They
constitute three sell-governing churches, linked by doctrine, liturgy
and canon law with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul (formerly
Byzantium or Constantinople), and belong, therefore, to that wider
family of Orthodox churches in Russia, eastern Europe and elsewhere.
The third family comprises the Catholic churches of the Middle East.
These churches all accept the supreme ecclesiastical authority of the
Pope and the doctrine of the Catholic Church. But only a small
percentage of them are Roman, or Latin-Catholic. Most of them can be
grouped together as the Eastern-rite Catholic Churches – the word
`rite’ denoting their forms of liturgy and canon law which differ
from the western Latin rite of the Roman Catholics. The largest of
these churches is the Maronite Church in Lebanon.
The fourth family is in terms of independent history, one of the
oldest and most self-contained in the Middle Eastern churches: the
Assyrian Church of the East. Sometimes identified by its historical
tradition as the Church of the `East Syrians’ or the Church of
Persia. It exists in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
The fifth family comprises the Anglican, Lutheran and Protestant
Churches, like the Eastern-rite Catholic Churches (possibly excepting
the Maronite Church), these churches came into being as a result of
western missionary activity in the Middle East. Whereas the
Eastern-rite Catholic Churches mostly go back several centuries, this
family of churches dates in the Middle East from as recently as the
19th century.
The Apostles and their churches
In the earliest years of Christian history churches were founded in
various parts of the Middle East and the Mediterranean world where
the Apostles travelled as missionaries of the Gospel. In the West we
attribute the foundation of the Church of Rome to St. Peter and St.
Paul, and in the New Testament we read the letters of St. Paul to
several of the early Christian communities with which he was linked
in Greece and western Turkey. We also read of the Church in
Jerusalem, led by St. James the brother of John, and the Church in
Antioch, in the north-western corner of Syria where St. Peter and St.
Paul are said to have created a community of Christians which soon
became one of the flourishing centers of Christianity. St. Thomas is
also associated by tradition with Antioch, though his missionary
travels took him eastward through Central Asia and India. So also St.
Bartholomew who travelled northward through eastern Turkey and
Armenia. Another important Christian center was at Alexandria in
Egypt where St. Mark is said to have preached among his kinsmen, the
Copts, from whose name we derive the words `Egypt’ and `Egyptian’.
Further south in Africa, St. Matthew is believed to have founded the
Church in Ethiopia.
While it may be difficult to verify all these traditions by
historical criteria, they have been and remain fundamental to the
self-understanding of the eastern churches throughout the ages. It is
for this reason that they speak of themselves as being truly
`apostolic’.
These 15 million Christians represent only a tiny minority of the
total population of the Middle East (about 10%), the great majority
of whom are Muslim. The churches vary from one another, historically,
doctrinally, and culturally, and this produces sometimes different
views of the Arab Muslim world in which they live. But the quality of
their living traditions is not to be measured in terms of their
numbers, nor is their significance to be belittled because of their
differences. In our ecumenical age of deepening fellowship between
all parts of the Christian Church, and of growing dialogue with
Muslims, these churches demand to be understood in their own terms,
no longer under the prejudicial stereotypes of `ancient’, or
`schismatic’, or `younger’ (i.e. recently converted), or foreign’.
THE FIVE `CHURCH’ FAMILIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
The following survey of the churches of the Middle East, groups them
into five ʽfamiliesʼ: Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox,
Catholic and Protestant churches, and the Assyrian Church of the
East.
The Oriental (non-Chalcedonian) Orthodox
Churches
The greatest number of Christians in the Middle East Belong to the
churches of the Oriental Orthodox family. The largest of these is the
Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt. The others are: The Armenian
Apostolic Church. seated in the Lebanese coastal town of Antilias,
north of Beirut, and the Syrian Orthodox Church, seated in Damascus.
Ethnically and culturally these three churches are in many ways
different, each being identified with its own people or nation. The
Armenian Church traces its origins to the missionary Apostles
Thadaeus and Bartholomew. It has since remained the central
institution of Armenian nationhood and nationalism.
The Copts trace their descent from the Pharaonic Egyptians. Their
conversion to Christianity began with the North African preaching of
St. Mark whom they recognize as the first Patriarch of Alexandria.
But it took three centuries of persecution before the Coptic Church
established itself in Egypt. The desert monasticism, following the
rules of St. Antony and St. Pachomeus, attracted many other
Christians to visit Egypt. Their missionary activity in Africa led to
the Christianization of much of Nubia, the Sudan and Ethiopia.
Weakened by the withdrawal eastwards of the Assyrian Church, the
remaining `Western Syrians’ felt themselves abused by the Council of
Chalcedon and raffled to the anti-Chalcedonian teaching of the 6th
century Jacob (Yaqub) alBaradaʼi after whom the Syrian Orthodox
Church is sometimes labeled `Jacobite’.
Notwithstanding such differences, however, these three Oriental
Orthodox Churches have in the early centuries struggled to uphold
their nationsʼ interests against the imperial presence of the
Byzantine and the Persian Empires. With the rise of the Islamic
Empire in the 7th century A.D. they fell under a new form of
religio-political power which, for the next five centuries, largely
improved their situation. The Muslims treated the Christians as a
single group, irrespective of the doctrinal differences between
Assyrian, Oriental and Byzantine Orthodox Churches, and looked to
them to provide the cadre of the `civil service’ in the Islamic
Caliphate.
This situation was imperiled, however, by the intrusion of the
western Christian Crusaders from the 11th to the 13th centuries, and
led to periodic persecution and social marginalization of all the
eastern Christians as the Mongol dynasties seized control of the
Caliphate. From the 14th to the early 20th centuries, therefore, the
eastern churches lived as `closed communities’, isolated within
Islamic society and cut off from the church in the West.
The breach between these churches and the Byzantine family of
churches occurred in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon, and thus they
accept the authority of only the first three ecumenical councils.
For many centuries the non-Chalcedonian churches lived more or less
in isolation from the rest of Christendom and, for political and
geographical reasons, even from one another. However, for the first
time since the 6th century they held a conference of the Heads of the
Oriental Orthodox Churches in Addis Ababa in 1965. Since then they
have drawn closer together in fellowship and joint planning. They are
presently in official negotiation with the `Chalcedonian’ Eastern
Orthodox family of churches on Christology and `Chalcedonian’ unity
and are active members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the
Middle East Council of Churches (MECC).
The Armenian Apostolic Church
Catholicosate of Cilicia
The Armenian Apostolic Church, known also as Armenian Orthodox, has a
distinctive ethnical, cultural and historical background from the
churches referred to in this issue.
Diaspora has been a permanent aspect of Armenian history. Since the
dawn of their history, the Armenians, for one reason or another, have
emigrated. However, forced and massive emigration only began in the
10th century, with the successive occupation of Armenia by
Byzantines, Seljuk Turks, Persians, Ottomans and Russians.
Deportation and migration continued in succeeding centuries. But none
of the mass deportations of earlier years equaled those that took
place in the period 1915-1922. Over one and a half million Armenians
were massacred in Turkey and the rest deported to the Syrian deserts.
At present they are about two million and can be found almost
anywhere on the globe, mostly in Middle Eastern countries, the USA
and Canada, South America, southern and western Europe and Australia.
The church in diaspora has three centers: 1. The Catholicosate of
Cilicia, reestablished and reorganized in Antelias, Lebanon in 1930.
With its diocesan administrative organization, theological seminary
and world-wide ecumenical relations, it is the de facto spiritual
centers of the Armenian diaspora. It also plays a significant role in
the cultural, social and political life of the nation. Its
jurisdiction now covers Lebanon, Syria (Aleppo, Qamishli), Cyprus,
Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Greece and half of the
Armenian communities in North America. 2. The Patriarchate of
Constantinople; and 3. the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, both of them
related to the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin, in the former Soviet
Republic of Armenia.
The Armenian Apostolic Church in Lebanon is a strong community of
150,000 members who are now fully integrated into the Lebanese
society. The school of theology at Bikfaya, founded in 1930, provides
new clergy and also furnishes priests to serve the diaspora
communities falling under its jurisdiction.
The Armenian Orthodox are the third largest Christian community in
Syria, after the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches. They
number 100,000.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the largest Christian community in
Iran. Armenians were established in Iran mainly in 1605 when Shah
Abbas forced hundreds of thousands of Armenians to leave their
homeland and migrate to Iran. Presently the church has three dioceses
with a total of 170,000 membersThe Armenian Church has 3,500 members
in Cyprus. Armenians have lived on the island since the 11th century.
The Armenian Apostolic Church in Kuwait and the Emirate has about
12,000 members. Large communities of Armenians live in Europe (in
France there are 350,000 members), in
the USA and Canada 600,000.
The Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin
Located in Armenia, the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin is the spiritual
center for the Armenians living there. It also has jurisdiction on
communities in the Middle East (Iraq and Egypt), France, USA, South
America and Australia.
The existence of two Catholicosates with the Armenian Church: the
Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin (Catholicosate of All Armenians in
former Soviet Armenia) and the Catholicosate of Cilicia, Antelias,
Lebanon is due to historical circumstances. The diocese of Baghdad,
Iraq, is related to the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin and counts
15,000 members. The diocese of Egypt is related also the
Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin and has 20,000 members.
The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople with its See at Istanbul,
Turkey, is dependent on the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin. The
faithful (80,000) are concentrated in Istanbul, where 35 of the
Patriarchateʼs parishes are located. The Patriarchate was
recognized in 1461 by the Ottoman authorities as the sole legal
representative of all Armenians in the Empire, including those within
the jurisdiction of the Silesian Catholic sate.
The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem
This church is the largest among the four oriental Orthodox churches
in Palestine: Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian. Armenian churches
existed in Jerusalem since the 5th century. Spiritually the
Patriarchate depends on the Catholic sate of Etchmiadzin. A very good
relationship exists with the Catholic sate of Cilicia. The
Patriarchate occupies the entire summit of Mt. Zion. It has 1,500
members. Between 1950 and 1973 almost 90% of the members emigrated.
The related church in Amman, Jordan, has 1,500 members.
The Coptic Orthodox Church
.
The Coptic Church is the largest Christian community in the Middle
East. It counts about 6,000,000 believers. It has some 45 dioceses in
Egypt, Africa, Middle East, Europe and the USA. 40 of these dioceses
are functioning in Egypt. There are Coptic churches in Kuwait,
Jordan, Jerusalem, Lebanon and Iraq. Jerusalem has an archdiocese
(established in the 9th century) with two congregations in Jaffa and
Nazareth. The churches in the other countries are related directly to
the Patriarchate. The diocese of the USA and Canada was founded in
the 1960ʼs. Twenty-four congregations in the USA and three in
Canada are formed mainly from Egyptian immigrants. Five parishes are
found in London, Paris, Vienna, Geneva and Frankfurt.
The Syrian Orthodox Church
This Church has its center in the Patriarchate of Antioch (at present
in Damascus, Syria) and counts about 160,000 believers. It is a
church which has contributed much to the blossoming of early
Christian literature and to the treasure of theological thinking,
spreading Christianity from the Byzantine Empire to the regions of
the Far East. An outstanding bishop was St. Jacob Baradaʼi
(500-578) (after whom the Syrian Orthodox were called `Jacobites’).
He revived the ritual life of the church in Syria, Egypt and Persia.
During the Mongol invasions of the 14th century, the church suffered
greatly. At the end of the 18th century its strength was further
reduced due to the establishment of a separate Uniate Syrian
Patriarchate (Syrian Catholics). At the turn of the present century
(1915-1920) the church was affected by Turko-Kurdish persecutions and
in the 1970ʼs by mass emigrations. The Seat of the Patriarchate,
after many moves over the centuries, was finally established in
Damascus, Syria, in 1954.
The Syrian Orthodox Catholic sate of the East was reestablished in
1964, after being vacant for centuries. Twelve dioceses are under its
jurisdiction. In the 1970ʼs a jurisdiction division occurred in
the church. One branch continues to recognize the spiritual supremacy
of the Patriarch of Antioch in Damascus and another branch installed
its independent Catholicose in Malabar.
There are now twelve dioceses related directly to the Patriarchate:
four in Syria, two in Iraq, two in Turkey, two in Lebanon, and one in
Jordan. Syrian Orthodox dioceses are found today in Europe (Holland
and Sweden), the USA and Canada, and two patriarchal vicariates in
Brazil and Argentina.
The Eastern (Byzantine) Orthodox Churches
The Eastern Orthodox Patriarchates of Constantinople (now Istanbul),
Alexandria, Antioch (now centered in Damascus) and Jerusalem belong
to the Byzantine tradition of Orthodoxy which also includes eleven
other autocephalous or self-governing churches: Russia, Romania,
Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Poland,
Albania and Sinai.
To distinguish them from the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern
Orthodox are also called Byzantine Orthodox, by reference to their
use of the Byzantine-rite liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; or
Chalcedonian Orthodox, be reference to the Ecumenical Council of
Chalcedon in 451 which condemned ʽmonophysitism’.
Others sometimes still describe them as Melkite-Orthodox, a reference
to their political allegiance to the Byzantine Emperor (`melik’ –
king) until the fall of Constantinople to Muslim conquest in 1453,
and their subordination to the authority of the Patriarch in
Constantinople during the Ottoman period. Another term, Greek
Orthodox, tends to be rather misleading as it wrongly suggests them
to be part of the Church of Greece, and draws attention away from the
fact that, in the Middle East, the great majority are Arab or
Arabized.
Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Middle East, as elsewhere, are
different from the Oriental (non-Chalcedonian) Orthodox in two
important respects. First of all, the Eastern Orthodox recognize the
authority of seven ecumenical councils: Nicea (325), Constantinople
(381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople II (553),
Constantinople III (680), and Nicea II (787). The term ecumenical in
its root meaning is `the inhabited world’. As used with reference to
those councils, it means the Christian world of the fourth to the
eighth centuries. Secondly, Eastern Orthodox Churches recognize the
Patriarch of Constantinople as Ecumenical Patriarch. This is largely
an honorary primacy of `first among equals’ and quite different from
the Roman Catholic concept of papal authority, because each of the
churches in this group is entirely self-governing (autocephalous).
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
The history of Constantinople as a Patriarchate begins in 300, when
the Emperor Constantine I decided to move the seat of government from
Italy to the eastern region of his empire and chose this small town
of Byzantium along the Bosporus.
The Ecumenical Councils of Constantinople (381) conferred upon the
bishop of the city the second rank after the bishop of Rome. The
Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451) gave a definite shape to the
organization of the Church of Constantinople. From 520 onwards the
head of the church became known as the ecumenical patriarch.
The patriarchate holds jurisdiction over the faithful in Europe
(Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Belgium,
Switzerland, the autonomous Church of Finland, and the Russian
Exarchy of Western Europe) and the Archbishoprics of Australia and
New Zealand. The Archbishop of the Americas (New York) governs the
Greek Orthodox Church of North and South America, also under the
jurisdiction of the ecumenical patriarch.
The ecumenical patriarchate was among the first to participate in the
formation and development of modern ecumenical movement and has been
involved in the WCC from its beginning. It has had a permanent
representative at the headquarters of the WCC in Geneva since 1955.
The patriarchate is currently involved in preparation for the Holy
and Great Synod of the Orthodox churches.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa
The Patriarchate counts about 10,000 believers of Greek and
Syro-Lebanese extraction divided into 4 dioceses in Egypt
(Alexandria, Tanta, Cairo and Port Said), one in Sudan (Nubia), one
in Ethiopia (Axum) and one for cities in North Africa (including
Libya-Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco). The Patriarchate has received
new impetus from the establishment of new congregations in East and
Central Africa, which was principally brought about by the influx of
black African bishops of East Africa. Important dioceses (called also
`Archbishopric of the Mission of the Patriarchate’) have been
organized in Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa with 40,000
members. Harare, Zimbabwe 10,000 members, Kinshasa, Zaire 20,000
members, Nairobi, Kenya 40,000 members.
The second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (381) ranked the
Patriarchate of Alexandria immediately after that of Constantinople.
After the Council of Chalcedon (451) there was a division, and part
of the church joined the `Cop-tic Orthodox’. The Church is governed
by the Patriarch in conjunction with the Synod. It recognized the
right of its members to worship in their own language, so liturgy is
celebrated in Greek in Greek churches and in Arabic in Egyptian
churches.
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
The 4th Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451) granted this church the
status of `independent church’ and ranked it fourth after
Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch. It became known as the
Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It has jurisdiction over Palestine and
Jordan and counts some 250,000 Arab believers. Church services are
held in Arabic and partly in Greek.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and
All the East
The Patriarchate saw its birth in the town in which the believers
were called, for the first time, `Christians’. At the end of the 6th
century, Antioch witnessed wars and political changes which continued
til 638 A.D. when it was conquered and the See of Constantinople
administered the church until the 15th century. In the 16th century,
the See was transferred to Damascus. The church was affected by
divisions occurring in the 18th century, when the Greek
Catholic-Melkite Church was founded in Mount Lebanon, In the late
19th century and beginning of our century, reforms were introduced in
the church and with the successive patriarchs the renaissance of the
church has continued to our days.
For liturgy and prayers, the Antiochian church uses the language of
the land: Arabic. It counts the largest number of believers rooted in
the Arabic population of the region. While it does not fully overlap
with the Arab nation in its entirety, the Orthodox Church of this
Patriarchate nevertheless is markedly Arab.
Today it counts about 1,300,000 Orthodox in the Middle East. Syria
has six organized dioceses (Damascus, Aleppo, Horns, Hama, Latakia,
Houran) with a total of 800,000 faithful. Lebanon also has six
dioceses (Beirut, Tripoli and Koura, Akkar, Zahle and Baalbeck, Tyre
and Sidon) with a total of about 400,000 members. The dioceses of
Iraq and Kuwait number 30,000 members. The Patriarchate extends to
the Arab-speaking Orthodox who live in the USA, Canada, Latin America
(Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Argentina), Australia and New Zealand with
about 1,000,000 members.
The Church of Cyprus
`Those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over
Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch’ (Acts
11:19). That was in 37 A.D. In 45 A.D., Paul and Barnabas, bringing
Mark with them, landed at Salamis and crossed the island of Paphos
where they con-vetted the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus. Barnabas
later became the first Bishop of Cyprus.
The church grew rapidly, and Bishops from Salamis, Paphos and
Tremithus were present at the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325). The Church
of Cyprus received autocephalous (sell-governing) status at the
Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.) along with the Orthodox Patriarchates
of Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople and Jerusalem.
During the Byzantine era, the Church suffered occasionally as a
result of Arab raids. Then, during the period of the crusades, while
the island was under Frankish rulers, and later, under the Venetians,
the Orthodox archbishops were replaced by Latin clergy. In 1571,
Turkish rule began on the island and in 1572 the Turks expelled the
Latin hierarchy and reinstalled the Orthodox leadership in
recognition of their help in the war against Venice.
Approximately 80% or more of the Cypriot minority is Byzantine
Orthodox, and there is virtually no aspect of the islandʼs
history and society that have not been touched by the Church of
Cyprus. For centuries, it acted as a kind of department for social
welfare, ministry of justice and ministry of education.
Following the 1974 invasion of Cyprus by Turkey, nearly 200,000 Greek
Cypriots were forced to leave their homes in the occupied areas and
became refugees. Their fate constitutes a primary concern of the
church. Two of the bishoprics, Kyrenia and Morphou, as well as
Nicosia, seat of the Archbishop, are partially or wholly within the
occupied territories.
The Church of Mount Sinai
The Emperor Justinian built the fortified monastery of St. Catherine
and the splendid basilica in 527. For the defense of the monks the
emperor sent two hundred Christian families from Romania and Egypt.
With the revival of Islam, they all converted to the new religion and
remained as vassals in the monastery compound coming to be known as
Jebelieh.
The monastery is famous with its library with more than 3,000
incunabula, 300 manuscripts in Greek and in other oriental languages,
Bibles, Gospels, sacred books and the picture gallery containing
precious icons of the 6th century.
(The conclusion in the Next (November) issue: The Catholic,
Evangelical and Apostolic Churches in the Middle East)
————————————————
THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION(S) OF THE MIDDLE EAST (Continued from the
October issue)
Rev. Dr. Miltiades B. Efthimiou, Protopresbyter
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES
The Catholic Church of the semitic Orient is divided into seven
branches of different ethnic and cultural origins. About one half of
the believers of this Church live in the Middle East and the rest in
emigration.
Most Westerners use the term `Catholics’ and `Roman Catholics’ as
synonymous, the first being no more than a quicker form of the
second. But this is an incorrect usage, and from the point of view of
Catholics in the Middle East it is misleading. `Catholic’ is a
comprehensive term for all Christians who accept the spiritual
primacy of the Pope as the head of the Church. `Roman Catholic’
refers to those members of the Catholic Church who follow the `rite’
– that is, the form of liturgy and canon law – of the Patriarchal
Church of Rome. This is known as the Latin rite.
But the Latin rite is not the only rite of the Catholic Church, which
includes the Byzantine (or Melkite) rite, the Armenian rite, the
Syriac rite, and the Coptic rite. These are the eastern-Catholic
rites of that family ʽof Middle Eastern
churches which recognizes the sovereignty of the Pope and accept
Catholic doctrine.
The oldest and largest of the Catholic groups is the Maronite
Patriarchate which claims to have preserved its union with Rome since
the age of the ancient, undivided Church. Certainly there is no
Orthodox counterpart of the Maronites whereas the other five Eastern
Catholic Churches all broke away from the Assyrian or the Oriental
and Byzantine Orthodox Churches under the influence of Roman Catholic
missions of the Middle Ages. The earliest were the Chaldean Catholics
who broke away from the Assyrian Patriarchate in 1522, to establish
their own Catholic Patriarchate of Babylon in Baghdad. In 1622. the
Syrian Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch emerged, with its center
originally in Turkey, now in Beirut. Then, in 1724, a similiar
break-away took place within the Byzantine Orthodox Patriarchates of
Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, resulting in the creation of the
Greek (or Melkite) Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East,
Alexandria and Jerusalem. Later in that century, in 1773, The
Armenian Catholic Patriarchate was created, with its center also in
Lebanon. Lastly came the creation of the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate
in Alexandria in 1824. These churches are in communion with the
Church of Rome and are related to the Vatican through the Sacred
Congregation for the Oriental Churches. This is why sometimes they
are called uniate churches.
The Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate of Babylon
The Chaldeans have the distinction of being the first uniate church
established under its own patriarchate in 1552. In that year, part of
the Assyrian community refused to accept the election of Simeon VIII
Denha as Patriarch of the Church of the East. They sent a monk named
Youhannan Soulaka to Rome where he was consecrated Patriarch of
Babylon.
Today the Chaldeans number 242,000 mainly living in Iraq, where they
form the largest Christian community. They are organized in 10
dioceses in Iraq, Iran (15,000 members), Syria (7,000 members), and
smaller communities in Egypt and the Lebanon.
The Armenian Catholic Patriarchate of Cilicia
The Armenian Catholic Patriarchate was established officially in
1840. A substantial number of Armenians had been converted to the
Latin-rite church at the beginning of the 14th century through the
efforts of Armenian Dominican fathers known as Fratres Unitores.
During the Turkish massacres at the turn of our century, the church
suffered severe losses. The church was reorganized in 1928 through a
synod held in Rome. The seat of the Patriarchate (originally in
Constantinople) was placed in Beirut, Lebanon. It bears the name
Armenian Catholic Patriarchate of Cilicia and has 35,000 members in
the Middle East. The Patriarchs take the name of Peter. The recent
Patriarch is John-Peter XVIII Kasparian.
The Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch
Maronite history began at the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th
century. In 685 they elected a Patriarch of Antioch and by the
twelfth century united with Rome. Maronites are Eastern-rite
Catholics but not uniates in the same sense as the Melkite Chaldean,
Armenian and Syrian Catholic Churches whose reunion with Rome came
after centuries of alienation.
In the 9th century the Maronites sought refuge in the mountains of
Lebanon. The patriarchate moved to Bkerke in 1790 from the mountains
of Qannubin. Maronites living in Lebanon number today 1,200,000.
Those who have emigrated from the Middle East number as many as
6,500,000. There are 10 archdioceses and dioceses in the Middle East:
The Maronite liturgy is in Syriac and Arabic.
The Greek (Melkite) Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch
The word Melkite means `Kingʼs men’. It was used from the latter
part of the 5th century onward to designate all Christians who have
accepted the theological definitions of the Council of Chalcedon
which had also become the official position of the rulers in both the
Roman and Byzantine empires.
It is now used primarily with reference to this one Eastern-rite
Catholic Church which separated from the Eastern Orthodox
Patriarchates of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem and was
established in union with Rome under its own patriarch in 1724. The
members are Arabic speaking and the liturgy is celebrated in Arabic.
The membership of the Greek Catholic Church is concentrated in the
Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.
The Syrian Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch
A part of the ancient Syrian Orthodox Church was reconstituted as an
Eastern-rite (uniate) Catholic church in 1662 through the influence
of Jesuit and Capuchin missionaries who had settled around Aleppo. In
1773, the presiding bishop of this faction was given the title of
Syrian Catholic Patriarch of Antioch. The Patriarchal See, located
for more than a century at Mardin, Turkey, was transferred to Beirut
in 1899. The Syrian Catholics have four dioceses in Syria and two in
Iraq. Patriarchal vicariates are in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and
Turkey. There is a widely scattered diaspora in the Americas and
elsewhere.
Liturgy is celebrated in the Syriac (Aramaic) language with
increasing use of Arabic in certain parts of the service. Syriac is
still a spoken language, particularly in some solidly Christian
villages and towns of eastern Syria and northern Iraq.
The Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandra
There have been Catholic Copts since the 17th century but no
patriarchate was established for them until 1824. This Church now has
some 100,000 members, by far the largest Catholic community in
present-day Egypt and the only one which is growing significantly in
size.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
A Latin Patriarchate was first created in Jerusalem at the end of the
11th century and re-established there in 1847 by the Apostolic Letter
`Nulla Celebrior’ of Pope Pius IX. Numerous Roman Catholic missionary
orders have worked throughout the area, beginning with the
Franciscans in the 13th century. One response to this impact was the
emergence of Eastern-rite (Uniate) Churches. Even earlier than that,
however, was the establishment of Latin-rite dioceses which continue
into the present amidst the eastern churches.
The Assyrian Church of the East
A separate mention needs to be made concerning the Assyrian Church of
the East which remains outside all the other families of churches on
the alleged ground that it followed the teachings of the
excommunicated Nestorius.
Historical Background
The Assyrian Church is one of the oldest churches of the East. It has
been a missionary church as early as the first generation of
Christianity in Mesopotamia.
Its message went as far as India, China, Tibet and Mongolia. Its
presence linked the Mediterranean Sea to the West and India to the
East and due to its location East of the Roman Empire, it was called
`Eastern Church’, besides having been known by many other surnames,
among which the Church of Fares (Persia).
The Assyrian Eastern Church was one of the first churches to be
established. It has given many a martyr of faith, as it gave many
thinkers and scientists who greatly contributed to Arab culture. The
more regrettable it is that the fate of these people today is one of
poverty.
It was designated by the Arabs as the Nestorian Church, because it
was thought by some that the Assyrian Church was established by
Nestorius, who was the Patriarch of Constantinople in the 5th
century. In reality its See was in Salio, Katisphon (Al-Madaeʼn)
or Babel, at that time the Patriarch of this See being Mardad Yashu.
Thence, this church knew nothing about the theological argument that
was debated in the western part of the Roman Empire.
Already by the middle of the second century it was beginning to get
its independence from the Antiochian church. This independence
allowed its bishops the full power to consecrate patriarchs without
reference to Antioch.
Its Faith
The Eastern Church goes by the `Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed’
agreed upon in the First and Second Ecumenical Councils, calling for
one Church, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.
The Eastern Church believes in the one God, the Holy Trinity, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit and in Jesus Christ, totally God, and totally
Man, two natures and two hypostases in one person, and in the Virgin
birth of Christ, in one Baptism and in the Holy Spirit proceeding
from the Father.
Persecutions and Sufferings
Since its very inception, the Assyrian Church has never been able to
settle in one specific country. Because of persecution and massacres,
its believers were forced to emigrate every hundred years.
The Evangelical and Episcopal Churches in the Middle East
The complexity of the Middle East church history often seems beyond
comprehension to western Christians, and has often been beyond their
patience to understand. The summary given here is simplistic at many
points, but we hope it may serve to give a generally accurate
orientation, and that therefore it will shed some light upon the
enormity of the challenge of inter-church relations facing Christians
in both the Middle East and the West.
The largest Protestant group comprises the Evangelical Reformed
Churches which grew up amongst the Armenians, Copts and Syrians, and
organized themselves in national synods. Most of the Baptist Churches
are linked to the Southern Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. The
Anglicans come under the Episcopal Archdiocese of Jerusalem and the
Middle East. The main Lutheran Church is in Jordan. These churches
have retained neither patriarchal structure nor affiliation.
Today, the Evangelical and Episcopal Churches are a small minority
(some 2.5% of the Christian minority in the Middle East),
characterized more by their diversity than unity, which goes back to
their varying cultural backgrounds and differing concepts of history
of salvation. Their missionary origin has not endowed them with any
significantly corresponding unity. At the very outset, missionaries
did not strive to foster unity and rather tended to value
diversification.
The National Evangelical Union of Lebanon
The National Evangelical Church came into being in 1847, when a small
group of Lebanese Evangelicals decided to found a national Evangelica
Church in Beirut by presenting a petition to this effect to the
missionaries working in Beirut at the time. For quite some time, the
pastors of this church were Arabic-speaking missionaries until 1890,
when Yusul Bard, a Lebanese Presbyterian minister was installed as
the first Lebanese pastor of the Church. In 1870 a church was built
on a compound that was used by both the Lebanese and American
congregations.
The membership of the Church comes to about 6,500 persons, spread in
and around Beirut. In the mid-sixties the National Evangelical Church
of Beirut joined hands with about eight other congregations in the
suburbs and mountains around Beirut and formed the National
Evangelical Union of Lebanon.
The National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon
Beginning in 1819, a number of missionary representatives came to
various parts of the Middle East. Those who responded to the Bible
message came to be known as `injiliyyeh’, a term based on the Arabic
word for Gospel. The Protestant faith was given official recognition
in Lebanon in 1848. In 1851, a church was organized in Hasbaya on the
slopes of Mt. Hermon, and the following year a church was founded in
Aleppo, Syria. In the next few years churches were established in the
Syrian city of Horns, in South Lebanon at Sidon, and in two Lebanese
mountain villages. In 1870, these churches reported a total of 243
adult communicant members. The present membership is about 10,00The
Coptic
Evangelical Church – Synod of the Nile
The Evangelical Church in Egypt started in 1854. It became
independent from the Presbyterian Church, USA in 1926. The moderator
is elected every year.
Since 1860 the church has been active establishing schools. In 1865
it founded the Assiut American College. The agricultural department
of this college, established in 1928, contributed to the improvement
of dairy farming in the country.
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Iran
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Iran developed out of the work
of the American Presbyterian and congregational missionaries, the
first of whom came to Iran in 1934. The work was begun among the
Nestorian Assyrian Christians of the Urmia (Rezaieh) district in
north-western Iran. In 1855, several Protestant congregations came
into existence in and around Rezaieh. The first presbytery was
organized in 1862, and other presbyteries later.
The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East was officially
inaugurated in January 1976. It succeeded the old Jerusalem
archbishopric and was established in accordance with principles set
at the Anglican Consultative Council in Dublin in 1973. It consists
of four dioceses: Jerusalem, Egypt, Iran, Cyprus and the Gulf. The
President is elected by the Synod from among the diocesan bishops.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan
Protestant mission work in the Holy Land started in the middle of the
19th century by missionary societies from England and Germany. They
founded congregations and schools in Beit Jala, Bethlehem, Beit
Sahour, Jerusalem. Later, congregations were established in Ramallah
and Amman.
Union of The Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East
Beginning in the second decade of the 19th century as an indigenous
reform movement with the Armenian Orthodox Church, it developed into
an independent community in 1846 in Istanbul, and in subsequent
decades registered a membership of 60,000 throughout the Ottoman
Empire. After the First World War, when the Armenian population was
decimated and the remnants deported from its historical homeland in
what is now called Turkey, the Union was reorganized in Syria and the
Lebanon. The Union is composed of 24 autonomous congregations (about
10,000 faithful). It provides also a ministry for a number of
Assyrian Protestant congregations.
Evangelical Church in Sudan
The Evangelical Church in Sudan was founded by missionaries of the
United Presbyterian Church, popularly known `American Mission’. In
1965, the mission decided to transfer responsibility for Evangelical
work in the Sudan to the Sudanese themselves. Thus the Council of the
Evangelical Church in the Sudan was created and took charge of the
management of the schools and institutions belonging to the American
Mission .
Episcopal Church in Sudan
The first successful attempt by Protestants to establish a church in
Khartoum is to be credited to the Anglican Bishop Llewellyn Gwynne.
In 1899, he started to work in Qmdurman. The year 1904 saw the laying
of the foundation stone of the first Anglican Church in Khartoum.
This church was considered as a diocese of the Jerusalem
Archbishopric until 1974, when it reverted to the sole jurisdiction
of the Archbishop of Canterbury as an extra-provincial diocese while
awaiting the setting up of the new province of Sudan.
Presbyterian Church in the Sudan
The Presbyterian Church in the Sudan is the fruit of missionary
activity in Sudan by Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in the USA.
It achieved autonomy in 1956 . This Church is the third largest
church in the country after the Roman Catholic Church and the
Episcopal Church. It maintains close relations with the United
Presbyterian Church of East Africa.
Denominational and non-Denominational
Protestant Churches
The following churches do not take part in the ecumenical movement,
nor are they member churches of the Middle East Council of Churches.
Baptist Churches in the Middle East
These churches have a small but growing membership with a wide
variety of missionary origins. Those related to the Southern Baptist
Convention, USA, are located primarily in Lebanon and Jordan, with
smaller groups in Egypt, Palestine and elsewhere.
Armenian Evangelical Spiritual Brotherhood
The Church was established in Beirut in the early 1920ʼs. It is
related to the Armenian Evangelical Brotherhood Churches in the
world, which have three main branches: South America, North America,
Europe & Middle East.
The Evangelical Assemblies of God
The Evangelical Assemblies of God in Lebanon is related to the
Assemblies of God in the USA. It was granted the right of
establishing churches, schools, orphanages, etc. by a presidential
decree in 1956 in Lebanon.
Seventh Day Adventists – Middle East Division
The church has existed in Beirut since 1904. Adventist congregations
are found in Jordan, Turkey, Cyprus, Iraq and Iran..
The Church of Nazarene
This church has a total of some twenty small congregations and three
schools in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine.
The Church of Christ
This church began missionary activity in Lebanon in 1961 and now has
three organized congregations along with a Bible training school in
Beirut
The Church in the Gulf
Today many churches in the Middle East have congregations or dioceses
in the Gulf. The Orthodox Church of Antioch has the diocese of
Baghdad and the Gulf. The Armenian Church has the Prelature of Kuwait
and the Gulf, the Coptic Orthodox Church has a diocese based in
Kuwait.
The Anglican Church has developed from a variety of sources. The
British Forces were served by chaplains who also encourage the
formation of congregations for other expatriates. The Gull
Archdeaconry was formed in 1970 and this led to the establishment of
the Anglican Diocese in Cyprus and the Gulf in 1976.
The Roman Catholic Churches in the Gulf came mainly from India and
East Africa. Capuchin Fathers, centered on Aden, began church
buildings alter the end of World War II in Bahrain and elsewhere. In
Kuwait there is a Roman Catholic church and a cathedral. Today there
is another cathedral at Abu Dhabi, the center of the Diocese of
Arabia.
In the last few years the Syrian Orthodox Church, the Mar Thoma
Church of India, the Church of South India and the Urdu-speaking
Church of Pakistan have established parishes or congregations in
several centers, usually sharing Evangelical or Anglican church
facilities.
Co-Existence and Peace
The sad example of the division which religion can stir up is
exemplified by the term `Holy Land’. The phrase today conjures up
several contrasting views. Some read it and picture soft brown hills,
dotted here and there with ancient olive groves and slowly shifting
herds of sheep. Others feel a stirring within as they imagine the
ancient prophets who appeared in that region to change the destinies
of so many. Then too, there are those who follow the footsteps of
Jesus Christ in and around Galilee, Jerusalem, Capernaum, etc. Then
there are those who cannot help but shake their heads at the irony in
the phrase as they consider the war and destruction that strained the
history of that `Holy Land’.
Although there is cause and Justification for despair, the three
great Monotheistic religions which developed successively there –
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – share much more than is generally
known or suspected. That sprang from the same basic geographical area
and, thus, are all semitically rooted. And due largely to their
common ancestor, Abraham, the teachings of each were originally
written and spoken in closely related languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and
Arabic).
Many of the teachings are similar and several of the same incidences
and characters are mentioned in the scriptural writings of all three
religions. The Jewish Torah is included in the Christian Bible, and
both, Jews and Christians are respected by Muslims as ` People of the
Book’.
With so many common strands, it is not surprising, then, that
historically Jews, Christians and Muslims have often lived side by
side in the same communities in the Middle East.
Perhaps this point is the key to peace for the conflicts, not
conflicts of religious beliefs; they pertain, rather, to questions of
economy, politics and rights of self-determination and, to a large
extent, have been exacerbated by influence and powers outside the
area.
Perhaps the greatest hope for salvation is that because religion is
never far removed from society in that part of the world, it will
also help to bridge the differences and heal the wounds and build the
foundation of true peace and unity.
;lang=US
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

–Boundary_(ID_aUrV7CvJEXHfIWAEurLi9Q)
Content-typ e: message/rfc822
From: [email protected]
Subject: Gibrahayer 7 October, 2004
GIBRAHAYER
e-newsletter
[email protected]
snewsletter.com
TURKEY FORCED TO RECOGNISE THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS
Gibrahayer 7 October, 2004: Turkey has recognised the Republic of Cyprus by
complying to EU directives regarding customs union with all EU member states.
Until last week, Turkey had accepted customs union with nine of the ten new EU
members states, except Cyprus.
Government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides hailed the decision and called
it a “diplomatic victory”. Turkish newspaper Hurriyet called the
decision “historic” while maintaining that Turkey’s special relationship with
the “TRNC” would continue.
Mehmet Ali Talat the so-called Prime Minister of the Turkish occupied
pseudo-state declared “bitter at this eventuality, which is a blow to the TRNC”.
Circles close to the government of Cyprus expressed the opini on that this
is merely the first of many moves Turkey will have to embark on, in trying to
align itself to EU norms. Foreign Minister George Iacovou in a televised
interview on CyBC said that Turkey will be invited to do much more than simply
hide behind the Turkish Cypriot YES vote of the Anan Plan.
Cyprus celebrated its 44th anniversary with a military parade on October 1
and after the rejection of the notorious Anan Plan by a 76% on April 24, it
hopes for a European solution to the Cyprus problem.
ARMENIAN ROCK BAND “SYSTEM OF A DOWN” HELPS RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT SUDAN
GENOCIDE
LOS ANGELES- System Of A Down is contributing to a new CD to raise relief funds
for the victims of the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. The CD,
Genocide in Sudan, hits stores on November 23, and features songs from System
Of A Down, Jill Scott, Jurassic 5, Yoko Ono, Danger Mouse, the Pretenders,
Angelique Kidjo, Thievery Corporation, and previously unreleased and rare
tracks from Tom Morello’s Nightwatchman Project.
All profits will go to the United Nations Refugee Agency and UNICEF to
help build awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
BLACK ANGEL IN LONDON – YEREVAN – TBILISI
Black Angel, The Double Life of Arshile Gorky will be featured in the
Programme of High Fest, the Armenian Experimental Theatre Festival from 2 – 9th
October in theatres across Yerevan.
Arshile Gorky’s Centenary will be marked by his biographer Nouritza
Matossian’s internationally acclaimed solo performance in Yerevan’s Youth
Theatre 6th October 6pm. Black Angel has recently had a run off Broadway, New
York last December, then went to Oxford and Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz.
Nouritza Matossian is to be awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the
Internatio nal Academy of Sciences and Society in Yerevan for her work. She
will give a lecture on Arshile Gorky and his Armenian Heritage (date to be
announced). She will continue to Tbilisi, Georgia to perform Black Angel at the
Atonely Theatre by special invitation on 20th October 8pm.
In Berlin
This week also sees the launch of a remarkable new book in
Germany “Portrat einer Hoffnung: Die Armenier” by Huberta von Voss (Verlag Hans
Schiler) “Portrait of a Hope: The Armenians”, 413 pages, with black and white
photos.
A colour portrait of Nouritza Matossian as Gorky’s mother Shushanig from
her performance Black Angel, A Double Life of Arshile Gorky is on the front
cover.
It is a collection of portraits of Armenian personalities such as Charles
Aznavour, Peter Balakian, Atom Egoyan and essays on history, art, music film,
politics, historic place s, written by a panel of authors such as Yehuda Bauer,
Vahakn Dadrian, Taner Akcam, edited by Huberta von Voss.
The book includes a portrait written by Huberta von Voss of Nouritza
Matossian entitled “Die Spurenleserin”, “The Tracker”, and a traveller’s
account in the past and present: “Endstation Wuste: Ruckkehr nach Deir-es-
Sor”, ”Destination Desert: Return to Deir Zor” by Matossian.
1st CONVENTION OF EUROPEAN ARMENIANS DRAWS NEAR
As the 21st century dawns, Armenia and the Armenians are confronted
with new expectations, new hopes but also with new dangers. A young republic
and an old nation, Armenia faces a changing international environment and
growing energetic and ecological challenges. What should be Armenias
strategies and what are its assets?
Can the European Diaspora help Armenia? And how? Or should the
European Diaspora give priority to its own development and durability by taking
on the challenges of language and culture preservation, the advent of
multicultural identities or the creation o f representative structures?
This first Convention of the European Armenians, which is open to all
associations, organizations and political, economical, cultural or religious
groups, will address these issues during numerous presentations spread out over
three sessions. Within the prestigious setting of the European parliament, the
European Armenians will be able, for the first time, to share their hopes and
concerns with the Unions political decision-makers.
The Convention begins its activities at the European Parliament in
Brussels on October 18, 2004. A delegation of Armenians from Cyprus is also
attending from ARS (HOM), Hamazkayin, Dashnaktsoutiun Committee of Cyprus, Mid
East – Near East Armenian Research and Ethnographic Center, The Armenian
National Committee of Cyprus, Artsaga ng Monthly and the AYF. His Grace
Archbishop Hergelian will also be attending.
MESSAGE OF PEACE FROM CATHOLICOS ARAM I
Gibrahayer:- 2001-2010 has been declared as “Decade to overcome violence” by
the World Council of Churches. On the ocassion of International Day of Prayer
for Peace Tuesday 21 September, Aram I Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic
Church See of Cilicia and WCC Central Committee moderator sends this message of
peace at the following link Aram I – High resolution
KIRK KERKORIAN SERVES UP WINNER OF A YEAR FOR BIG DEALS
By PAUL THARP
September 15, 2004 — At 87, wily investor Kirk Kerkorian still has his healthy
vigor and up to $20 billion to spread around.
His two mega-deals this year the sale of his fabled MGM studios for
$4.6 billion and the creation of a proposed $10 billion casino empire he
controls has nearly tripled his personal fortune in the most lucrative year
of his colorful life.
Kerkorian is celebrating his success by taking his tennis racquets in
hand this week to scramble against other players all over the age of 50 in
a remarkable tournament, the World Seniors Tennis Championship in
Philadelphia… more at
MY SON SHALL BE ARMENIAN
Directed by Hagop Goudsouzian
Between 1915 and 1923, one and a half million Armenians were massacred by the
Turkish Ottoman army. Since then, this people with a 3000-year history has
struggled against oblivion and for official recognition of what was the first
genocide of the 20th century. A reflection on Armenian identity, My Son Shall
Be Armenian follows filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian and five Montrealers of
Armenian descent as they return to the land of the ir forebears in search of
survivors of the 1915 genocide. Goudsouzian weaves the moving accounts of these
centenarians and the touching, at times droll, reactions of the New World
travellers into a dignified and poignant film about the need to make peace with
the past in order to move into the future.
For more details you can go to :

”Armenia: The Dream of Complementarity and the Reality of Dependency”
;report_id=212&language_id=1
Arsen Stepanyan – Constituency Relations Specialist
Armenia Legislative Strengthening Program – 28 Zaroubyan Str., Yerevan, Armenia
Phone: 520505; 542608/09/10 – E-mail: [email protected]
NEWS IN BRIEF
“Africa” editor Ali Osman has revealed during an interview with a Turkish
Cypriot man that the invading Turkish army killed in cold blood 35 Greek
Cypriots on 23 July 1974 and that the same man is ready to give evidence in
front of a “court”. More than 1,600 Greek Cypriots are missing in action since
1974.
The Russian army says it has killed five Chechen rebels including a
Turkish “mercenary” during clashes in the south east of Grozny on Sunday. The
army intercepted a radio conversation in Turkish between the separatists before
the Russian forces ambushed them.
US Congressman Mr Frank Pallone, urged the US State Department to strongly
condemn the new penal code, adopted by Turkey. In a letter to the Secretary of
State Colin Powell, Mr Pallone said that Turkeys action represents a dramatic
display of the Turkish Governments campaign to deny Armenian genocide and
further inhibit a resolution to the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus.
Hundreds of Armenian youth gathered in Little Armenia Saturday for AYF’s 2nd
Annual Little Armenia Cleanup. Volunteers helped remove thousands of pounds of
trash from major streets in L.A. Organized by the AYF and co-sponsored by
Councilmember Eric Garcetti’s Office, the cleanup attracted volunteers from the
public at large and community organizations such as the AYF, Homenetmen Los
Angeles Chapter, and the ARF Badanegan Organization.
g i b r a h a y c a l e n d a r
Traditional KERMES at AYMA. Saturday October 9, 2004. Armenian food, live
music, dancing, fun and games for children. All inclusive 5.00 entrance for
adults. Children under 12, 3:00
AYMA Chicco Football practices have began and are taking place every Friday
from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. for children starting from the age of 7. Contact Krikor
Mahdessian on 99650897.
Melkonian Cyprus Alumni Banquet.Sunday, November 7, 2004 – 1pm “Christiana”
Reception Hall, Alambra. Guest of Honour: Jack R. Melkonian, grand-nephew of
Garabed Melkonian. CYP 15.00 adults / CYP 5.00 students and children. Prizes
included on entrance ticket and raffle tickets. Contact names for reservations
to be announced.
Directions to “Christiana” and convoys will be arranged. All are welcome.
Armenian Relief Society “Sosse” Chapter Fund Raising Tea for the ARS Armenia
Projects on Sunday 28 November, 2004 at The Holiday Inn Hotel at 4:00 p.m.
Handicraft, Lebanese coo kies and home made delicacies on sale. Proceeds to
the “Sosse” Kindergarten of Stepanakert – Republic of Karabagh.
Armenian Radio Hour on The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation can be heard via
real audio on . Broadcast times 17:00-18:00 local Cyprus time
(14:00-15:00 GMT) News bulletins at 17:15 local time on Sundays, Tuesdays,
Fridays. Armenian Cypriots can also tune in on the following radio frequencies
91.1 FM (Mount Olympus – for Nicosia listeners) 94.2 FM
(Paralimni/Protaras/Agia Napa) 92.4 FM (Larnaca) 96.5 FM (Paphos).
The Armenian Prelature announces that the next permit for the Armenian
Cemetery visitation at Ayios Dhometios on the Green line, is scheduled for
Sunday 10 October,2004
Every Wednesday from 7-8 p.m. (Cyprus time +2 GMT) on CyBC’s Trito, Puzant
Nadjarian presents the “History of the Blues” together with Robert Camassa. You
can also hear it on Real Audio from the Internet edition of CyBC on
. A repeat programme can also be heard seven hours later at
2:00 a.m. local time.
The Hairenik Association, Inc. launched its online Armenian Radio Station.You
can now listen to a variety of Armenian music online, 24 hours a day, combined
with news and other interesting information about the Armenian community in the
US, Armenia, Artsakh, Javakhk and the Armenian Diaspora.
To listen to the Hairenik Online Radio go to the RADIO button then click on
your player of choice.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress