Author: Hambardsumian Paul

Only a small inner door in the grand entrance to the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem was open on Friday.

The larger cast-iron gateway that normally welcomes tourists and pilgrims towards the Cathedral of St James remained shut since October 7, when the Holy Land was thrown into turmoil after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack in Israel’s south.

Authorities and the military went into high alert, Palestinians and Israelis restricted their movement and foreign tourists were told by their governments to avoid the region.

Some visitors have stayed, such as Margaret Chevian, a former librarian from Rhode Island, who came to the Armenian Patriarchate for three months to help it organise its sprawling collection of books.

A portrait in the palace of Jerusalem's Armenian Patriarch. Photo: Thomas Helm / The National

“Should I stay or should I go?” Ms Chevian asks.

"My family and friends back in the US are saying 'come home', because it’s not safe here.

“My friends here in the Old City of Jerusalem are telling me to stay, 'Jerusalem is the safest place to be'.

“So far, I've opted to stay and I do feel safe.”

One group staying steadfast is the clergy. It cannot abandon one of the most important religious institutions for Armenians. The community has had a presence in Jerusalem since the seventh century AD.

“Jerusalem is one of the main centres of the Armenian church,” says George Hintlian, a historian and long-time pillar of the Armenian community in the Holy Land.

The Patriarch is in charge of Armenian communities in the Middle East.

“In places like Lebanon, Syria and Jerusalem, you have to spend most of your time dealing with local politics – adjusting to changing situations,” he says.

The Armenians know they must do the same in the weeks, possibly months of conflict ahead.

On Tuesday, in a small, early-morning ceremony in which Irish coffee was distributed generously, they welcomed two new bishops, vital reinforcements for the struggling community.

They will help bolster the spiritual vitality of the institution. But they also need to boost numbers in a more secular sense.

The remit of one of the new bishops includes managing the community's vast property portfolio, both inside the Old City and out.

It has been targeted by illegal Israeli settlers in recent years. The Armenians are currently battling the most dangerous and complex threat yet. Settlers are trying to obtain the community’s only car park and surrounding land. Corruption among some of the clergy paved the way for the attempt.

Armenians say without the car park, their community will die. Residents will lose their mobility and pupils at the school will have nowhere to be dropped off. All for a paltry hotel lease deal that would leave the already wealthy community with very meagre financial gains, if any.

War in the Holy Land only makes their struggle harder.

Fortunately, Mr Hintlian thinks highly of the bishop with this important job.

“The Israeli context, to put it conservatively, is very dynamic – you have to take new policies into your daily life,” he says.

But with reinforcements and a community that is committed to its survival, Mr Hintlian still manages to be optimistic.

“There has never been a period in our presence when we did not have to manage crises,” he says.

“Vigilance is now part of our spiritual duties.”

https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2023/10/20/armenians-in-the-holy-land-welcome-vital-reinforcements-in-troubled-times/

Azerbaijan's swift victory in its September conflict with Armenia effectively brought a protracted conflict, dating back to 1988, to an end. 

Azerbaijan seized control of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh territory where reports say more than 120,000 Armenians living in the enclave have now fled to Armenia. The president of the self-declared Republic of Artsakh dissolved all institutions of the disputed region.

The decisive victory, however, has also put Iran on notice about the changing dynamics in the region. 

To understand the current state of relations between Armenia, Iran and Azerbaijan, one must first appreciate their complex connections. 

On paper, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Armenia, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, make for unusual close allies.

But over the past three decades, both countries, which share a border, have developed close political ties. Iran has even extended electricity to Armenia during periods of energy shortages, strengthening their bilateral links. 

Conversely, Iran's relationship with Azerbaijan, which shares ethnic, linguistic and religious ties, has been riven with tensions. 

Earlier this year, Middle East Eye reported on a growing chorus of voices in Iran calling for more aggressive policies against Azerbaijan. 

Iran, at least publicly, has supported Azerbaijan's territorial integrity legally, and politically it couldn't stand against it. 

According to Hamidreza Azizi, an expert on geopolitics and security in the Middle East at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Iranian policymakers are mainly preoccupied with the broader implications of Azerbaijan taking the upper hand in the region and the wider geopolitical and geo-economic ramifications of that.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked a significant turning point in the region. 

Armenia and Azerbaijan emerged as newly independent states, while Iran reasserted itself as a key player in the changing political landscape alongside Russia. 

Now Turkey and Israel, which have been Azerbaijan's main military and political backers, are driving changes in the regional order. 

"Geo-economically speaking, Iran's main concern is the potential establishment of the Zangezur corridor," Azizi told MEE. 

The Zangezur corridor is a strategically significant narrow strip of land in Armenia's Syunik province, which separates the main part of Azerbaijan from the Nakhchivan, an autonomous exclave of Azerbaijan.

This corridor, approximately 3.5km wide at its narrowest point, would serve as the only land connection between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, which is also connected to Turkey. 

Both Turkey and Azerbaijan have called for the corridor to be opened, which could have important implications for Iran. 

For one, said Azizi, it would "significantly decrease the importance of Iran in any future Chinese plan for the region within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative".

The move to create the Zangezur corridor would also have geopolitical implications. 

"It has been indicated by Azeri officials from time to time that setting up the Zangezur corridor would somehow involve Iran losing its land access to Armenia," Azizi said.

Various arrangements have been floated including an internationally controlled corridor, which, if it went through Syunik province, "would be a geopolitical catastrophe" for Iran, he said.

At the end of the 44-day Karabakh War in 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia, which stated that "all economic and transport connections in the region shall be unblocked".

It also stated that Armenia would guarantee the security of transport connections between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan.

For Azerbaijan, that implied the creation of the Zangezur corridor. In Tehran, that implies the limiting of its geopolitical options and increased dependence on Azerbaijan, which has close ties to Israel, Iran's arch-enemy and Ankara's regional competitor. 

Iran's fear is not about Karabakh per se, said Azizi, but what it implies about Azerbaijan's phased approach in meeting all its objectives. 

"Baku retaking Nagorno Karabakh is a prelude to the establishment of the Zangezur corridor. That's what alarms Iran," he said. 

Despite strong opposition, Iran's ability to respond is so far limited. Russia has indicated that it is willing to accept some sort of accommodation, its hand weakened following the war in Ukraine.  

Though Iran might not want to admit it, Tehran no longer enjoys the backing of Russia, its main partner in the region. Azizi said. "Not only is Russia not supporting Armenia, but it actually sides with Turkey."

Within Iran, maintaining an open border with Armenia has become a "matter of patriotism and nationalism", said Armin Montazeri, foreign policy editor at Ham-Mihan, an Iranian newspaper. 

"Public opinion towards this matter is that Iranians even support their government's military approach against any actions on the border with Armenia, if it is a necessity." 

In Iran, memories of losing control over various Caucasus territories in the early 19th century following wars with Russia, including modern-day Azerbaijan, Georgia, Dagestan, Armenia, and Igdir in Turkey, continue to rankle in nationalist quarters. 

'Iran now is faced with two countries with clear borders, and it has to choose whether it wants to go on through cooperation with the two or animosity with one'

- Armin Montazeri, foreign policy editor at Ham-Mihan

Similar ideas also permeate Turkish society, where a land corridor with Azerbaijan is seen as a gateway into Central Asia and a means to reconnect with other Turkic states. 

Beyond historical grievances, policymakers in Iran now have to tread a finer line than before, said Montazeri. 

"Iran now is faced with two countries with clear borders, and it has to choose whether it wants to go on through cooperation with the two or animosity with one. And I think this shift will also have an impact on Iran public opinion," added Montazeri.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried to allay Iranian fears by suggesting that Tehran would be included in plans to create common prosperity amongst the countries.

"When Erdogan said that Iran has no problem with the Zangezur corridor, Iranian officials did not deny that," said Montazeri, adding that it means that Tehran is "willing to talk about the idea".

Such assurances from Turkey, however, will have to contend with lingering suspicions within Iran, said Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group. 

Azerbaijan, having achieved significant territorial gains, is likely to focus on consolidating its control over the newly acquired territories while maintaining its strategic energy interests with Iran. 

Armenia, on the other hand, faces the daunting task of rebuilding its economy, incorporating an influx of refugees, and coming to terms with the new geopolitical realities in the South Caucasus.

Meanwhile, Iran has to contend with two long-standing concerns with regards to Azerbaijan that have been compounded in the aftermath of the 2020 conflict, Vaez said.

"The first is related to Iran's own apprehensions about its territorial integrity. Nearly a third of Iran's nearly 88 million citizens are ethnic Azeris, who speak a Turkic mother tongue and mainly reside in the country's northwestern provinces bordering Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey," Vaez told MEE. 

"Tehran has historically feared irredentist sentiment among its Azeri population, and remains acutely sensitive to what it perceives as pan-Turkic rhetoric across Azerbaijan, as well as the broader South Caucasus and Central Asia."

In a sign of support towards Armenia, Iranian national security chief Ali Shamkhani met with his counterpart, Armen Grigoryan, earlier this month. 

"Tension and conflict in the Caucasus region are not in the interest of any country," said Shamkhani. 

In a press conference on Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanani, while expressing support for Azerbaijan's reclamation of the separatist Karabakh region, warned that it strongly remains "against making geopolitical changes in the region and this is our clear position".

In the past Iran has even conducted military drills on the border with Azerbaijan, and opened a consulate in Kapan, the capital of Syunik province, "as a means of expressing its opposition to any change of borders in that region," said Vaez.

For Azizi, a direct conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan could see Iran potentially providing drones. 

“There could be quite a few wild-card scenarios and unpredictable circumstances," in such a situation where Russia and Turkey retain important roles in the region, said Azizi. 

Only if the threat from Israel towards Iran were to become "immediate" could it potentially push Iran to take extreme measures, but short of that "it's really complicated, and Tehran's options are much more limited compared to the past," concluded Azizi.

LOS ANGELES — Some mountains are places and some are symbols. Mt. Ararat is both, a national and cultural symbol of Armenia and popularly considered the Biblical resting place of Noah’s Ark. Which is why it’s striking to see mounds of earth from the mountain — little piles of soil, obsidian tools, and even animal remains — in a gallery alongside “The Light Under Dark Clouds,” a myth-making image of Ararat by photographer Sossi Madzounian that shows the mountain cast under dark and light clouds. These mounds of earth come from an 8,000-year-old farming community at Ararat, reminding us that it’s a place and a symbol, an ancient home since the dawn of agriculture.

The mounds, and Madzounian’s photo, meet visitors at the entry to Remain in Light: Visions of Homeland and Diaspora, an exhibition of Armenian photographers currently on view at UCLA’s Fowler Museum. Alongside Madzounian are photographers Ara Mgrdichian and Ara Oshagan, all diaspora-born Armenian artists who live in Los Angeles, a city and county that is home to the second-largest Armenian population in the world outside Armenia itself. 

“Quo Vadis?” by Mgrdichian, a photo of signs pointing to LA’s “sister cities,” highlights the importance of Los Angeles as a diasporic home. A small sign points to the right to indicate the direction of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, 7200 miles (~11,500 km) away. Next to this work is “Hand in Hand,” a photograph of children from the Orran Center for socially vulnerable children and families in Yerevan. They hold pieces of paper with their handprints on them.

Much of the show jumps back and forth between Los Angeles and Armenia, underscoring the blurriness of living in diaspora. Part of what makes the exhibition successful is curator Gassia Armenian’s arrangements, which draw connections between themes and regions. In “Mother and Child,” Madzounian depicts the christening of a first-born son in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor Province. The photo is composed to look like a Virgin Mother and child, an important religious symbol in many Armenian churches.

A few walls down, Mgrdichian’s “Mgrdoutioune” depicts a baptism in Glendale, the heart of the Armenian diaspora in Los Angeles County, where a man, presumably a father, holds a crying child. In the nearby “Christening,” Ara Oshagan shows Der Hovaness, a priest at Gantzasar monastery in Vank Village, Armenia, administering a blessing. Like pictures traded on a family WhatsApp chat, the photos speak to each other across time and space, suggesting the glue that religion and ritual play for cultures in diaspora.

Other important connections include photos addressing the 1915 Armenian genocide — in Oshagan’s “April 24” (the date commemorating the genocide victims), a man wearing a t-shirt saying “Genocide Never Again” appears to be crying on the street, while in Mgrdichian’s “Fight the Power,” people march in solidarity as they wave the US and Armenian flags. “Lachin,” a photo Oshagan took in Artsakh, shows a young boy on wooden stairs in the Lachin corridor of Artsakh, which connects the region to Armenia. Azerbaijan launched an attack on the region in 2020 and, as of press time, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians have fled the area following a military offensive from Azerbaijan that started on September 19. 

Gassia Armenian’s decision to include the artists’ own words brings to life their stories, making them as much a part of the show as the people and landmarks they photograph. Oshagan offers his identity as “a neural network made up of American/Armenian/Arabic/French parts that are in constant flux, in harmony and contention.” It’s a useful way to describe the exhibition — like Ararat, the photos speak to home as both a place and a symbol. In the face of diaspora and resistance, dispossession and defiance, home is always in flux.

Remain in Light: Visions of Homeland and Diaspora continues at the Fowler Museum at UCLA (308 Charles E. Young Drive North, Westwood, Los Angeles) through October 15. The show was curated by Gassia Armenian, Fowler curatorial and research associate.

View photos at https://hyperallergic.com/847677/armenian-artists-contemplate-notions-of-home-and-belonging-remain-in-light-fowler-museum-los-angeles/