ARCHBISHOP PARGEV MARTIROSSIAN: THE FACE OF KARABAGH
By Alin Gregorian
Mirror-Spectator Staff
Posted on November 25
The Atinizian and Mardiros families had dinner with Archbishop Pargev
Martirossian during his visit.
BOSTON – Stepanakert, the home of Archbishop Pargev Martirossian,
the Primate of the Karabagh Diocese, is a world away from the US,
but for this ambassador of this tiny republic and man of God, no
distance is too great to spread the word about Karabagh.
Martirossian is Karabagh’s first archbishop since the 1930s. The
late Catholicos of All Armenians Vazken I appointed him in 1989 to
the post. “Moscow allowed it,” he said, much to the chagrin of Azeri
authorities. Martirossian, who was given the name Gurgen at birth, was
born in Sumgait, Azerbaijan, to a family from the northern Karabagh
town of Chardakhly. He entered the Gevorkian Seminary in Echmiadzin
in 1980. He was ordained in 1983 and graduated in 1984. In 1985 he
was ordained a celibate priest and given the name Pargev. He was made
a bishop by Vazken I in 1988 and was named an archbishop by the late
Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin I in 1999.
Martirossian stopped for an interview during his short visit to Boston,
part of his tour of the US in support of the Armenia Fund Telethon,
scheduled to take place on Thanksgiving Day.
During his visit, Martirossian attended the Knights of Vartan’s annual
program, dedicated this year to raise funds for Armenia Fund USA and
the World Bank program in Armenia. He visited the Armenian Library
and Museum of America, where he spoke at length with curator Gary
Lind-Sinanian and toured the new exhibit of photographs by Yousuf
Karsh.
He also met with Ruth Thomasian, founder and executive director of
Project SAVE. He visited the site of the Armenian Heritage Park in
Boston and performed the Divine Liturgy at Holy Trinity Armenian
Church in Cambridge. Kevork and Jacqueline Atinizian then hosted him
at a private dinner.
The prelate had nothing but praise for Armenia Fund USA and all the
other chapters of Armenia Fund, suggesting that several layers of
controls ensured that the funds went where they were intended.
This year’s theme for Armenia Fund USA is water. Martirossian said,
“It is enormous work. First there was the Road of Life, linking Goris
[Armenia] and Stepanakert, then the North-South Highway, which is
the backbone of Karabagh and then many schools and hospitals.”
“These heroes who have won and kept our borders, if we don’t give
them clean water, shame on us,” he added with emphasis.
Water, he said, affects every part of life, clearly, and its absence
hinders the republic’s programs to boost its population. He recalled
that Prime Minister Araik Haroutunian visited a village recently and
spoke with a farmer who had three sons and asked the patriarch if
any of the sons were married and if not, why. The archbishop said,
the farmer had replied, “We work with animals and can bathe only
once a week. How can we bring a young girl here to live under these
circumstances?”
The current population of Karabagh is 150,000, Martirossian said,
but noted that it should have been 300,000 by this time. Everything,
including a larger population, requires money, he said.
“To bring people in Karabagh, we need to spend $70,000 per person,”
he said. That money, he said, is the cost of building infrastructure
and creating a high living standard, including roads, light, gas,
water, schools, clubs and sports arenas.
“We need help from the diaspora,” Martirossian said.
Martirossian said that the one thing that hinders growth in Karabagh
is that the country is not recognized internationally, and thus is
not qualified for many loans and other assistance programs. Their
only source of help, thus, is Armenia.
Martirossian said that the Azeri government “talks with ultimatums”
but that it needs to “recognize that Karabagh can never stay under
Azeri rule.” He added that the republic needs a tacit agreement from
the Azeri government guaranteeing its safety, but that agreement,
he said, is not forthcoming.
He noted, however, “sooner or later, the Karabagh Question will be
solved.” After all, he said, Kosovo, Abkhazia and Eritrea have all
set precedents.
“We are very grateful to the OSCE [Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe] who are moderating and organizing meetings,”
he noted.
Martirossian was happy about the change in the fortunes of Shushi,
which had been in ruins after the war for liberation. The city,
he said, has two new hotels and life is improving there, though he
cautioned that improvements were still needed.
Martirossian was most proud that 75 percent of the republic has
access to gas and electricity and that the Internet and cell phones
have become readily available.
“Of course, life is easier, but it still is not enough. People want
everything quickly,” he said, adding, “Paris, Moscow or New York,
none of them became what they are overnight.”
He said that Karabagh is looking into attracting more tourists with
its majestic mountains and monasteries. The region’s old Christian
past should also attract religious tourists, he noted.
When asked how he was able to cope with all that he has to with
all the difficulties that the republic has faced, Martirossian got
philosophical: “It’s like a father in a house with his children. The
children need to be taken care of no matter what. It is my job. They
are my 150,000 children. I am accountable to God. You need to take
care of them. That the duty of every cleric.”