According to the information provided, considering that the preliminary investigation yielded data containing characteristics of the damage to cultural assets, including data containing features of damage to a building of religious or ritual significance, a new criminal proceeding has been initiated under Art. 264.2.2 (Property destruction or damage committed by arson, explosion or other publicly dangerous method ) and Art. 146 (destroying or damaging cultural property in order to provoke racial, national, ethnic or religious hatred)  of the Criminal Code of the Republic ofArmenia.

A Jerusalem police officer engages with representatives of the Armenian community

Police in Jerusalem has demanded local Armenians to vacate the area of “Armenian Gardens”—known as the “Cows’ Garden” in the Old City of Jerusalem— and accused them of misappropriation of property.

The alarm was sounded by local attorney and activist Daniel Seidemann who, in a post on X, also added that the Armenian community of Jerusalem is resisting.

Since November 12, a large group of Jerusalem Armenians, in cooperation with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, are on duty in protest in the area of “Cows’ Garden” and have barricaded the access to the wall, with cars and fences, in order to impede any further illegal construction on the Armenian property.

The Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, had leased the area of “Cows’ Garden” to a Jewish businessman for 99 years. This decision, however, caused a lot of uproar; but after a long battle, the deal was canceled.

The Movement for the Protection and Preservation of the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem has released a statement, according to which there is a tense situation at the “Armenian Gardens.”

It is noted that at around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, a convoy of vehicles presumably belonging to Jewish settlers entered the “Cows’ Garden,” after which the Armenian residents of Jerusalem gathered there and surrounded the barricaded border.

The Israeli police have arrested three Jerusalem Armenians, one of whom is a minor.

The Israeli police allowed some settlers to stay at the “Cows’ Garden,” whose objective, according to the aforesaid statement, is to appropriate that area.

In response, the local Armenian residents formed a human shield and peacefully urged to vacate the area of the “Cows’ Garden.”

The situation remains tense, the statement added.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has warned that it is facing the “greatest existential threat” in its history.

In a statement, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem said the developer who sought to lease some 25 percent of the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem has ignored a letter by the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem cancelling the controversial real estate deal and has started demolition works, and moreover police now demand that all members of the Armenian Community vacate the premises.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is under possibly the greatest existential threat of its 16-century history. This existential-territorial threat fully extends to all the Christian communities of Jerusalem.

Instead of providing a lawful response to the cancellation, the developers attempting to build on the Cows’ Garden have completely disregarded the legal approaches of the Patriarchate toward this issue, and instead have elected to use provocation, aggression, and other harassment and incendiary tactics including destruction of property and deploying heavily armed instigators.

In recent days, the vast destruction and removal of asphalt on the grounds of the Armenian Quarter has been done without the permits from the municipality by neither the developer nor the police.

Despite this fact, the police have chosen in the last few days to demand that all members of the Armenian Community vacate the premises.

“We plead with the entirety of the Christian communities of Jerusalem to stand with the Armenian Patriarchate in these unprecedented times as this is another clear step taken toward the endangerment of the Christian presence in Jerusalem and the Holy Land,” the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.

Asbarez is saddened to report the passing of long-time contributor and reporter Noubar Demirdjian, who died on November 15 in San Francisco.

For decades, Demirdjian’s writings shined a light on many crucial issues, especially with a focus on unique Armenian Genocide survival stories. He also reported on community events that became the conduit for the growth and advanced of the Armenian-American community in the San Francisco-Bay area.

A staunch member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Demridjian played a crucial role in development of the Armenian community in the Western United States and specifically the Bay Area.

Asbarez will have more about the storied life and contribution of Noubar Demirdjian.

The Asbarez editorial department, management and staff offer their heartfelt condolences to the Demirdjian family and the greater Western U.S. and San Francisco Bay communities.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington on May 4

Azerbaijan will not participate in a planned meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan scheduled for November 20 in Washington.

The Azerbaijani foreign ministry reacted angrily to a statement made by James O’Brien, the Assistant Secretary of State on Eurasian affairs, who signaled, during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, that Washington’s ties with Baku have cooled since Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh in September.

“We’ve made clear that nothing will be normal with Azerbaijan after the events of September 19 until we see progress on the peace track. So we’ve canceled a number of high-level visits, condemned the action,” O’Brien said, adding that the State Department will not seek a waiver of Section 907 “until such time that we see improvement.”

Baku accused Washington of committing “mortal sins,” calling O’Brien’s statement “one-sided and biased,” as well as “counterproductive, baseless, and unacceptable,” and a blow to Azerbaijani-American relations.

In the strongly-worded statement, Baku also accused O’Brien, personally, and the entire U.S. diplomatic apparatus of ”ignoring the main issue that led to Azerbaijan’s actions,” referring to Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh in September.

Official Baku has taken a defensive tone toward the U.S. and Europe. It condemned France, last week, for supplying arms to Armenia, per an agreement signed between Paris and Yerevan last month.