Armenian News...Please read the following to the end...
Շնորհաւոր Նոր Տարի և պարգեւաբեր Ս . Ծնունդ :
Թող 2015 ը առողջութեամբ, երջանկութեամբ և յաջողութիւներով
լեցուն տարի մը ըլլայ ձեզի և ձեր ընտանիքին համար:
RFE/RL Report
RFE/RL Report
Russia Approves Nuclear Energy Loan To Armenia
26.12.2014
The Russian government said on Friday that it has formally approved
the release of a $270 million loan to Armenia that will be used for
extending the life of the nuclear power station at Metsamor.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's cabinet endorsed a corresponding
Russian-Armenian draft agreement at a weekly meeting held in Moscow on
Thursday.
The Armenian government approved the agreement more than a month
ago. The Russian loan, repayable in 15 years, will enable it to
implement an earlier decision to delay the closure of the Metsamor
plant by 10 years, until 2026.
Yerevan opted for the delay after failing to attract billions of
dollars in funding needed for its ambitious plans to replace the
Soviet-era plant generating over one-third of Armenia's electricity
with a new and more powerful facility meeting modern safety standards.
The 30-year design life span of Metsamor's sole functioning reactor
ends in 2016. Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) said in 2011 that in principle it can be extended through
thorough safety upgrades.
The Russian funding is officially called an "export loan," suggesting
that it will mainly be spent on Russian equipment and technical
aid. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Yervand Zakharian said in
August that Moscow will also allocate a $30 million grant for the same
purpose.
Russian specialists already played a major role in Metsamor's
reactivation in 1995, which was opposed by Western powers that
consider the plant inherently unsafe. The Soviet government had
brought its two reactors to a halt following a catastrophic 1988
earthquake.
The Russian government announced its intention to help Yerevan prolong
Metsamor's operations last year shortly after President Serzh
Sarkisian decided to make Armenia part of the Russian-led Eurasian
Economic Union.
RFE/RL Report
Robust Growth Reported In Karabakh
Emil Danielyan
26.12.2014
Economic growth in Nagorno-Karabakh has averaged about 10 percent
annually in the past several years and will continue unabated in 2015,
according to the authorities in Stepanakert.
Ara Harutiunian, the Karabakh prime minister, made upbeat
macroeconomic forecasts on Thursday as his cabinet pushed through the
unrecognized republic's parliament its budget for next year envisaging
a sizable increase in public spending.
The spending target of 88.1 billion drams ($192 million) is based on a
projection that the Karabakh economy will expand by 9 percent in 2015.
"A real GDP increase of 9 percent in 2015 and rapid growth in
following years are expected to result from the development of energy,
agriculture, light industry, food processing, mining, information
technology and other sectors," Harutiunian told lawmakers, according
to the Artsakhpress.am news agency.
According to the most recent official data, Karabakh's GDP, equivalent
to over $410 million in 2013, increased in real terms by about 8
percent in January-September 2014 thanks to more than 21 percent rises
in industrial output and construction. The two sectors generated
between them 58 percent of GDP.
By contrast, the local agricultural sector contracted by as much as 23
percent in the nine-month period apparently because of severe
consequences of a blizzard that swept through Armenia and Karabakh in
late March. The sector accounted for only one-quarter of economic
activity in Karabakh, which used to be heavily dependent on
agriculture.
In Harutiunian's words, recent years' growth has translated into
thousands of new jobs in the Armenian-populated territory still
recovering from the 1991-1994 war of secession from Azerbaijan. "The
total number of employed workers rose from 41,000 in 2007 to 50,300 in
2014," he said.
Thousands of other, mostly male Karabakh Armenians are part of the
local military closely integrated with Armenia's armed forces.
Nagorno-Karabakh - The offices and production facilities of the Base
Metals company in Drmbon.
Harutiunian emphasized that annual subsidies from the Armenian
government will finance 52 percent of Karabakh's 2015 budgetary
spending, down from 60 percent in 2007 and 73 percent in 2000. He said
that a large part of the budgetary transfers from Yerevan are taxes
collected from goods imported to Karabakh from outside Armenia. This
means, he said, that Karabakh is not as financially dependent on
Armenia as many people think.
Harutiunian further stressed the fact that state revenue is projected
to rise substantially in 2014 despite decreased tax contributions from
Karabakh's largest corporate taxpayer, the Base Metals company mining
copper and gold in the northern Martakert district.
Base Metals, which is part of Armenia's Vallex Group mining giant, is
increasingly switching its operations to a new and larger ore deposit
in Martakert. Its production volumes should therefore grow in the
coming years.
According to official statistics, the average monthly salary in
Karabakh rose by 20 percent year on year to 130,400 drams ($300) in
September, compared with 173,000 drams in Armenia. The Armenian
economy has grown far more slowly since 2010.
RFE/RL Report
26.12.2014
The Russian government said on Friday that it has formally approved
the release of a $270 million loan to Armenia that will be used for
extending the life of the nuclear power station at Metsamor.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's cabinet endorsed a corresponding
Russian-Armenian draft agreement at a weekly meeting held in Moscow on
Thursday.
The Armenian government approved the agreement more than a month
ago. The Russian loan, repayable in 15 years, will enable it to
implement an earlier decision to delay the closure of the Metsamor
plant by 10 years, until 2026.
Yerevan opted for the delay after failing to attract billions of
dollars in funding needed for its ambitious plans to replace the
Soviet-era plant generating over one-third of Armenia's electricity
with a new and more powerful facility meeting modern safety standards.
The 30-year design life span of Metsamor's sole functioning reactor
ends in 2016. Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) said in 2011 that in principle it can be extended through
thorough safety upgrades.
The Russian funding is officially called an "export loan," suggesting
that it will mainly be spent on Russian equipment and technical
aid. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Yervand Zakharian said in
August that Moscow will also allocate a $30 million grant for the same
purpose.
Russian specialists already played a major role in Metsamor's
reactivation in 1995, which was opposed by Western powers that
consider the plant inherently unsafe. The Soviet government had
brought its two reactors to a halt following a catastrophic 1988
earthquake.
The Russian government announced its intention to help Yerevan prolong
Metsamor's operations last year shortly after President Serzh
Sarkisian decided to make Armenia part of the Russian-led Eurasian
Economic Union.
RFE/RL Report
Robust Growth Reported In Karabakh
Emil Danielyan
26.12.2014
Economic growth in Nagorno-Karabakh has averaged about 10 percent
annually in the past several years and will continue unabated in 2015,
according to the authorities in Stepanakert.
Ara Harutiunian, the Karabakh prime minister, made upbeat
macroeconomic forecasts on Thursday as his cabinet pushed through the
unrecognized republic's parliament its budget for next year envisaging
a sizable increase in public spending.
The spending target of 88.1 billion drams ($192 million) is based on a
projection that the Karabakh economy will expand by 9 percent in 2015.
"A real GDP increase of 9 percent in 2015 and rapid growth in
following years are expected to result from the development of energy,
agriculture, light industry, food processing, mining, information
technology and other sectors," Harutiunian told lawmakers, according
to the Artsakhpress.am news agency.
According to the most recent official data, Karabakh's GDP, equivalent
to over $410 million in 2013, increased in real terms by about 8
percent in January-September 2014 thanks to more than 21 percent rises
in industrial output and construction. The two sectors generated
between them 58 percent of GDP.
By contrast, the local agricultural sector contracted by as much as 23
percent in the nine-month period apparently because of severe
consequences of a blizzard that swept through Armenia and Karabakh in
late March. The sector accounted for only one-quarter of economic
activity in Karabakh, which used to be heavily dependent on
agriculture.
In Harutiunian's words, recent years' growth has translated into
thousands of new jobs in the Armenian-populated territory still
recovering from the 1991-1994 war of secession from Azerbaijan. "The
total number of employed workers rose from 41,000 in 2007 to 50,300 in
2014," he said.
Thousands of other, mostly male Karabakh Armenians are part of the
local military closely integrated with Armenia's armed forces.
Nagorno-Karabakh - The offices and production facilities of the Base
Metals company in Drmbon.
Harutiunian emphasized that annual subsidies from the Armenian
government will finance 52 percent of Karabakh's 2015 budgetary
spending, down from 60 percent in 2007 and 73 percent in 2000. He said
that a large part of the budgetary transfers from Yerevan are taxes
collected from goods imported to Karabakh from outside Armenia. This
means, he said, that Karabakh is not as financially dependent on
Armenia as many people think.
Harutiunian further stressed the fact that state revenue is projected
to rise substantially in 2014 despite decreased tax contributions from
Karabakh's largest corporate taxpayer, the Base Metals company mining
copper and gold in the northern Martakert district.
Base Metals, which is part of Armenia's Vallex Group mining giant, is
increasingly switching its operations to a new and larger ore deposit
in Martakert. Its production volumes should therefore grow in the
coming years.
According to official statistics, the average monthly salary in
Karabakh rose by 20 percent year on year to 130,400 drams ($300) in
September, compared with 173,000 drams in Armenia. The Armenian
economy has grown far more slowly since 2010.
RFE/RL Report
Armenian Minister Downplays Economic Monopolies
Sisak Gabrielian
26.12.2014
Contrary to popular belief, de facto monopolies do not necessarily
hamper Armenia's economic development, Economy Minister Karen
Chshmaritian insisted on Friday.
"Even the world's second and sixth largest economies have state-owned
and private monopolies," Chshmaritian told a news conference.
"I'm not saying that a monopoly is a good thing," he said. "The
challenge is to block or prevent abuse of that monopoly."
A World Bank survey released last year said that oligopolies control
20 percent of economic activity in Armenia, making it the most
monopolized economy in the former Soviet Union. Armenian state
regulators enforcing anti-trust measures disputed that assertion.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have for years been
pressing successive Armenian governments to improve the business
environment and, in particular, liberalize lucrative sectors of the
Armenian economy controlled by a handful of government-linked
entrepreneurs. Those include imports of essential foodstuffs and fuel.
Earlier this month, the head of the IMF's Yerevan office, Teresa Daban
Sanchez, deplored the fact that recent months' sharp drop in
international oil prices has not considerably reduced the prices of
diesel fuel and other commodities in Armenia. She described it as
further proof of the lack of competition. She argued that lower
commodity prices would have enabled the country to better cope with
the fallout from an unfolding economic recession in Russia.
Chshmaritian claimed that the small size of the Armenian market makes
it practically impossible for the authorities to break up
monopolies. "If we say that we ban monopolies in Armenia any
large-scale manufacturing in our country can be deemed a monopoly," he
said.
Government critics denounced these remarks, saying that the monopolies
are squeezing many small and medium-sized firms out of business
because of enjoying privileged treatment by the government. Stepan
Aslanian, the chairman of the Union of Small Businesses, claimed that
thousands of such firms have faced bankruptcy this year alone.
Sisak Gabrielian
26.12.2014
Contrary to popular belief, de facto monopolies do not necessarily
hamper Armenia's economic development, Economy Minister Karen
Chshmaritian insisted on Friday.
"Even the world's second and sixth largest economies have state-owned
and private monopolies," Chshmaritian told a news conference.
"I'm not saying that a monopoly is a good thing," he said. "The
challenge is to block or prevent abuse of that monopoly."
A World Bank survey released last year said that oligopolies control
20 percent of economic activity in Armenia, making it the most
monopolized economy in the former Soviet Union. Armenian state
regulators enforcing anti-trust measures disputed that assertion.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have for years been
pressing successive Armenian governments to improve the business
environment and, in particular, liberalize lucrative sectors of the
Armenian economy controlled by a handful of government-linked
entrepreneurs. Those include imports of essential foodstuffs and fuel.
Earlier this month, the head of the IMF's Yerevan office, Teresa Daban
Sanchez, deplored the fact that recent months' sharp drop in
international oil prices has not considerably reduced the prices of
diesel fuel and other commodities in Armenia. She described it as
further proof of the lack of competition. She argued that lower
commodity prices would have enabled the country to better cope with
the fallout from an unfolding economic recession in Russia.
Chshmaritian claimed that the small size of the Armenian market makes
it practically impossible for the authorities to break up
monopolies. "If we say that we ban monopolies in Armenia any
large-scale manufacturing in our country can be deemed a monopoly," he
said.
Government critics denounced these remarks, saying that the monopolies
are squeezing many small and medium-sized firms out of business
because of enjoying privileged treatment by the government. Stepan
Aslanian, the chairman of the Union of Small Businesses, claimed that
thousands of such firms have faced bankruptcy this year alone.
RFE/RL Report
Azeris Sentenced In Karabakh
Lilit Harutiunian
29.12.2014
A court in Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday sentenced one Azerbaijani man to
life imprisonment and another to 22 years in prison on charges
stemming from the murder of an Armenian teenager which led to their
high-profile arrests in July.
In a verdict condemned by Azerbaijan's government, Dilgam Askerov and
Shahbaz Quliyev were convicted of illegal border crossing and arms
possession, espionage and kidnapping. Askerov, who was jailed for
life, was also found guilty of killing Smbat Tsakanian, a 17-year-old
Armenian resident of the Kelbajar district sandwiched between Armenia
and Karabakh.
Quliyev and Askerov were separately captured by Karabakh Armenian
security forces in July after crossing into Kelbajar together with
another Azerbaijani, Hasan Hasanov. Hasanov was gunned down several
days later, moments after reportedly opening fire at a military
vehicle that carried an Armenian army officer and a civilian. The
officer, Sargis Abrahamian, was killed while the 37-year-old woman,
Karine Davtian, gravely wounded.
The shootings were reported four days before Tsakanian was found
dead. The Karabakh authorities believe that he was taken hostage and
killed by the Azerbaijani "saboteurs."
Quliyev, 46, and Askerov, 54, pleaded not guilty to the murder charge
when they went on trial in Stepanakert in October. Each of them
claimed to have had no part in the boy's killing which the prosecution
says was committed with an assault rifle confiscated from Askerov.
During his cross-examination in the Karabakh court last month, Askerov
said he did not fire the fatal gunshots and even tried unsuccessfully
to convince his companions to spare Tsakanian's life. He referred to
Quliyev as a "very bad person" who was recruited by Azerbaijani
special services to infiltrate Kelbajar. Quliyev dismissed those
claims as a lie.
During the trial the prosecution publicized what it considers another
key piece of evidence: amateur video that was shot by Askerov in the
days leading up to his arrest. It shows the two other Azerbaijanis and
Tsakanian walking through a forest in the mountainous district.
Askerov can be heard saying from behind the camera, "We have captured
a piglet. He is about 20 years old and doesn't speak Azerbaijani. We
can't let him go because he would denounce us. Let's go and see what
happens."
Commenting on the footage, Askerov claimed that he and the other
Azerbaijanis did not kidnap Tsakanian from his home in a remote
Kelbajar farm. He said they only asked the teenager to show them the
way to the town of Kelbajar.
Nagorno-Karabakh - Weapons which the Karabakh Armenian military says
were confiscated from an arrested member of an Azerbaijani "sabotage"
group, 10Jul2014.
The Azerbaijani government has repeatedly denounced the trial as
illegal and demanded the release of both men. It says that that they
had a legitimate right to visit what is an internationally recognized
part of Azerbaijan that has been under Karabakh Armenian control since
1993.
The Foreign Ministry in Baku stood by this position in its official
reaction to the court verdict voiced later on Monday. "The `trial'
held in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan has no legal force,"
Hikmet Hajiyev, a ministry spokesman, said, according to the APA news
agency. Hajiyev said Baku will continue to press the international
community to secure the release of the two "hostages."
The authorities in Stepanakert reject such claims. They say that the
arrested Azerbaijanis cannot be treated like prisoners of war because
their "brutal and inhuman" actions targeted a civilian.
"The trial took place in accordance with all international norms, and
it was open and transparent. The defendants had lawyers," Davit
Babayan, a spokesman for Bako Sahakian, the Karabakh president, told
RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "Their crimes were so grave
that they got such punishment," he said.
Azeris Sentenced In Karabakh
Lilit Harutiunian
29.12.2014
A court in Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday sentenced one Azerbaijani man to
life imprisonment and another to 22 years in prison on charges
stemming from the murder of an Armenian teenager which led to their
high-profile arrests in July.
In a verdict condemned by Azerbaijan's government, Dilgam Askerov and
Shahbaz Quliyev were convicted of illegal border crossing and arms
possession, espionage and kidnapping. Askerov, who was jailed for
life, was also found guilty of killing Smbat Tsakanian, a 17-year-old
Armenian resident of the Kelbajar district sandwiched between Armenia
and Karabakh.
Quliyev and Askerov were separately captured by Karabakh Armenian
security forces in July after crossing into Kelbajar together with
another Azerbaijani, Hasan Hasanov. Hasanov was gunned down several
days later, moments after reportedly opening fire at a military
vehicle that carried an Armenian army officer and a civilian. The
officer, Sargis Abrahamian, was killed while the 37-year-old woman,
Karine Davtian, gravely wounded.
The shootings were reported four days before Tsakanian was found
dead. The Karabakh authorities believe that he was taken hostage and
killed by the Azerbaijani "saboteurs."
Quliyev, 46, and Askerov, 54, pleaded not guilty to the murder charge
when they went on trial in Stepanakert in October. Each of them
claimed to have had no part in the boy's killing which the prosecution
says was committed with an assault rifle confiscated from Askerov.
During his cross-examination in the Karabakh court last month, Askerov
said he did not fire the fatal gunshots and even tried unsuccessfully
to convince his companions to spare Tsakanian's life. He referred to
Quliyev as a "very bad person" who was recruited by Azerbaijani
special services to infiltrate Kelbajar. Quliyev dismissed those
claims as a lie.
During the trial the prosecution publicized what it considers another
key piece of evidence: amateur video that was shot by Askerov in the
days leading up to his arrest. It shows the two other Azerbaijanis and
Tsakanian walking through a forest in the mountainous district.
Askerov can be heard saying from behind the camera, "We have captured
a piglet. He is about 20 years old and doesn't speak Azerbaijani. We
can't let him go because he would denounce us. Let's go and see what
happens."
Commenting on the footage, Askerov claimed that he and the other
Azerbaijanis did not kidnap Tsakanian from his home in a remote
Kelbajar farm. He said they only asked the teenager to show them the
way to the town of Kelbajar.
Nagorno-Karabakh - Weapons which the Karabakh Armenian military says
were confiscated from an arrested member of an Azerbaijani "sabotage"
group, 10Jul2014.
The Azerbaijani government has repeatedly denounced the trial as
illegal and demanded the release of both men. It says that that they
had a legitimate right to visit what is an internationally recognized
part of Azerbaijan that has been under Karabakh Armenian control since
1993.
The Foreign Ministry in Baku stood by this position in its official
reaction to the court verdict voiced later on Monday. "The `trial'
held in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan has no legal force,"
Hikmet Hajiyev, a ministry spokesman, said, according to the APA news
agency. Hajiyev said Baku will continue to press the international
community to secure the release of the two "hostages."
The authorities in Stepanakert reject such claims. They say that the
arrested Azerbaijanis cannot be treated like prisoners of war because
their "brutal and inhuman" actions targeted a civilian.
"The trial took place in accordance with all international norms, and
it was open and transparent. The defendants had lawyers," Davit
Babayan, a spokesman for Bako Sahakian, the Karabakh president, told
RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "Their crimes were so grave
that they got such punishment," he said.
KAREKIN II'S ENCYCLICAL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
CENTENNIAL MADE PUBLIC
December 29, 2014 09:31
On December 28, the encyclical on Armenian Genocide
Centennial of His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, was made public during the Divine Liturgy
at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and all apostolic churches
in Armenia.
We present the encyclical below:
The centennial of the Armenian Genocide is before us and our souls
resound with a powerful call for justice and truth that will not
be silenced.
Each day of 2015 is a day of remembrance and devotion for our people,
a spiritual journey to the memorials of our martyrs in the Homeland and
the Diaspora, before which we humbly kneel in prayer with offerings of
incense for the souls of our innocent victims, who abide in unmarked
graves, having accepted death rather than rejecting their faith and
nation. Indeed "the path of the righteous is as the dawning light
that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day."
In 1915, and for years following, Ottoman Turkey committed genocide
against our people. In Western Armenia - on our native soil - in the
Armenian homeland and in Armenian communities throughout Turkey, one
and one half million sons and daughters of our nation were subjected
to slaughter, famine and disease, as they were deported and forced
to march to their deaths. Centuries of honest accomplishments and
creativity were swiftly plundered. Thousands of monasteries and
churches were desecrated and destroyed. National institutions and
schools were razed and ruined. Our spiritual and cultural treasures
were uprooted and obliterated. Western Armenia, where for millennia
- from the time of Noah - our people lived, created and built their
history and culture, had been wrested from its native population.
A century ago - when the fragments of the Armenian nation, having
lost their patrimony, were scattered all over the world, and while
Eastern Armenia was waging a life-and-death struggle for survival
against Turkish invaders - it was hard to believe in the future of
the Armenian people. Nevertheless a new dawn came. By the grace of the
Lord, our people rose up from death. On a small, salvaged part of the
homeland, our people reestablished statehood, recreated a country out
of the ruins and vestiges, and built a "homeland of light and hope,"
of science, education and culture. The Armenians exiled throughout the
world built homes and hearths, and flourished in countries near and
far, carrying on their traditions and spiritual life. Wherever the
children of our nation lived, they achieved success, earned respect
and trust, and gained recognition for their conscientious work and
their contributions to science, the arts and the common welfare.
This is the history of our people for the last century - a history
of adversity and resurrection. Today, hardships notwithstanding, our
nation strengthens its independent statehood, creates its new life
of freedom, and looks hopefully to the future, embracing national
reawakening, optimism and faith.
Glory to you, O Lord, boundless glory, "Like a shield you protect us
with your good favor." (Psalms 5:12). By placing our hope in You,
O Lord, our people were enlightened and strengthened. Your light
kindled the ingenuity of our spirit. Your might propelled us to
our victories. We created though others destroyed our creations. We
continued to live though others wanted us dead. You, O Lord, willed
that our people - condemned to death by a genocidal plan - should live
and rise again, so that we might raise this just cause before the
conscience of humanity and the law of nations, to free the world of
the callous indifference of Pilate and the criminal denial of Turkey.
For the sake of justice - until the triumph of our cause, we will
continue our struggle without retreat - Church, Nation and State
together. The blood of our innocent martyrs and the suffering of our
people cry out for justice. Our destroyed shrines, the violation of
our national rights, the falsification and distortion of our history
all cry out for justice. Having survived genocide, our people believed
and continue to believe that the multitude of righteous countries,
national and civic organizations, and individuals who have recognized
and condemned the Armenian Genocide will be joined by others who
believe that the affirmation of truth and justice are the prerequisite
and guarantor of a peaceful world free of enmity and violence.
In memory of our one and a half million martyrs of the Genocide, we
express our gratitude to the nations, organizations and individuals
who have had the courage and conviction to recognize and condemn
the Armenian Genocide. We express gratitude to those countries and
kind peoples who accepted the children of our nation as brothers and
sisters. These examples of justice and humanitarianism are luminous
pages in the history of mankind. They shall always be remembered and
appreciated for generations, and benefit the peaceful, secure and
congenial life of the world.
As Pontiff of the Armenians, it is spiritually consoling to announce
to our people that on April 23, 2015, during the Divine Liturgy,
our Holy Church will offer a special service canonizing its sons
and daughters who accepted martyrdom as saints "for faith and for
Homeland", and will proclaim April 24 as the day of remembrance for
the Holy Martyrs of the Genocide.
O, Armenian people, graced from on high - a nation martyred; a nation
resurrected - live boldly, advance surely, with your gaze toward
Ark-bearing Ararat, and with an unwavering heart, keep your hope
great. The Lord's encouragement and message are addressed to you:
"Though you are not mighty, you were faithful to my word and you did
not betray my name... Hold fast what you have so that no one will take
away your crown of victory." (Revelations 3:8-11). Thus, let us stay
on course before God, righteous and true, on the steadfast paths of
faith, which like the morning light dispels the darkness and makes the
horizons of hope visible. Our way is with God; and the life of faith
is our victory. Let us make fruitful the centennial anniversary by
valuing our peoples' 100-year-long path of travails and rebirth, so
that our children, recognizing the heroic will of their grandparents
and parents to live and create, and their commissions undertaken
for the sake of nation and homeland, create the bright day of our
native land and our people dispersed throughout the world. Let us
transform the remembrance of our martyrs into energy and strength
in our spiritual and national life, and before God and all people,
illuminate the path by our righteous course to guide our way toward
the realization of justice and our sacred aspirations.
>From our nation's Christ-built and cherished spiritual center, before
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin's Holy Altar of Descent of the Only
Begotten, let us pray to God for peace, safety and the welfare of our
Homeland, our beloved people throughout the world, and especially,
for everlasting light and peace for the innocent souls of the holy
martyrs of genocide. May love and brotherhood, justice and truth
reign over humankind, and may the ways of the righteous radiate,
guide and spread the light until the dawn of a new day brings peace
and happiness to all the world.
May the grace, love and peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with
you and with us all. Amen.
December 29, 2014 09:31
On December 28, the encyclical on Armenian Genocide
Centennial of His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, was made public during the Divine Liturgy
at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and all apostolic churches
in Armenia.
We present the encyclical below:
The centennial of the Armenian Genocide is before us and our souls
resound with a powerful call for justice and truth that will not
be silenced.
Each day of 2015 is a day of remembrance and devotion for our people,
a spiritual journey to the memorials of our martyrs in the Homeland and
the Diaspora, before which we humbly kneel in prayer with offerings of
incense for the souls of our innocent victims, who abide in unmarked
graves, having accepted death rather than rejecting their faith and
nation. Indeed "the path of the righteous is as the dawning light
that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day."
In 1915, and for years following, Ottoman Turkey committed genocide
against our people. In Western Armenia - on our native soil - in the
Armenian homeland and in Armenian communities throughout Turkey, one
and one half million sons and daughters of our nation were subjected
to slaughter, famine and disease, as they were deported and forced
to march to their deaths. Centuries of honest accomplishments and
creativity were swiftly plundered. Thousands of monasteries and
churches were desecrated and destroyed. National institutions and
schools were razed and ruined. Our spiritual and cultural treasures
were uprooted and obliterated. Western Armenia, where for millennia
- from the time of Noah - our people lived, created and built their
history and culture, had been wrested from its native population.
A century ago - when the fragments of the Armenian nation, having
lost their patrimony, were scattered all over the world, and while
Eastern Armenia was waging a life-and-death struggle for survival
against Turkish invaders - it was hard to believe in the future of
the Armenian people. Nevertheless a new dawn came. By the grace of the
Lord, our people rose up from death. On a small, salvaged part of the
homeland, our people reestablished statehood, recreated a country out
of the ruins and vestiges, and built a "homeland of light and hope,"
of science, education and culture. The Armenians exiled throughout the
world built homes and hearths, and flourished in countries near and
far, carrying on their traditions and spiritual life. Wherever the
children of our nation lived, they achieved success, earned respect
and trust, and gained recognition for their conscientious work and
their contributions to science, the arts and the common welfare.
This is the history of our people for the last century - a history
of adversity and resurrection. Today, hardships notwithstanding, our
nation strengthens its independent statehood, creates its new life
of freedom, and looks hopefully to the future, embracing national
reawakening, optimism and faith.
Glory to you, O Lord, boundless glory, "Like a shield you protect us
with your good favor." (Psalms 5:12). By placing our hope in You,
O Lord, our people were enlightened and strengthened. Your light
kindled the ingenuity of our spirit. Your might propelled us to
our victories. We created though others destroyed our creations. We
continued to live though others wanted us dead. You, O Lord, willed
that our people - condemned to death by a genocidal plan - should live
and rise again, so that we might raise this just cause before the
conscience of humanity and the law of nations, to free the world of
the callous indifference of Pilate and the criminal denial of Turkey.
For the sake of justice - until the triumph of our cause, we will
continue our struggle without retreat - Church, Nation and State
together. The blood of our innocent martyrs and the suffering of our
people cry out for justice. Our destroyed shrines, the violation of
our national rights, the falsification and distortion of our history
all cry out for justice. Having survived genocide, our people believed
and continue to believe that the multitude of righteous countries,
national and civic organizations, and individuals who have recognized
and condemned the Armenian Genocide will be joined by others who
believe that the affirmation of truth and justice are the prerequisite
and guarantor of a peaceful world free of enmity and violence.
In memory of our one and a half million martyrs of the Genocide, we
express our gratitude to the nations, organizations and individuals
who have had the courage and conviction to recognize and condemn
the Armenian Genocide. We express gratitude to those countries and
kind peoples who accepted the children of our nation as brothers and
sisters. These examples of justice and humanitarianism are luminous
pages in the history of mankind. They shall always be remembered and
appreciated for generations, and benefit the peaceful, secure and
congenial life of the world.
As Pontiff of the Armenians, it is spiritually consoling to announce
to our people that on April 23, 2015, during the Divine Liturgy,
our Holy Church will offer a special service canonizing its sons
and daughters who accepted martyrdom as saints "for faith and for
Homeland", and will proclaim April 24 as the day of remembrance for
the Holy Martyrs of the Genocide.
O, Armenian people, graced from on high - a nation martyred; a nation
resurrected - live boldly, advance surely, with your gaze toward
Ark-bearing Ararat, and with an unwavering heart, keep your hope
great. The Lord's encouragement and message are addressed to you:
"Though you are not mighty, you were faithful to my word and you did
not betray my name... Hold fast what you have so that no one will take
away your crown of victory." (Revelations 3:8-11). Thus, let us stay
on course before God, righteous and true, on the steadfast paths of
faith, which like the morning light dispels the darkness and makes the
horizons of hope visible. Our way is with God; and the life of faith
is our victory. Let us make fruitful the centennial anniversary by
valuing our peoples' 100-year-long path of travails and rebirth, so
that our children, recognizing the heroic will of their grandparents
and parents to live and create, and their commissions undertaken
for the sake of nation and homeland, create the bright day of our
native land and our people dispersed throughout the world. Let us
transform the remembrance of our martyrs into energy and strength
in our spiritual and national life, and before God and all people,
illuminate the path by our righteous course to guide our way toward
the realization of justice and our sacred aspirations.
>From our nation's Christ-built and cherished spiritual center, before
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin's Holy Altar of Descent of the Only
Begotten, let us pray to God for peace, safety and the welfare of our
Homeland, our beloved people throughout the world, and especially,
for everlasting light and peace for the innocent souls of the holy
martyrs of genocide. May love and brotherhood, justice and truth
reign over humankind, and may the ways of the righteous radiate,
guide and spread the light until the dawn of a new day brings peace
and happiness to all the world.
May the grace, love and peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with
you and with us all. Amen.
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