Supreme Spiritual Council issues statement on Tavush border and protest march

Holy Etchmiadzin

This week the Supreme Spiritual Council of the Armenian Church, under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, issued a statement from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, which re-affirmed its April 9 appeal to the government of the Republic of Armenia to avoid pursuing a “defeatist” foreign policy in its negotiations with Azerbaijan.

Both statements address preparations made by the Armenian government to withdraw from several villages in the country’s Tavush province (located at Armenia’s northeastern border) before official negotiations have been completed to demarcate territorial borders between the two countries. The villages have been under Armenia’s military control since the early 1990s; withdrawal would effectively surrender these territories to Azerbaijan.

The withdrawal is a subject of intense discussion throughout Armenia. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said the unilateral concessions are necessary to prevent Azerbaijani military aggression against Armenia. Opponents of the policy say the concessions will only encourage Azeris to demand more territory from Armenia.

The church’s position on the matter took on a special urgency this week when Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Primate of the Tavush Diocese, announced that he would lead a protest march from the village of Kirants to Yerevan—a journey of 100 miles—so that the voices and legitimate concerns of the Tavush residents would be heard in the republic’s capital. Archbishop Galstanyan expects the protest marchers to reach Yerevan on May 9, but gave no details of any plans once there.

In its May 7 statement, the Supreme Spiritual Council asserted: “We urge all of our people to express their justifiable concerns and anxieties exclusively in peaceful ways; to show calm and restraint; and to refrain from illegal actions. Likewise, we expect that the services responsible for maintaining public order will work strictly within the confines of their role as stipulated in law.”

The Eastern Diocese fully supports the position of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and its efforts to promote peaceful resolutions with an eye to justice for the Armenian faithful and genuine security for our homeland.

That same spirit was strongly expressed by the delegates of the recent 122nd Diocesan Assembly in their gracious reply to the message of His Holiness Karekin II: “Vehapar Der, we, the participants of the Diocesan Assembly, want to make a special point in today’s current situation that we are more than deeply concerned by events in Artsakh, Tavush and other regions, where Armenians, our churches and civilization are threatened by ongoing genocidal efforts. We support the heroic role our church continues to play during these difficult times. We want to thank you for your leadership and express to you our strong support in the role of our church in protecting our heritage and our people against the onslaught of forces from outside our Armenian Christian faith. We remain committed to our role in support and defense of the right of Armenians throughout the world.”

We pray that our merciful Lord Jesus will guide all of our people through the current troubling period, and bring lasting peace, justice and security to our homeland.

Prayerfully,

Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan

Primate, Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church