Armenian priests peddling false narratives Unmasking revanchist rhetoric

It is even somehow boring to watch yet another attempt by Armenian priests to push their people to the edge of the abyss. This time, Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, the Primate of the "Artsakh" diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, took up this truly shameful endeavor. He stated that "the Karabakh people want to live on their own land and do not lay claim to other people's property".

This primitive lie was voiced by him at a discussion held in Yerevan on "the problems of the Karabakh people in Armenia and the possibilities of their repatriation". In fact, the very holding of this event in Yerevan, as well as the name of the diocese, on behalf of which Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan lies, is already a provocation. Because there was not, is not and will not be any "Artsakh". There is only the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Official Baku has repeatedly stated that it guarantees the observance of all constitutional rights for the Armenians of the Karabakh region of our country in case they agree to legalize and receive Azerbaijani documents. But those who illegally and for almost three decades lived in the temporarily occupied territories of our country with the Armenian passport preferred to leave our land. And Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan is well aware of all this, but prefers to lie.

He prefers not to mention that for almost thirty years hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were deprived of the right to live on their land. They could not return to Shusha, Khankendi, Lachin, Kalbajar, Fuzuli, Aghdam and other territories of Azerbaijan under Armenian occupation. The triumph of historical justice became possible only as a result of Azerbaijan's victory in the 44-day war and the brilliantly conducted counter-terrorist operation in Karabakh.

Here is a proof of hypocrisy on the part of Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, who certainly knows about the role of the Armenian Apostolic Church in fomenting the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. If he suddenly lost his memory, I will remind him that the past Catholicos of all Armenians Vazgen I, though unofficially, albeit immediately became one of the leaders of the separatist movement of Armenians. On February 25, 1988, Vazgen I sent an open letter to Mikhail Gorbachev demanding the annexation of the then NKAO to Armenia. That is, the Catholicos of All Armenians personally led the campaign, the purpose of which was the territorial claims of Armenia to Azerbaijan. Accordingly, we have before us another proof of primitive lies on the part of Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, who swears that Armenians "do not lay claim to other people's property". Vazgen I has a follower - Garegin II, who was engaged in exactly the same activities: incitement, justification of territorial claims to the neighbouring state, spreading deliberate and primitive lies.

Let us recall, for example, what happened on April 7, 2016. At that time, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I visited the then occupied territories of our country. They arrived then to console the occupants after their defeat in the four-day battles. They visited Shusha at that time. Now none of them dare to set foot there. But this does not minimize the provocative nature of their actions in the past. The same, I would add, was done by the infamous Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, who positioned himself as the Primate of the "Artsakh" diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church until 2021. Yes, he was the predecessor of Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan with the only difference that Pargev managed to steal as much as Abrahamyan had never dreamed of. We are talking about millions of dollars, a lot of real estate and everything else.

To all appearances, Vrtanes Abrahamyan is going to make money by trading in illusions. Yes, that's why he is talking outright nonsense, because a lot of money can be collected from the representatives of the world Armenian community for the campaign called "Karabakh people want to live in their own land". "Their first goal is to return home with the faith of Christ and victory," he uttered.

And this was not just a provocative statement. It was a plan of work of this provocateur in a cassock. All the priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church have the same plan, in particular, the head of the Tavush diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Bagrat Galstanyan. He is now actively stirring up water, calling on the citizens of Armenia to disrupt the process of border delimitation and demarcation, which is an important stage in the signing of the big peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan. This is what was, is and will be the worst dream for Armenian nationalists, provocateurs, including and even first of all, from among the leadership and priests of Armenian Apostolic Church. But all their efforts will be in vain.

The views and opinions expressed by guest columnists in their op-eds may differ from and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff.