Media: Garegin II turned church into hotel to "extract money"

Armenian media outlet MediaNews has reported that the Haghartsin seminary, part of the Haghartsin Monastery Complex, was converted into a hotel with the knowledge of Ktrich Nersisyan (Garegin II) and other high-ranking clergy, in an article titled “The Church — a Means for Extracting Money.”

“The practice of Ktrich Nersisyan in ‘stripping’ our churches and monasteries also has a non-literal manifestation. A vivid example of this is the seminary of the Haghartsin Monastery Complex, which was turned into a hotel,” the article reads.

The report says the seminary’s transformation into a commercial property was carried out while Garegin II and then-head of the Tavush Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Bagrat Galstyan, were aware of the construction of the building and the operation of the hotel. Other senior clergymen were also allegedly involved in approving and overseeing the operation.

The hotel reportedly relied on electricity and gas supplied from the monastery complex itself, as it did not have legal ownership documentation to register as an independent subscriber to utilities.

"In fact, for many years, certain clergymen, with the knowledge of Ktrich Nersisyan, were conducting business and enriching themselves through rental payments made by the Mother See,” the article states.

By Khagan Isayev