Religious tolerance in Armenia: Destroyed mosques and vandalism in synagogue Experts slam Pashinyan’s claims

At the International Summit on Religious Freedom held in Washington, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan decided to boast about the "triumph of religious tolerance" in the "country of stones." Specifically, according to him, Armenia has no issues in this regard, as the country boasts a thriving diversity of religious communities, religious institutions, and temples.

Pashinyan also mentioned that the Jewish community "plays an important role in our diverse society," and that "in the centre of our capital, Yerevan, we have a functioning Muslim mosque, which is a very important part of our cultural heritage." The cherry on top was Pashinyan's moralizing conclusion that "we have a good tradition of religious tolerance and respect in our region, and this makes lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus more realistic."

This raises an important question: if Armenia truly prides itself on its religious tolerance, why did Prime Minister Pashinyan fail to mention the hundreds of mosques and cemeteries destroyed and looted in Karabakh during its years of occupation, by Armenia, or the vandalism against Azerbaijani cultural and religious sites in Armenia itself, where only a single mosque in the centre of Yerevan "survived"? Moreover, why didn’t Pashinyan address the attacks, including arson, on the Jewish synagogue in Armenia?

To gain further insight into Pashinyan's "tolerant" claims, Caliber.Az reached out to foreign experts for their opinions.

As noted by Israeli political scientist, Caucasus and Middle East expert, and Chairman of the Eastern Partnership Institute (Jerusalem), Avraham Shmulevich, religious tolerance is certainly a commendable concept, and the Armenian Prime Minister generally spoke the right words. The question, however, is how much they align with reality.

"I will touch on what I personally know, namely the situation with the Jewish community. There is indeed a small Jewish community in Armenia, represented by only a few hundred people. Unfortunately, the synagogue and the Jewish community centre have been set on fire several times by criminals, and, sadly, the Armenian security service and police have yet to find those responsible. The memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in Armenia has also been desecrated several times, and again, the perpetrators have not been found.

As for the synagogue and the Jewish community centre, there were supposed to be surveillance cameras, and after the previous arson, the Armenian police even promised to ensure security and install cameras. Indeed, a guard booth appeared in front of the synagogue, but at the time of the attack, strangely enough, no one was inside, and the surveillance cameras were not working.

Thus, all those who so fearlessly set fire to, threw Molotov cocktails at, and sprayed paint on the synagogue, those who desecrated the memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, have still not been found. I find it hard to believe that the Armenian security service and police are so helpless in locating these criminals. Moreover, they made statements on social media, leaving distinctive reminders that could have been used in the investigation. And this is not just hooligan talk – the organizers of this vandalism identified themselves as members of the new ASALA. I believe the name ASALA – the international terrorist organization with an Armenian ethnic component – does not need special introduction and is well known to many. Such a statement, in theory, should have alarmed the Armenian law enforcement agencies, yet the result remains zero. This simply leads one to think that they were not actually interested in searching for them.

As for the situation of Muslims in Armenia, we all know well the history of the Azerbaijani community in Armenia, whose members were expelled from the country. We also remember well what happened to the mosques in Karabakh when it was under Armenian control. They were closed, destroyed, and desecrated. And Armenia has not been held accountable for these actions. Recently, the Armenian government has made many statements about the sovereign, independent policy of the country, where the rights of minorities and faiths are respected. But for these words to become reality, at the very least, the safety of the Jewish community in Armenia must be ensured, and those responsible for these illegal actions must be found. I believe that with the right intention, this would not be difficult. Furthermore, the issue of former Azerbaijani residents of Armenia needs to be resolved – although, of course, this is a matter of bilateral Armenian-Azerbaijani relations," emphasized Shmulevich.

Russian political scientist Alexander Ryabtsov believes it is entirely appropriate to accuse the Prime Minister of blatant cynicism, especially when statements about "religious tolerance" in Armenia are made.

"The Armenian Prime Minister wanted to show off in front of the American audience and make an impression. However, what kind of tolerance can be discussed while Armenia has not publicly apologized to Azerbaijan and Israel for acts of vandalism and crimes, at least against Azerbaijanis and Jews? And there is reason to apologize. The whole world saw the desecrated and destroyed mosques in Agdam and other Azerbaijani cities, recently liberated from Armenian occupation: it turns out they were used to house livestock. Also, on the territory freed from occupation, almost no untouched Azerbaijani graves and tombstones remained – even the remains of the deceased were subjected to desecration and looting. Strangely, no one in the U.S. asked Pashinyan questions on this topic – after all, the truth about Armenian vandalism after the 44-day war has become widely known," concluded Ryabtsov.