GEORGIA’S ENCROACHMENT ON CHURCH "NORASHEN" SPEAKS OF THE HOSTILITY OF THE OFFICIAL TBILISI TOWARDS ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.05.2008 GMT+04:00

Since the day of the declaration of the Georgian independence the
authorities of the country have been promising the Armenian community
to pass the law on religions, however, the law is not passed yet.

The authorities of Georgia, most probably, have decided to follow
Azerbaijan’s example and have started appropriating the Armenian
architectural-cultural monuments. There is nothing new in all this:
the given nation is not capable of creating something of its own, and
is starting to appropriate someone else’s culture. At the meantime,
they believe for some unknown reasons, that the nation, whose monuments
they are trying to steal, will not mind it, and even if it does,
it will only be on public level. The case of the Armenian church
"Norashen" in Tbilisi is a rather sad one.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Norashen" is one of the most outstanding and
attractive Armenian cultural structures in Tbilisi, having a domical
basilica, whose fronts are distinguished by decorative arcade. A
middle sized delicate rotunda of the bell tower is situated over the
western facade of the roof. The interior of the church is decorated
with fresco by an Armenian famous artist Hovnatan Hovnatanyan. The
Church was founded in 1467 by Sadat.

The special group that voted for the destruction of "Norashen"
had been created in the connection of the construction of the
street in the years of 1924-1925 called "Armenian Bazaar" (now
Leselidze). Fortunately the decision was not approved of and the church
was not destroyed. In 1937 the church of "Norashen" like many other
churches on the territory of the USSR, was closed. In the following
years the building was used as archive.

Attempts of "Georgianizing"of church "Norashen" started already in
1989, and in 1994-1995 the priest of Georgian Orthodox Church Tariel
Sikinchelashvili destroyed the alter of the church. On February 8,
1995 the inscription on the walls made by Master Petros, which stated
facts about the reconstruction of the dome in 1650, were ruined. Other
Armenian inscriptions, two Khachkars and two beautiful frescos dating
back to XIX, which were the works of the representatives of the school
of the Hovnatan were also ruined. The doors with Armenian epigraphy
were replaced. St. Echmiadzin gave no response to all that was going
on. Moreover, when in 2001 the Georgian Patriarch Iliya II arrived
in Yerevan, the Catholicos of all Armenians did not even touch upon
the question about the Armenian churches in Georgia.

The same is happening now. No Synod session of the Armenian Apostolic
Church in Holy Echmiadzin regarding the Armenian church "Norashen"
in Tbilisi is going to take place. According to one of the sources,
"the Armenian Apostolic Church has taken all the possible measures
to preserve the Armenian church in Tbilisi.

We have done our best, and now it is the government that is to
decide." The Holy Echmiadzin does not answer any question, as if the
Armenian Church in Tbilisi indeed belongs to the Georgian Orthodox
Church. In the main, if things keep on going like they are now, church
"Norashen" will indeed become a Georgian temple. It is very unlikely
that the Georgian priest would dare such a sacrilege, if he did not
have permission from higher authorities and certainty in the fact
that the Armenian Church will not strongly mind it.

In the opinion of the political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan,
Georgia’s encroachment on the church "Norashen" speaks of the hostility
of the official Tbilisi towards Armenia. "These rough actions towards
the Armenian church in Tbilisi have been continuing for many years
now against the background of complete inactivity of the Armenian
Apostolic Church and careless attitude of the Armenian Church towards
the religious problems the Armenians have to face in Tbilisi and
Samtskhe-Javakheti. Losing the Armenian church "Norashen" will
definitely bring to the breakdown of the Armenian Community in Tbilisi.

And after the Armenians living in the capital the complete destruction
of Samtskhe-Javakheti will start.

We hope that Garegin II will prove to be a real Catholicos of all
Armenians and will not leave the Armenians from Tbilisi alone in
this fight; especially taking into consideration the fact that the
Catholicos of all Armenians will carry the responsibility of losing
the Armenian church "Norashen", says Melik-Shahnazaryan.

In his tern the chairman of the Armenian Collaboration Center of
Georgia Karen Elchyan announced, that the construction works in the
yard of the Armenian church "Norashen" in Tbilisi were stopped on
May 18 after the interference of the Armenian Community in Georgia.

"However, the question is still "hanging in the air".

Since the day of the declaration of the Georgian independence the
authorities of the country have been promising the Armenian community
to pass the law on religions, however, the law is not passed yet. The
religious organizations, except for the Georgian Orthodox Church,
may be registered only as non-governmental or public institutions. In
this way, practically there is only one church existing in Georgia,
and that is the Georgian Orthodox Church.

This state does not have any legal formation yet, but I believe, that
it will happen in the near future," said Elchyan. He also mentioned
that if the Georgian authorities and the Armenian Apostolic Church do
not take any measures to stop "Georgianizing" the Armenian churches,
the Armenian Collaboration Center will have to take actions considering
the created situation.

Though Karen Elchyan did not say anything about what exactly the
measures are going to be. "There are only 6 Armenian churches in
Tbilisi, 2 of which function; the church St. Gevorg and St. Virgin
Mary in Havlabar.

If we are able to save "Norashen", we will have 3 functioning
churches," he said, then added that the Armenian churches are not
returned to the legitimate owner; the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The Georgian eparchy itself does not have any legal status, which
means that even if the demands that the churches are returned, from
the legal point of view it is not possible. The case of "Norashen"
and the other historical-cultural monuments in Georgia contradicts
the friendship between Georgia and Armenia announced by the official
Tbilisi. Indeed, the disagreements between the two Christian countries
of the South Caucasus cannot be qualified as nonsense. However, one
should not forget to mention that Georgia has always been strongly
attracted to the Islamic world, which is proved by the ties that
Georgia establishes with Turkey and Azerbaijan.