ARMENIAN TV CHANNELS TO BE BROADCAST SAMARKAND
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.01.2010 14:01 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian National Cultural Center of Samarkand,
Uzbekistan, has established a new office which will broadcast Armenian
TV channels.
The center is registered in the basement of St. Astvatsatsin (Holy
Mother of God) Armenian Church which dates from 1903. In 1933, the
building was nationalized, housing various Soviet institutions for
over a century. In 1996, the church was returned to Armenian community.
One of the priorities of the center’s is to help the local Armenian
population learn their native tongue. And the transmission of
highest-rated TV broadcasts will be a great stimulus for such
initiative.
Samarkand is Uzbekistan’s second-largest city with a population of
366 thousand (including mostly Tajiks, Uzbeks, Russians, Jews and
Iranians).
St. Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) Armenian Church was built
in 1903 by the donations of local Armenian population. Armenian
settlements date from the XV century when the territory was governed by
Tamerlan. The first primate of the church was priest Ruben Bekgulyants.
Closed in 1939 and re-opened after Uzbekistan’s gaining independence,
the church was consecrated in 1995, with priest Grigor Markosyan
becoming its primate. Currently, the church operates an Armenian Sunday
school. Since 1998s it has been governed by priest Vram Kazaryan.