Rezonansi, Tbilisi, Georgia
Nov 6 2017
The situation in Kumurdo is escalating again.
One part of Armenian civic activists and politicians protest against the recognition of Kumurdo as a Georgian church by the Armenian Church
by Ekaterine Basilaia
[Armenian News note: the below is translated from Georgian]
A new scandal and a confrontation might be brewing over a religious issue in the village of Kumurdo in [ethnic Armenian-populated] Javakheti [Province]. Several NGOs functioning in Javakheti make no secret of their dissatisfaction with and protest against the statement by the Armenian Apostolic Church, which says that Armenia lays no claims to the Kumurdo church. They demand that a new examination be carried out on the belonging of the church. They also say that it is vitally important to create in Javakheti an eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, "restraining the aggressive ambitions of the Georgian Church" by doing so.
Javakheti Armenians complain
They say that "the security of the [ethnic] Armenian population of Javakheti is becoming a priority", asking high hierarchs of the Armenian clergy for support. In his interview to the [Russian] Sputnik [website], the leader of the Javakhk organisation functioning in Akhalkalaki, Norik Karapetyan, said that Kumurdo was an Armenian church and that local people made no secret of their dissatisfaction with the "hasty statement" by the Armenian Church, and that therefore, the Javakhk [Armenian: Javakheti] popular movement, the Javakhk organisation and the Virk [Armenian name of ancient east Georgian Kingdom of Iveria] party sent a letter to all churches in Armenia, the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Garegin II, the Supreme Spiritual Council, and the catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, asking for support in carrying out a new examination to establish who the church belongs to and creating a new diocese in Javakheti.
As Karapetyan put it, the Armenians living in the United States and Europe had already responded to their letter, promising support.
Two days ago, the letter was disseminated by the Armenian media. The authors of the appeal mainly speak about the local population's indignation, which was first and foremost aroused by the restoration work done by Georgian restorers, which destroyed 700 year-old Armenian burial places, removing from the yard a traditional Armenian cross-stone – khachkar.
The organisations' statement also emphasises that "it is necessary to create a separate diocese in Javakheti" as there is a [big] number of [Armenian] churches and [ethnic Armenian] population there – about 200,000 people, and that all this reflects the needs.
"Apart from this, the presence of a high spiritual hierarch in the region will really deter the aggressive ambitions of the Georgian Orthodox Church. We will be really grateful if we receive support from the catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, Aram I. We would like to ask you to think of creating a fundamental eparchy [phrase as published] of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia. The security of the Armenian population of Javakheti is becoming a priority and we would like to ask you for support," the statement said.
Reasons for conflict
On 30 September, a major confrontation arose between the local Armenian population and law enforcers over the 10th century Holy Virgin Church in the village of Kumurdo in Akhalkalaki [District]. Six policemen and six residents of the village of Kumurdo were injured.
The reason for the conflict was as follows: Local people decided to rebury human bones found in the yard during restoration work in the church yard, erecting an Armenian cross-stone – khachkar, on the place. The decision, which was not coordinated with the state, ended in a confrontation with law enforcers' special-purpose unit, stone-throwing, and smashing of the policemen's and clergymen's cars.
Tbilisi now intends to place the church under the protection of Unesco and according to the organisation's rules, erecting a cross-stone is a breach. Precisely this caused the confrontation.
The incident was defused by Interior Minister [Giorgi Mghebrishvili's] arrival in the place. Later, the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church issued a joint statement saying that the sides had agreed to set up a special commission to settle the issue of erecting a cross-stone in the yard of the 10th-century church. The statement also said that the Armenian Apostolic Church had no doubt that Kumurdo was a Georgian Orthodox church.
Conflict used to 'stir up trouble' – movement leader
The situation has been quiet in Kumurdo since then. However, after the letter, the Armenian mass media have already been reporting a new wave of conflict.
According to Akhalkalaki-based journalist Rima Gharibyan, nothing special has happened since the 30 September incident. Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan [the primate of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church] met villagers, telling them that they had to wait for the restoration work to end and that a khachkar would be erected in the church yard afterwards. The restoration work is going to be completed in 2-3 years.
According to the leader of the Multiethnic Georgia [movement], Arnold Stepanyan, it has not been decided yet where to erect the cross-stone. According to a representative of the Georgian Church, the cross-stone should be erected outside the church. However, according to the Armenian population, it should be erected in the churchyard, as the graves had been in the yard.
"At present, the situation is calm. However, the formula, which would calm down the situation in the long run, has not been found yet," Stepanyan said.
As he put it, the church is Georgian and no-one of those, who are even vaguely familiar with [local] history, doubts this. However, for centuries now, only Armenians have been living in this village, praying in this church. Therefore, in their perception, the church is Armenian. The organisations, which made the statement, use the fact to stir up trouble.
"In this village, there are many different forces having influence on the population. Some of them are in Russia. Others are in Armenia. There is a version, according to which the confrontation is controlled from outside the country. However, inside the country, there are also concrete forces trying to fish in troubled waters, earning scores with the help of messages of the kind.
"However, there are also people, who think that this is unfair and that the church is Armenian and consequently, they are entitled to the church.
"Had there been no story with the bones, there would have been no formal reason for the conflict. It was not normal to throw out bones in this manner. This is uncivilised. However, I nevertheless think that the conflict will not erupt again, turning into a major confrontation," Stepanyan said.
As regards the declaration of a Javakheti diocese, Stepanyan said that the Armenian Church also entertained the idea, thinking that there should be two dioceses in Georgia, not one, as Javakheti was densely populated by Armenians and they would look after the eparchy in a better way. For Stepanyan proper, this argument is not convincing, as it is not difficult to manage Javakheti from Tbilisi.
"Whatever the letter says is unserious. It is really regrettable that the Akhalkalaki-based organisations think in this particular manner. This statement is aimed to [help them] remain in the information field. There is nothing else they can do. The situation is complicated, but it is under control," Stepanyan said.