Friday,
Armenian Church Rejects Religious Objections To Vaccines
Armenia - Catholicos Garegin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, leads a Christmas Mass at Saint Gregory the Illuminator’s Cathedral in
Yerevan, January 6, 2021.
The Armenian Apostolic Church on Friday dismissed religious reasons given by its
believers refusing to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Meeting in Echmiadzin, the church’s Supreme Spiritual Council headed by
Catholicos Garegin II expressed “deep concern” over record coronavirus cases and
deaths registered in Armenia in recent weeks. It stressed in that regard that
“vaccination does not pose a spiritual danger,” according to a statement
released by Garegin’s office.
“It was deemed important that in the current conditions of the pandemic
individual freedom be strictly combined with social responsibility for the sake
of not endangering one’s own and others’ lives,” said the statement.
The council, which comprises not only high-ranking clerics but also well-known
laymen, said at the same time that health authorities must “prevent the spread
of contradictory information regarding the benefits and consequences of
vaccination.” It did not elaborate.
Armenia -- A priest wears a face mask at the Echmiadzin-based Mother See of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, June 11, 2020.
Armenian has the lowest vaccination rate in the region and Europe, with only
about 10 percent of its population having been inoculated against COVID-19 so
far. Widespread vaccine hesitancy in the country is driven in part by religious
objections voiced by some members of the Armenian Apostolic Church and religious
minorities.
An Armenian parish priest sparked controversy late last month after openly
questioning the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines during a sermon delivered in a
village church just outside Yerevan. Father Grigor Hovannisian claimed that God
sent the virus to the world as punishment for its sins.
The church’s Echmiadzin-based Mother See disapproved of the priest’s remarks and
urged Armenians to follow doctors’ recommendations.
“Our spiritual servants must be very careful in their statements because they
have followers in their churches and can cause a great deal of damage with their
emotional talk,” its chief spokesman, Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanian, told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service on October 25.
Mirzakhanian said that Garegin and many other clergymen have been vaccinated and
that he is also going to follow their example.
Yerevan Downplays Closure Of Key Road
• Artak Khulian
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia - A truck stranded on a newly reconstructed road in Syunik province,
.
Armenia’s political leadership continued to downplay on Friday the effective
closure of an Azerbaijani-controlled section of a strategic highway connecting
the country to neighboring Iran.
Azerbaijan gained control over the 21-kilometer section last December following
an Armenian troop withdrawal from contested areas along Armenia’s Syunik
province which was controversially ordered by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Pashinian’s government on Thursday banned Armenian vehicles from driving along
it, saying that Azerbaijani authorities have introduced passport and customs
checks for them. It said they should use a newly reconstructed alternative road
bypassing the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Iranian truck drivers interviewed by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service complained that
the road is too narrow and tortuous for their heavy vehicles and prolongs their
travel time in Syunik. They said they have to use it in order to avoid paying
Azerbaijani customs officials $130 per trip.
“Big trucks don’t get any help [from Armenian authorities] on this road in case
of having problems,” said one of the drivers.
An RFE/RL crew witnessed several trucks that visibly had trouble moving along
the new road connecting Syunik’s two largest towns, Kapan and Goris. One of them
nearly flipped over.
Armenia - Deputy parliament speaker Ruben Rubinian,October 5, 2021.
In Yerevan, Ruben Rubinian, a deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament and
senior member of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, admitted that the Azerbaijani
border controls have “caused some difficulties” for Syunik residents and other
travellers. But he insisted that the alternative road is passable for all types
of vehicles.
Rubinian also said that none of the three Armenian villages close to the
Azerbaijani-controlled section of the old Goris-Kapan road has been cut off from
the rest of the country.
The villages are currently connected with other parts of Syunik through dirt
roads. The government has pledged to quickly refurbish and pave them. In the
meantime, the village chiefs say that their communities can only be accessed by
off-road vehicles.
Reaching one of those villages, Bardzravan, proved quite problematic. Local
residents said they have been effectively deprived of transport links.
“My husband is sick in bed,” complained one woman. “We can’t find a car to
transport him [to hospital.]”
“As soon as it starts snowing here we’ll be completely cut off,” said another
villager. “Everything is a big problem in this village. We are in deadlock.”
Armenia - A road leading to Bardzravan village, .
Armenian border guards deployed in the area did not allow RFE/RL journalists to
visit the two other isolated villages, Vorotan and Shurnukh, saying that they
must obtain permission from the National Security Service.
Echoing Pashinian’s statements, Rubinian asserted that Baku imposed the border
checks because of Yerevan’s refusal to agree to a special transport corridor
that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave via the portion of
Syunik bordering Iran. The Azerbaijani side could only transport goods through
Armenian territory under transit procedures adopted worldwide, he said.
“All roads passing through Armenia and Azerbaijan must be … under the full
control of Armenia and Azerbaijan respectively,” Rubinian told RFE/RL’s Armenian
Service
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev again claimed on Friday, however, that Baku
will secure a permanent transport “corridor” for Nakhichevan. He said it will
unite all Turkic states and connect them to Europe.
Armenia Sets New Record For Daily COVID-19 Deaths
Armenia -- A healthcare worker clad in protective gear looks after COVID-19
patients at the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center, Yerevan, June 5, 2020.
Armenia registered on Friday a new record number of deaths from the coronavirus
in the last 24 hours as it continued to grapple with high infection rates.
The Ministry of Health said COVID-19 killed 70 more people. The ministry also
reported the deaths of eight other infected people which it said were primarily
caused by other diseases.
The total number of coronavirus-related deaths officially confirmed in the
country of about 3 million thus rose to 8,305. More than 1,000 Armenians died in
October which saw a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.
Health Minister Anahit Avanesian warned late last month that Armenian hospitals
treating COVID-19 patients have practically run out of vacant beds. She also
said that the rising death toll is also the result of the Delta variant of the
virus prevalent in Armenia.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian again made clear last week that his government
has no plans to impose lockdown restrictions and will concentrate instead on
getting people to wear masks in public and to be vaccinated.
According to the Ministry of Health, only around 10 percent of Armenia’s
population was fully vaccinated as of November 7.
The government reopened schools on Monday following a two-week autumn break
extended due to the epidemiological situation. Armenian universities are
expected to reopen their doors to students on November 15. They reverted to
online classes on October 26.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
