The California Courier Online, January 4, 2019
1 - Commentary
Another Azeri Scandal: Aliyev’s Daughters
Try to Buy $76 Million London Home
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- 2018: AAF Ships $43 Million of Humanitarian Assistance to
Armenia, Artsakh
3- Armenia’s first solar car could herald nation’s production
of solar vehicles
4 - Turkish parliament petitions to strip Paylan of immunity
5- Stepanakert 1988: Thirty Years On
By Sylvia Iskenderian
6- Sixty day church service keeps hope alive for asylum family
at Christmas
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1 - Commentary
Another Azeri Scandal: Aliyev’s Daughters
Try to Buy $76 Million London Home
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
The British Guardian newspaper exposed in its Dec. 21, 2018 issue the
latest financial scandal involving the daughters of Azerbaijan’s
President Ilham Aliyev.
Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva sought to purchase two luxury Knightsbridge
apartments in London for $76 million using a secret offshore company.
The price included $4 million to convert the properties into a single
home. The apartments are located near the garden of Buckingham Palace,
according to The Guardian’s reporter Luke Harding.
In a 2016 article, The Guardian reported that Aliyev’s daughters had
set up in 2015 a secret offshore company in the British Virgin Islands
to manage their multi-million dollar property portfolio in Britain.
The two daughters are shareholders in Exaltation Limited, incorporated
in 2015 with the purpose of “holding UK property.” The offshore
company was set up by the London law firm of Child & Child which
claimed falsely that the Aliyev women “had no political connections.”
This information was exposed when the Panama Papers, the secret
database of the offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca, were leaked to the
international media.
Aliyev’s daughters, according to The Guardian, have “amassed vast
personal business empires. They own luxury apartments in the UAE, as
well as interests in telecoms and gold mining. It was already known
that Leyla Aliyeva owned a $22 million mansion on Hampstead Lane in
north London.” In addition, the Aliyev family has luxury apartments
around the globe worth over $140 million and these are just the known
properties, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting
Project. The Aliyevs also own an apartment valued up to $8 million
overlooking the Speakers’ Corner of Hyde Park (London), nine
waterfront mansions in Dubai valued at $44 million, a dacha near
Moscow worth at least $37 million, and a $1.1 million villa in an
exclusive neighborhood in the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary.
Under British rules, the Aliyev daughters are classified as
“PEPs”—politically exposed persons—making them subject to greater
scrutiny and due diligence checks by banks. The Guardian reported that
the law firm of Child & Child did not declare the two women’s
high-profile status to the British government. On the official form
asking if they are PEPs, the law firm checked the “no” box instead of
“yes.”
Another British lawyer, Derrick French, “set up a second clandestine
Panamanian trust called UF Universe Foundation, “which controlled a
majority stake in Ata Holding, one of Azerbaijan’s biggest
conglomerates,” according to The Guardian. Ata Holding, established in
2003, was owned by “Azerbaijan’s minister of taxes, Fazil Mammadov,
with a secret controlling stake in the $600 million conglomerate. Ata
Holding owned “two major banks, construction firms and Baku’s
five-star Excelsior hotel, with Pres. Aliyev’s three children.”
In 2005, the control of UF Universe Foundation changed hands. Pres.
Aliyev’s three children, Leyla, Arzu and their brother Heydar, who at
the time was just seven, had a combined 50 percent interest in the
trust. Their mother Mehriban was the “protector,” an anonymous role
giving her control over the Foundation. The other “protector” was
Mammadov with a 30 percent share. Ata’s chairman, Ahmet Erentok,
received only 15%. In 2007, UF Universe Foundation was closed down,
but Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva were listed as the majority owners of Ata,
via another Panamanian firm, Hughson Management, Inc. Javad Marandi, a
close associate of Pres. Aliyev, had introduced the Aliyeva sisters to
the law firm Child & Child, the British tribunal was told. Attorney
Khalid Sharif, senior partner of Child & Child, then set up on behalf
of the two sisters, Exaltation Limited, a British Virgin Islands firm.
In the case of the attempt by Pres. Aliyev’s daughters to purchase the
$76 million property in London, a British disciplinary tribunal fined
Sharif $57,000 and $51,000 in costs for failing to carry out
money-laundering checks and breaching his professional code.
After the contract was signed, the Aliyeva sisters began to pay the
purchase price of the two London apartments in installments,
transferring $13 million. However, “the deal ‘unraveled’ in 2016 after
their ownership was exposed,” according to The Guardian.
Not surprisingly, The Guardian newspaper revealed that “Leaked US
diplomatic cables suggest President Aliyev is Azerbaijan’s richest
person”.
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2- 2018: AAF Ships $43 Million of Humanitarian Assistance to
Armenia, Artsakh GLENDALE, Calif.—The Armenia Artsakh Fund (AAF)
delivered $23 million of humanitarian assistance to Armenia and
Artsakh during the fourth quarter of 2018. Of this amount, the AAF
collected $22.5 million of medicines and other supplies donated by
Direct Relief ($18.3 million); Americares ($3.8 million); Catholic
Medical Mission Board ($214,000) and MAP International ($159,000).
Another organization which contributed valuable goods during this
period was Agape Project ($119,000).
The medicines and medical supplies donated during this period were
sent to the AGBU Claudia Nazarian Medical Center for Syrian Armenian
Refugees in Yerevan; Arabkir United Children’s Foundation; Institute
of Perinatology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Center; Muratsan Children’s
Endocrinology Center; St. Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center; and the
health ministries of Armenia and Artsakh.
During the twelve months of 2018, AAF shipped to Armenia and Artsakh
the record amount of $43 million of medicines, medical supplies and
other relief products. In the past 29 years, including the shipments
under its predecessor, the United Armenian Fund, the AAF has delivered
to Armenia and Artsakh a grand total of $820 million worth of relief
supplies on board 158 airlifts and 2,420 sea containers.
“The Armenia Artsakh Fund is regularly offered free of charge millions
of dollars of life-saving medicines and medical supplies. All we have
to do is pay for the shipping expenses. We welcome your generous
donations to be able to continue delivering this valuable assistance
to all medical centers in Armenia and Artsakh,” said AAF President
Harut Sassounian.
For more information, call (818) 241-8900; or email: [email protected].
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3 - Armenia’s first solar car could herald nation’s production
of solar vehicles
YEREVAN (Armenpress)—Volunteers and enthusiasts have created Armenia’s
first solar car with the hopes that this could lay the groundwork for
the production of solar electric vehicles in Armenia.
Deputy minister of energy infrastructures and natural resources Hayk
Harutyunyan told Armenpress that this is a personal initiative which
aims at creating interest towards solar technologies, particularly
electric transport in Armenia. “We have people with two areas of
interest: the first is to design and build a solar car from scratch,
and the second is to convert old cars into electric vehicles. We want
to show that the current cars can be replaced by electric motors, and
later we hope that it will become a common practice in Armenia,”
Harutyunyan said.
Harutyunyan notes that the world’s leading companies engaged in
production of electric cars find their main engineers and employees
from such groups. Australia has held the Solar Challenge
competition—in which all universities participate by designing their
own solar car—for almost 30 years. “We also want to create a similar
vehicle here with the hope that we will create a certain interest
among the specialists. They will work on this path with a dream that a
production of solar electric cars will be set up in Armenia,” the
deputy minister said.
Harutyunyan couldn’t specify a target date because all work is being
done on a volunteer basis and without formal funding. “It is a
completely new field, and it’s difficult to find car designing
specialists in Armenia. Certain financial resources are also needed,
and we will most likely apply to private companies and donor
organizations for funding,” he said.
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4 - Turkish parliament petitions to strip Paylan of immunity
The Turkish parliament has received a petition seeking to strip eight
deputies, including Turkish lawmaker of Armenian descent Garo Paylan
of parliamentary immunity.
Ermenihaber reports, the petition was submitted to the parliamentary
constitutional and justice commission on the grounds of “insulting the
Turkish nation, the Turkish state, its army and police forces.”
Meanwhile, the summery of the proceedings prepared by the Ankara Chief
Prosecutor’s office says that Paylan is accused over an interview he
gave in Canada in May 2017 for “public humiliation of the Turkish
state and its president.”
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5- Stepanakert: Thirty Years On
By Sylvia Iskenderian
Special to The California Courier
February 1988. The evening news report caught my attention. A group of
men; mostly bearded, young and old, dressed in heavy coats; with large
fur hats, gestured with fists up, chanted in anger, in a language that
sounded Armenian; but incomprehensible to me. Then I heard the name
‘Stepanakert’. Instantly my attention transfixed even more on the
news. Where is this happening? Who are these people talking a
different Armenian than the one I am familiar with? Why are they
demonstrating? Where is this place the reporter is calling ‘Karabakh’?
Why is it news?
Promptly maps came out, research started, articles read to find out
about this territory called Nagorno-Karabakh. To my surprise, I
discovered that this land was expropriated from Armenia and was handed
over to Soviet Azerbaijan by the USSR central authorities on 7 July
1923.
During the 1980s the world became familiar with ‘Perestroika and
Glasnost,’ words used by the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhael
Gorbachev. These were promises of openness and restructuring.
Taking those progressive ideas on board, the population of
Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian majority, who had never given up on
their demands for reunification with Soviet Armenia, came out in force
to demand their rights. However, these were the dying days of the
Soviet Union, and the aspiration of the Armenians of Karabakh was a
superfluous predicament for its leaders.
Later that month the news took a sinister turn. Raging Azerbaijani
mobs attacked and massacred the Armenian residents in the city of
Sumgait. Throughout that year, unprovoked attacks on the Armenian
population were being reported all across Azerbaijan. Fearing for
their lives, Armenians fled their homes from there to the relative
safety of Armenia.
In Nagorno-Karabakh, Soviet Central government troupes helped
Azerbaijani authorities uproot the Armenian population and drive them
out of their homes and land. Armenians resorted to self-defense.
At the same time, hundreds of thousands of Armenians demonstrated in
Yerevan, Armenia in support of their compatriots in Karabakh. Border
skirmishes and clashes between the two Soviet States begun to take
place.
Amongst all this, it suddenly happened!
It was December 7 of that year ‘1988’. A warm summer’s evening in
Sydney when the news flashed ‘massive earthquake in Armenia.’ The
earthquake had registered 6.9 on the Richter scale.
The catastrophe was headline news all over the world. A call for
trained personnel, heavy equipment, search dogs were being summoned to
rescue people trapped by the earthquake. The reported scenes were
heartbreaking. Whole buildings had toppled to the ground in towering
piles of rubble. Concrete and steel were tangled in twisted heaps.
Survivors, barely conscious, sat on the sides of the road with blank
faces. Women were rocking side to side and wailing in silence. Men
covered in white dust desperately were trying to remove large concrete
slabs with their bare hand to find loved ones.
We, Armenians in Australia, were in total shock. It was a time when we
were ready to do anything to help, but there was nothing we could do
except to congregate in Armenian community centers and walk around
dazed and inconsolable.
The news was getting grimmer by the minute. The death toll was
climbing hour by hour: 5000, 10,000, 20,000, 25,000, 40,000, 45,000.
It was impossible to believe that so many people had already perished.
Visions of hundreds of empty coffins stacked up in the middle of the
city square in Leninakan and rescue teams arriving from all over the
world were being broadcasted across the world.
The earthquake’s epicenter, the city of Spitak, was totally
devastated. Not a single building was standing. As for the villages in
the vicinity, communications had broken down, the roads had fractured
and cracked, and they had become impassable.
Armenia was still in the grips of the Soviet regime. Communication
with the outside world was at a minimum and hard to come by. For a
whole week, all we could do was to watch the news and help collect
donations and emergency clothing to send to the victims.
I found myself numb, void of any emotions. I could not shed a single
tear. This calamity had severely affected me, and I knew then and
there, that this was the day that my life was to change forever.
My non-Armenian Aussie friends, feeling the enormity of the disaster
and shaken by it, encouraged me to organize a fundraiser, and promised
to help. With their backing, we were able to hold a successful
luncheon and raise a significant amount of money, which we handed to
the ‘Earthquake Emergency Relief Fund.’ With the tremendous support of
the Australian general public $1 million was raised for the earthquake
relief.
A year later in January 1990 while I was visiting the United States,
alarming news arrived from Armenia that another massive pogrom was
conducted against the Armenians in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
Scenes of terrified people fleeing assembled at Baku airport were
being beamed on news reports across the world. The images of mothers
with babies, children huddled next to their mothers, people with
bandaged limbs, all scrambling to get on to military helicopters to
flee the city was too much to bear.
Once again in the Diaspora, Armenians congregated in local centers. I
went to the Ferrahian Armenian School in Los Angeles. Everyone was in
a state of shock. Speaker after speaker was trying to console the
crowd. The organizers were making vows and asking everyone to stay
strong.
A few weeks later, we were back in Australia. Late one evening I was
finishing some ironing in the laundry when my mind drifted to these
ceaseless tragic events that were constantly plaguing the Armenian
world, and my thoughts drifted and evoked the century’s devastating
Genocide.
My anguish intensified to the degree that it was suffocating me. I
started questioning myself—why? Why so much pain and suffering has
fallen upon these people? A century that began with a grievous
genocide that annihilation three-quarters of the Armenians, still
haunts us and it is yet unresolved. Then the disastrous earthquake in
1988 that took another massive loss of life, plus a conflict that
could eventually erupt into a dangerous war. Was it not enough? How
can the Armenian people endure so much pain?
My feelings got the better of me, and I began to sob uncontrollably
releasing all the tension that had built up in me since the 1988
earthquake. I went to bed with the tears still in my eyes.
It was the following morning when I received a surprise phone call. It
was the chairman of one of the Armenian organizations in Australia.
After greetings, he asked me if I was interested in traveling overseas
again. I asked him why? He responded that at their last meeting, their
committee had decided to send me to head a delegation to Armenia to
take part in the International Women’s Day activities of March 8, and
to report back on the earthquake impacted zones.
For a brief moment, I remained silent. I could not believe that after
an evening of such intense anger, sorrow and desperation, the next
morning I would receive this astonishing offer. It was truly stunning.
I had no words. I was being challenged! This was an invitation, an
opportunity to confront the turmoil and confusion that had played
havoc with my mind. Was I being tested?
Thus began my journey to an unimaginable experience. An experience,
that became the driving force of my life.
It was still cold in March 1990 when I, and my two companions, Silva
Kebourian and Alice Levonian ventured on the journey and arrived in
Yerevan.
The effects of the ‘Soviet’ way of life was still evident everywhere.
The delegation that greeted us was the ladies auxiliary from the
Office responsible for Diasporan affairs. They were the welcoming
committee for all those who went to Armenia on official visits. A fun
bunch who seemed to enjoy the benefits of the regime and spent their
time entertaining guests and being hospitable. Although I must say,
they were all high achievers and heads of various institutions.
We were accommodated in the rear section of the ‘Armenia’ (now
Marriott) Hotel. Although built in the 1960s this section of the hotel
did not possess the same qualities or finish as the rest of the
building.
A ‘Mamig’, a female guard, was always present behind a desk on each
level of the hotel. Her duty was twofold. Oversee all of the
requirements of the guests and keep an eye on everyone. Guests were
not permitted to have visitors unless the mamig was notified.
On our first evening, just as we were about to enter the banquet hall
for dinner, we were startled by a group of men dressed in army
fatigues that stormed into the hotel lobby. They proceeded directly to
the banquet hall. Suddenly the music playing there went silent. It was
quiet everywhere. The group walked out of the hall and quickly headed
back to their military vehicle that was waiting outside the hotel, and
left.
All the guests in the lobby were motionless for a while. Then
commotion and confusion took over. We were informed that skirmishes
had taken place at the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and two
young Armenian border guards had been shot dead. We were also told
that their bodies would be brought to the Opera Square the next day…
This was the first time we had ever encountered such a distressing
incident. Having lived in Australia all of our lives, this was
something foreign and quite alarming. This was serious. My companions
and I were in shock.
The next morning, we reluctantly walked to the Opera Square, as did
most of the residents of Yerevan. There was no room to move in the
Opera foreground. Thousands of people had already gathered, and they
looked just as bewildered as we were. The two open coffins raised on
the shoulders of the mourners were brought to the square. They were
placed in the center where everyone could see. You could hear a pin
drop.
Dignitaries and government representatives were gathered on the steps
of the Opera building. The speeches that followed were somber,
passionate and emotional. This was a new and disturbing concern for
the residents of Yerevan. I believe no one had expected the Karabakh
conflict to cross the boundaries and reach inside Armenia.
With this sobering experience just fresh in our minds, the ‘mamig’ of
our floor came to my room and asked if I would be interested in
interviewing members of a delegation from Shahoumian. I had no idea
where Shahoumian was! She explained that it was a region of Karabakh
and those delegates had just come from there where the conflict is
intense. It was an opportunity for us to get to know what was
happening in Karabakh. We agreed, and before we knew it, we had two
gentlemen arrive for the interview, while the three of us were trying
to work out what to ask, how to get extra lighting in the room,
scrambled to get chairs to seat the guests, and of course to make sure
the video camera worked in order to conduct this interview.
It sounds trivial now, but we had no idea what to expect or what to
say. We were not prepared to hear the kind of information that those
officials would reveal to us.
We did not need to worry so much about asking questions, as they
commenced by recounting the incident when Azeri ‘Omon’ regiments
walked into the government offices and kidnapped the elected
representatives of The Shahoumian region. They told us how these
Armenians were held prisoners for days and were physically and
psychologically tortured. While in captivity, they were led to believe
that their towns were destroyed, their families and all the population
murdered.
The two representatives continued and gave us an account of how their
team had risked their lives and had daringly attacked the kidnappers’
hideout and rescued the kidnapped officials.
They also told us that they are returning from a month-long siege of
Shahoumian by Azeri ‘Omon’ fighters. With a handful of men, armed with
only some hunting rifles, they had hidden in the mountains trying to
protect their towns and their families from the Omon regiments of
Azerbaijan.
We thought this kind of incidents could have happened a hundred years
ago, the Armenian Fedayees in Anatolia, but this was 1990. This could
not be happening in this day and age, but in fact, this was at present
times, just before the full-fledged war between Azerbaijan and Armenia
later in 1992.
The two delegates spoke out against years of deliberate neglect of
their villages and towns by Azerbaijani authorities, and their
conviction that they could no longer live side by side with Azeris.
It was sobering moments for us. The interview over, we had to remind
ourselves that we were on a mission and we should get all the
information we need to report back home.
After a few sleepless nights, we were ready to join the ladies’
committee for our visit to the earthquake zones.
The chirpy bunch was quite happy to accompany us. The road to Spitak
was stunning. Traveling through snow-capped mountains and lush golden
valleys, sometimes stopping to view the scenery and pick fruit from
roadside orchards, playing music and singing away in the van until we
reached the City of Spitak.
The scene changed dramatically. It was a terrible sight to see.
Not a single structure was standing. Street after street, building
after building was whole heaps of rubble. Three, four, five-story
apartment buildings leveled to the ground. The city was deserted. No
one walked, nothing moved.
It was overwhelming driving through these cataclysmic scenes. In the
midst of the rubble we noticed decorated iron gates standing defiantly
while the building around them was gone. The eye caught pieces of
beautiful china or parts of household furniture strewed across the
rubbles, objects that must have come from the homes in those buildings
in ruins. No one would collect or dare pick them up.
The view evoked our senses, and we were mindful that this was a
current disaster zone and what we were observing was still unrecovered
regions untouched since the earthquake.
Our guides drove us through a new location in Spitak where dozens of
pre-fabricated PCV portable homes had been placed on large level land,
as emergency housing for earthquake survivors. These were
self-contained caravan style dwellings donated by the Italians.
As our mini-bus was passing through this new neighborhood, I asked the
driver to stop the van and requested that we step out and visit one of
these homes. It came as a surprise to our hosts as they had visited
the area many times but had never ventured out of the vehicle.
Eventually, everyone in the group felt obliged to come out, and we all
corralled into one of those habitats.
It was dark inside the home. Only the dim light from candles faintly
illuminated the room. In the corner, I could see two women. One looked
much older than the other. Both dressed in black, they were sitting
huddled together on a sofa while a little girl was playing on the
floor. They were not expecting us. On one of the walls hung three
large photographs. One was the picture of a man, and the others were
of two young boys. Many candles were lit on a stand beneath the
images. The somber scene took everyone by surprise. No one could hold
back their emotions. There was no way one could console those two
women sitting there who had lost their young family. Some of the
ladies in our group could not contain themselves and went out of the
house. Some of us stood there not knowing how to express ourselves and
to convey our condolences.
Outside, the weather was crisp and beautiful. The sun was shining.
Some children were playing in the open area between the dwellings.
Nearby, a group of older kids were playing ping-pong in what looked
like a school-come-orphanage constructed for the children left
parentless from the earthquake. We noticed they were using books for
rackets.
Just as we were about to step into our van, the younger children from
the orphanage gathered around us. We could see there was something in
their mind. With one arm locked on each other’s shoulder and one fist
up in the air, they began to sing. They started singing a song called
‘Artiok-ovker-en.’ A song dedicated to the new heroes of the Armenian
struggle for Artsakh. By this time, we were almost drained of emotion.
With tears running down our cheeks, we took them in our arms and
hugged each and every one.
We gathered ourselves and drove off to another area in Spitak. Here
road containers were being used as make-shift housing for the
earthquake victims. Dozens of large burgundy colored metal road
transporters were placed in rows, each accommodating a family.
During that day my video camera begun to malfunction and I was told
that a young man, called Armen could probably help fix it. We found
Armen living with his sister Pavagan and her two-year-old son in one
of those containers. They had squeezed a living space and sleeping
quarters in the metal structure. It was indeed a difficult sight to
observe.
Armen was very kind and tried to help. It was later that I discovered
that his sister, had one of the most harrowing and heartbreaking
stories of the earthquake that I encountered.
One day Pavagan came to visit me in the hotel in Yerevan with her little boy.
I noticed how pale and worn out she looked. I asked what was troubling
her? She looked at me with melancholy eyes and after some time she
told me her story. She was the Head Teacher of the kindergarten in
Spitak. On the day of the earthquake, she had an errand to run and had
asked the caretaker to please keep an eye on her six months old son
sleeping in the cot for a few minutes, while she went out to get the
items.
Soon after she had left, the earthquake had struck. The caretaker
realizing what was happening, had picked up the baby and run outside
the building. Unfortunately, the thirty little children in the
Kindergarten were unable to survive the tremor. They all died in the
collapse of the building. Her story does not end there. Her husband
who was a teacher in the high school across the road from the
kindergarten was at school at the same time. When the earthquake
struck he was able to save himself, then repeatedly went back in the
building to find and rescue the trapped children. Unfortunately, the
school building caved in, and he and most the 600 school children
perished.
There was nothing that I could say to Pavagan at the end of this
distressing encounter. Everyone who knew her knew of her suffering.
Everyone also knew there was no hope, nor means of consoling her. Her
story will remain with me always. One of the great tragedies of the
time!
Yes, I did want to understand the rough journey the Armenians had
traveled during the twentieth century, starting with the Genocide in
1915 to the earthquake and the war in Artsakh. On that fateful day in
1988, I knew that my life would change forever, and it did.
It is December again, 30 years on from the date of the catastrophic
earthquake in Armenia. It is a new century, and it is now 2018. So
much has happened during those 30 years. Armenia is now an Independent
State in par with every other nation on earth. Nagorno-Karabakh had
fought hard to break away from the shackles of occupation, and it is
now a free and independent Republic, officially called ‘Artsakh’ and
on the road to international recognition.
Today, I am attending an end-of-year concert of an Armenian Saturday
School in Sydney. Observing those beautiful kindergarten children
dressed in colourful outfits, dancing and singing in Armenian on
stage, happy without a worry in the world.
I thank God that we have now a vibrant, young generation all over the
world who will carry on the torch and bring joy and happiness to a
deserving nation; Glad in the knowledge that they now have a peaceful,
vibrant homeland, Armenia and a free and independent Artsakh.
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6- Sixty day church service keeps hope alive for asylum family
at Christmas
By Daniel Boffey in The Hague
The pastors and volunteers at Bethel church, a small Protestant chapel
tucked away on a quiet street in a residential district of The Hague,
are preparing for what looks likely to be an unusually busy and
anxious Christmas. They worry that they will need to turn away some of
the faithful at the door, and there are even tentative plans to
live-stream the services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, such is
the expected level of interest.
The main concern, though, is to keep a flicker of hope alive among the
Tamrazyan family—Sasun, his wife Anousche and their children Hayarpi,
21, Warduhi, 19, and Seyran, 15—who have been holed up in the church
for nearly two months, protected by a medieval law that says
immigration authorities cannot enter while a religious service is
ongoing.
The Tamrazyan family has been fighting to stay in the Netherlands
since arriving from Armenia in 2009. They turned to the church in late
October when their asylum application reached the end of the line and
deportation appeared imminent.
The claim that their lives would be at risk in Armenia due to Sasun
Tamrazyan’s political activism has fallen on deaf ears, as has an
application for a kinderpardon, a dispensation available to families
with children who have lived in the Netherlands for more than five
years. With nowhere to go, the Tamrazyans put their fate in the hands
of the Bethel church community in The Hague’s Segbroek district. It
was quick to respond. By Christmas Eve, a service in the chapel will
have run continuously for 60 days and nights, or for more than 1,400
hours. It is thought to be the longest “asylum service” in Dutch
history.
Through day and night, pastors hold services for six or seven hours at
a time, always with a congregation of at least three people so they
can justifiably describe their efforts as a religious service.
A list of phone numbers of neighbours ready to join the congregation
at a moment’s notice has been compiled should there be a danger of the
chapel emptying, but it has never been needed.
The case has become something of a cause célèbre but visitors have
generally been kept away from the family members, who have struggled
to deal with the attention and uncertainty over their future.
Since the first service started at 1:30 p.m. on October 26, more than
650 pastors from the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium have
done their bit, offering meditation, preaching, readings or even
“cleaning services,” where vacuuming is combined with song.
The pastors say they are doing it not only for the Tamrazyans but for
all the children of asylum seekers, who the Dutch Protestant church
says are being poorly served by the government.
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