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RFE/RL Armenia Report - 01/07/2014

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  • RFE/RL Armenia Report - 01/07/2014

    Tuesday, January 7, 2014

    Armenian Church Head Bemoans Decline Of `Traditional Values'

    Armenia - Catholicos Garegin II delivers a sermon during the Christmas
    Mass at the Armenian Apostolic Church cathedral in Echmiadzin,
    6Jan2014.

    07.01.2014

    Catholicos Garegin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic
    Church, has urged Armenians to stay loyal to the basic tenets of
    Christianity in the face of what he called a decline in `traditional
    family values' resulting from excessive freedom.

    In a sermon read out during the Christmas Mass celebrated at the main
    Armenian cathedral in Echmiadzin on Monday, Garegin said freedom of
    expression is increasingly abused by people in Armenia and around the
    world to the detriment of `the truth' embodied by Jesus Christ.

    Armenia - Catholicos Garegin II leads the Christmas Mass at the
    Armenian Apostolic Church cathedral in Echmiadzin, 6Jan2014.

    `Traditional family values are in retreat, and so is, in the face of
    difficulties, the spirit of conscientiousness,' he said mid-way
    through the liturgy broadcast live by leading Armenian TV
    channels. `Unreserved behavior and insult are regarded as courageous;
    responsibility is subordinated to rights. Frequently, the right to
    express one's personal opinion is wrongly utilized to distort the
    truth, in order to spread subjective or biased opinions.

    `It is in this mentality that falsehood is veiled with a mask of
    truth, debate becomes argument, discussion transforms into scorn and
    condemnation, from which the Spirit of God's truth and the wisdom of
    God move away; and we have difficulty - yes, even cease - to see the
    good and the just; and faith and trust in one another, as well as hope
    and optimism for the future, all weaken in our lives.'

    Garegin also deplored aggressive human rights advocacy in and outside
    Armenia, saying that it sometimes forces conservative societies to
    `adopt behaviors that are contradictory with societal thinking and
    value structures.' He did not specify those behaviors.

    `It is in this manner that morality in the world cedes ground to
    immorality, freedom of speech is transformed to licentiousness of
    speech, and testimony becomes the distortion of truth,' added the
    Catholicos. `The world shall be liberated of these life-agitating
    realities when men accept the truth of Christ, when they witness the
    presence of the Lord through their faithful works, and like the
    Apostle, proclaim, `...the truth of Christ is in me!''

    Although Garegin named no names, his critical remarks appeared to be,
    at least in part, a broadside aimed at opposition and civic figures
    increasingly critical of his leadership one of one of the world's
    oldest churches. The critics are especially unhappy with his
    reluctance to speak out against human rights abuses, government
    corruption and injustice in the country. Some of them have also
    denounced the pontiff for effectively siding with the current and
    former Armenian governments in their standoffs with opposition forces.

    Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian and his wife Rita walk out of the
    Echmiadzin cathedral after the Christmas Mass, 6Jan2014.

    In particular, Garegin came under opposition fire after endorsing the
    official results of Armenia's February 2013 presidential election that
    gave victory to the incumbent President Serzh Sarkisian. He personally
    delivered a congratulatory message to Sarkisian together with several
    other high-ranking clergymen the day after the disputed ballot. `Your
    victory in the elections testifies to the fact that our people trust
    your programs of reformation,' read the message.

    The church leadership went on to criticize post-election street
    protests organized in Yerevan by Raffi Hovannisian, the main
    opposition presidential candidate who claimed to be the rightful
    election winner. Hovannisian reacted angrily to the criticism. He
    accused Garegin of `desecrating the Bible' by attending and blessing
    Sarkisian's inauguration for a second term.



    Oppositionists Slam Sarkisian's `Message To Russia'

    Armenia -- Opposition MP Alexander Arzumanian, at a press conference
    in Yerevan, 28Mar2013.

    Sargis Harutyunyan
    07.01.2014

    President Serzh Sarkisian underscored his subservience to Russia with
    his New Year's message to the nation that touted Armenia's impending
    accession to a Russian-led customs union, pro-Western opposition
    leaders claimed on Tuesday.

    Sarkisian began the televised address by mentioning and stressing the
    importance of his unexpected decision last August to join the union at
    the expense of closer ties with the European Union. He expressed
    confidence that Yerevan will complete ongoing accession talks with the
    trade bloc comprising Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in 2014.

    Alexander Arzumanian, a leader of the recently revived Armenian
    Pan-National Movement (HHSh), said the New Year's message was
    primarily addressed to the Kremlin, rather than Armenians, comparing
    Sarkisian to a `naughty student who wants to somehow please his
    teacher.' Arzumanian suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin
    still distrusts his Armenian counterpart despite the latter's foreign
    policy U-turn.

    `These are attempts to restore trust,' Arzumanian told RFE/RL's
    Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). He said Sarkisian's previous policy
    of European integration had caused a serious crisis in
    Russian-Armenian relations.

    `This is further proof that the decision to join the customs union was
    foisted on Armenia. The Armenian authorities are now constantly forced
    to reaffirm their loyalty to Russia,' he said, accusing Moscow of
    treating Yerevan `like a slave.'

    Armen Martirosian, the deputy chairman of Zharangutyun (Heritage),
    another opposition party favoring Armenia's European integration, also
    deplored the key emphasis of Sarkisian's speech. He reiterated
    Zharangutyun claims that Sarkisian had no popular mandate to make
    Armenia part of a trade bloc which is due to be transformed into a
    Russian-dominated Eurasian Economic Union by January 2015.

    Martirosian also claimed, `This means that the value system espoused
    by the Armenian authorities totally corresponds to the value systems
    of the Customs Union's member states. Putin, [Belarusian President
    Aleksandr] Lukashenko and [Kazakhstan's Nursultan] Nazarbayev lead
    authoritarian regimes.'

    Hovannes Sahakian, a senior lawmaker from the ruling Republican Party
    of Armenia (HHK), rejected the opposition attacks. Sahakian said
    Sarkisian could not have failed to mention the Customs Union in his
    yearend remarks. He argued that the president also commented on other
    major developments of the past year.

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