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CHRISTIAN PRESENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST THREATENED AHEAD OF CENTENARY OF ARMENIAN AND ASSYRIAN GENOCIDES
12:41, 07 Oct 2014
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/10/07/christian-presence-in-the-middle-east-threatened-ahead-of-centenary-of-armenian-and-assyrian-genocides/
"Now, just as in 1914, Yazidis, Christian Armenians and especially
indigenous Christian Assyrians are being targeted in the name
of Islam," The Conversation writes in an article titled "History
repeating: from the Battle of Broken Hill to the sands of Syria."
Just as it was in 1914, the 2000-year-old Christian presence in the
Middle East is threatened with extinction, even as we approach the
eve of the centenary of the 1915 Armenian and Assyrian genocides.
The author reminds that a century ago, the ideological forebears of IS
targeted Christian Hellenes, Armenians and Assyrians. Once the people
were largely gone, their physical heritage was targeted: churches,
monasteries, schools, hospitals, community centers, homes. Thousands
of Christian holy sites were systematically destroyed across Turkey,
Iraq and Syria.
Just as before, religion is being abused for political purposes
by groups of extremists. Late last month, IS destroyed the Armenian
Church of the Holy Martyrs at Deir-ez-Zor in north-eastern Syria, part
of their campaign to "cleanse" their "caliphate" of the presence of
"unbelievers".
In a sea of inhumanity unleashed by IS, this was a particularly
barbaric act, as the Church of the Holy Martyrs and its associated
museum are dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
The church served as a massive reliquary containing the bones of
Christian Armenians deported by the Ottoman Turkish Empire to the
desert wastes around Deir-ez-Zor to die of hunger, dehydration
or worse.
12:41, 07 Oct 2014
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/10/07/christian-presence-in-the-middle-east-threatened-ahead-of-centenary-of-armenian-and-assyrian-genocides/
"Now, just as in 1914, Yazidis, Christian Armenians and especially
indigenous Christian Assyrians are being targeted in the name
of Islam," The Conversation writes in an article titled "History
repeating: from the Battle of Broken Hill to the sands of Syria."
Just as it was in 1914, the 2000-year-old Christian presence in the
Middle East is threatened with extinction, even as we approach the
eve of the centenary of the 1915 Armenian and Assyrian genocides.
The author reminds that a century ago, the ideological forebears of IS
targeted Christian Hellenes, Armenians and Assyrians. Once the people
were largely gone, their physical heritage was targeted: churches,
monasteries, schools, hospitals, community centers, homes. Thousands
of Christian holy sites were systematically destroyed across Turkey,
Iraq and Syria.
Just as before, religion is being abused for political purposes
by groups of extremists. Late last month, IS destroyed the Armenian
Church of the Holy Martyrs at Deir-ez-Zor in north-eastern Syria, part
of their campaign to "cleanse" their "caliphate" of the presence of
"unbelievers".
In a sea of inhumanity unleashed by IS, this was a particularly
barbaric act, as the Church of the Holy Martyrs and its associated
museum are dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
The church served as a massive reliquary containing the bones of
Christian Armenians deported by the Ottoman Turkish Empire to the
desert wastes around Deir-ez-Zor to die of hunger, dehydration
or worse.