The Cilician Election and Church Unity Discussed in An Interview with Khachig Babikian, Esq.
HRATCH TCHILINGIRIAN
The following interview, conducted by the editor of Window Quarterly with Mr. Khachig Babikian, Chairman of the World General Assembly of the See of Cilicia, has been made available to a select few Armenian newspapers, including TAR Int'l
LONDON, UK - As Antelias prepares for the election of a new Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, on April 20, 1995, this writer conducted an interview with Attorney Khachig Babikian, Chairman of World General Assembly of the Great House of Cilicia and member of the Lebanese Parliament, discussing the details of the election and the issue of church unity.
Massis Weekly, Volume 27, No. 40 Saturday, November 10, 2007
Revisiting Political Ideology and Strategy
Hratch Tchilingirian
The immediate reaction of a casual observer of Armenian life in the Diaspora to the 120th anniversary of the first Armenian political party is, arguably, of irrelevance. While the majority of diasporans are familiar with the "three traditional political parties", they are hardly familiar with the program and history of these national institutions that have preserved Armenian political and cultural life in dispersion for over one hundred years.
How absurd a notion it is to con sider having a Peace Center in one of the most war-torm regions of the world. Such has been the response I have often received when pursuing the dreams of the Dormition Abbey/a century old Benedictine Monastry in Jerusalem. However, the more shocking idea seems to be participation of Armenians in this endeavor. While there is foundation for skepticism, the most appropriate answer to such a view seems to be - how is it possible that there not be a Center for Peace in the city of Jerusalem, capital of three monotheistic religions — the City of Peace.
... and the multinational efforts to exploit the Caspian in particular, and Russian's overall geostrategic interest in the Caucasus in general.
d) Russia has been and is the largest arms provider ...
Window view of the Armenian Church, Vol. 4, No. 4, 1994
UNITY EFFORTS BETWEEN EASTERN AND ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES
A Conversation with Archbishop Aram Keshishian (now Catholicos Aram I of Cilicia) Moderator of World Council of Churches and Prelate of the Armenian Church in Lebanon
... and the Caspian Sea to Central Asia.
The EU offered this program as an additional route that would complement all traditional routes. It is part of EU's strategy toward Central Asia and the Caucasus. ...
... [the] "30 billion in contracts foreign companies have signed to invest in Azerbaijan's offshore Caspian oil fields" (March 12). If this is not the case, perhaps, Reuters editors should more carefully scrutinize ...
ANN/Groong Interview with Karen Ohanjanian, 31 March 1998
Current Social, Economic and Political Situation in Nagorno Karabakh
Hratch Tchilingirian conducted this interview for ANN/Groong.
KAREN OHANJANIAN, a member of the International Coordination Committeeof the Helsinki Citizens Assembly and a member of the Parliament ofNagorno Karabakh Republic, was recently in Boston as a guest speakerat a conference at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
More Priests, More Scholars While the legacy of communist oppression continues to hamper Armenia's seminaries, scholars have teamed up with the Church to offer a dynamic alternative to secular students, reports Hratch Tchilingirian
When the Soviet Union collapsed and the Republic of Armenia declared independence in 1991, the Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenia's national church, faced one of the greatest challenges of its history: how to care for the religious needs of the three million Armenians in the country with fewer than 150 clergymen.
In late December, the OSCE Ministerial Council in Copenhagen marked the end of Armenia’s yearlong efforts of political recovery subsequent to the Lisbon Summit in December 1996. Contrary to expectations and due to Armenia’s diplomatic efforts, the Ministerial Council did not make any substantive declarations concerning Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia characterized the outcome in Copenhagen as "positive," since it did not create "additional obstacles" for the peace process in general.
A senior presidential foreign policy adviser resigned last month at a time when Armenia has been mounting a relatively successful effort to build its international ties.
War Report, No. 56, November 1997 (c) Copyright: The Institute for War and Peace Reporting 1997
Nagorno Karabakh: A Time for Thoughtfulness?
Beneath the surface, new and possibly constructive positions are being tested
By Hratch Tchilingirian
The conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over Nagorno Karabakh has resisted attempts at a solution since the Karabakh Armenians' independence movement emerged in 1988. Over two dozen OSCE sponsored negotiations, initiated since 1992, have failed to resolve the oldest conflict in the former Soviet Union. The last formal talks between the parties to the conflict under the auspices of the Minsk Group were almost a year ago. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan and Karabakh Armenians are as far apart from each other on key issues as they were five years.
War Report, No. 34, June 1995 (c) Copyright: The Institute for War and Peace Reporting 1995
Edging Towards the Big Agreement
by Hratch Tchilingirian
The dispute between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over Nagorno Karabakh–a small enclave of 4388 square kilometres in Azerbaijan, with a population of about 150,000–is the oldest conflict in the former Soviet Union. By 1991, what started as a popular movement for self-determination in 1988 had turned into a full-scale war with far reaching political and military implications for the region. The situation in Karabakh was further complicated by the fact that both parties in the conflict--the Armenians of Karabakh and the Republic of Azerbaijan--consider Karabakh an integral part of their territory. In September 1991, the Armenians of Karabakh declared an independent Republic of Mountainous Karabakh. No state has recognised Karabakh's claim to independent statehood. While the war is not officially over, May 12, 1995 marked the first anniversary of the cease-fire in Karabakh, after six years of armed conflict and bloodshed.
War Report, No. 50, April 1997 (c) Copyright: The Institute for War and Peace Reporting 1997
Internationalising the Enclave
By Hratch Tchilingirian
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh was transformed from a domestic Soviet conflict into an international issue. Besides Russia, a number of countries--including regional players such as Turkey and Iran--and international organisations proposed various unsuccessful initiatives. The most important of these, if not the most successful, has been the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which, since the summer of 1992, has been actively facilitating negotiations in the form of its 11-state Minsk Group, whose co-chairmanship became a triumvirate of Russia, France and the US earlier this year.
War Report, No. 50, April 1997 (c) Copyright: The Institute for War and Peace Reporting 1997
ARMENIA: REBOOTING THE POLITICAL HARD DRIVE The Karabakh leader becomes Armenia’s new prime minister
by Hratch Tchilingirian
On March 20 President Levon Ter-Petrossian named the leader of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, Robert Kocharian, 43, as Armenia's new prime minister. He replaces Armen Sarkissian who resigned on March 6 owing to serious illness.
... of its Caspian oil reserves have been hampered by the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
However, the current impasse is unlikely to be broken in the near future. Ter-Petrosian's stance is likely to harden, if ...