Armenisch-Deutsche Korrespondenz (ADK)[Koln], No. 103, 1999/Heft 1, pp. 7-8; No. 104, 1999, Heft 2, pp. 2-4.
Berg-Karabach: Die Außenpolitik im Wandel [published in German, see PDF versions]
[Nagorno Karabakh: Foreign Policy in Transition]
Hratch Tchilingirian
For over a decade now, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the South Caucasus remains the oldest unresolved conflict in the former Soviet Union. Meanwhile, a fragile cease-fire since May 1994 remains in place and the OSCE's Minsk Group continues attempts to mediate a resolution.
Armenian monks safe in Bethlehem, for now "We are waiting for the arrival of our fate," says Fr. Joundourian
By Hratch Tchilingirian, London
IntraPress News, 5 April 2002 – The seven Armenian priests and monks trapped in the Armenian section of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem are safe, said Fr. Khat Joundourian, 34, deputy abbot of the Armenian monastery in Bethlehem in a telephone interview this morning (Friday, 2:30 AM Bethlehem time) as the military operations in the area continued.
Window view of the Armenian Church, Vol. II, No. 3, 1991, pp. 10-12
THE ARMENIAN PROTESTANTS A Brief History
Compiled by Hratch Tchilingirian
The beginnings of the Armenian Protestant church dates back to the late 19th century. As a movement it was "imported" and "implanted" by American and European missionaries, amidst the "intellectual renaissance" that was taking place in the Armenian community within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire. Tracing the roots of Armenian Protestantism is not as easy as it may seem. The authors who have written about the subject, while they agree on dates and personalities are divided over the reasons, rationale and effects of the events that lead to the establishment of a separate Armenian Protestant denomination.* The purpose of this article is to give a historical account of events rather than an analysis of the movement.
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.
Frontier (Keston Institute, Oxford) June-August 1996 pp. 12-14
LATE HARVEST Armenia's new church leader, Karekin I, must heal the rifts within the Armenian Church before he can plan for the future, writes Hratch Tchilingirian
In April 1995, the new Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church was elected in Echmiadzin, Armenia. Almost 9 million Armenians in the republic, the 'near abroad', and the diaspora were represented a the ceremony by 400 delegates from over 32 countries. The event represented many historical firsts. The National Ecclesiastical Assembly, the highest legislative body of the Armenian Church, composed of 26 per cent clergy and 74 per cent lay people) was convening for the first time in 40 years. The election was taking place for the first time in a free and independent Republic of Armenia. For the first time in history, the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, in Lebanon, was elected Catholicos of All Armenians in Echmiadzin. The President of Armenia addressed the NEA for the first time and witnessed the enthronement of the new Catholicos.
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. 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.
"Hrant Dink et les Arméniens en Turquie" (traduction Georges Festa)
par Hratch Tchilingirian
[L’assassinat du journaliste turco-arménien Hrant Dink, le 19 janvier 2007, et ses conséquences mettent en lumière à la fois les changements et les résistances aux changements dans la société turque. Pour comprendre le long chemin traversé par les dernières générations en Turquie, Hratch Tchilingirian examine le rôle personnel de Hrant Dink dans le contexte de la communauté arménienne dont il était le porte-parole, le critique et le symbole.]
Armenian International Magazine (AIM), Vol. 12, Issue 3, April 2001, pp. 30-36
THE FORGOTTEN DIASPORA Bulgarian-Armenians after the end of Communism
By Hratch Tchilingirian
"As long as my neighbor is worse, I don’t have to be better," goes the Bulgarian saying. When faced with enormous problems, a sense of relative wellness might provide temporary comfort. A decade after the fall of Communism, Bulgarian-Armenians describe the current state of their community with both pessimism and hope -- and offer many ideas for a preferred future.
Armenian International Magazine (AIM), Vol. 12, Issue 3, April 2001, pp. pp. 31, 32, 35
Creating New Cultural Scripts Ancient Techniques for Modern Expression in a New Bulgaria
By Hratch Tchilingirian
In 1997, a collection of more than 150 works of Bulgarian-Armenian artists was exhibited for the first time under one roof. The 50 artists featured (13 women) in the exhibit included those who had come to Bulgaria as refugees, such as Tbilisi-born Grigori Agaronian (1896-1978), Trabizon-born Kamer Medzadurian (1908-1987), and Swiss-born Carl Shahveledian (1898-1953), and Bulgaria-born artists, among them Araksi Karagiosian (b. 1896), Diran Sarkisian (1894-1970), Ovagim Ovagimian (b. 1908), Hilda Haritinova (1908-1990) and a host of contemporary painters and sculptors.
Armenian International Magazine (AIM), Vol. 12, Issue 3, April 2001, pp. 30-36
THE FORGOTTEN DIASPORA Bulgarian-Armenians after the end of Communism
By Hratch Tchilingirian
"As long as my neighbor is worse, I don’t have to be better," goes the Bulgarian saying. When faced with enormous problems, a sense of relative wellness might provide temporary comfort. A decade after the fall of Communism, Bulgarian-Armenians describe the current state of their community with both pessimism and hope -- and offer many ideas for a preferred future.
Armenian International Magazine (AIM) Vol. 12, Issue 2, March 2001, pp 22-24
Cover Story
CELEBRATION OF FAITH The Armenian Church celebrates 1700th Anniversary of its Establishment and Adoption of State Religion in Armenia
By Hratch Tchilingirian
Imagine a giant organization with over 350 offices and branches in some 40 countries, with 500 top executives, thousands of full- and part-time employees, tens of thousands of volunteers, serving millions of people. That's the Armenian Apostolic Church today and, this year, it's celebrating the 1700th anniversary of its founding.
Armenian International Magazine (AIM) Vol. 11, No. 10, October 2000, pp. 40-44. COVER STORY
Dividing Jerusalem Armenians on the line of confrontation
By HRATCH TCHILINGIRIAN
The Armenian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem has become one of the most talked about issues in the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli negotiations over the final status of the city that is sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims. At the Camp David II talks in the US in July [2000], it was proposed that the Old City be divided into two sections: Israeli control over the Jewish and Armenian quarters and Palestinian control over the Christian and Muslim quarters.
Armenian International Magazine (AIM) Vol. 11, No. 6, June 2000, pp. 50-51
A Noble Cause Violinist Levon Chilingirian Crusades for Armenia’s Musicians
By Hratch Tchilingirian
With all the pomp and regalia of royal ritual, Queen Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, has bestowed upon Violinist Levon Chilingirian, 52, the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his "contribution to music" during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in February. OBE, established by King George V in 1917, is awarded to British subjects for their "outstanding work."
... their peasant garb and a kind of pathetic awkwardness ,,, to those who, at each turning-point in history, let themselves be smashed, victims of the tyrannic, omnipotent father, ever invisible but ever ...
Armenian International Magazine (AIM) February 2000, Volume 11, No. 2, pp. 50-52
Seven Years in Prison “If one suffers, but does not believe, life becomes meaningless.”
Compiled by Hratch Tchilingirian
Father Manuel Yergatian, a 33-year-old priest and citizen of Turkey was arrested in October 1980 while preparing to leave Istanbul en route to Jerusalem. He was charged with anti-Turkish activities in the years when various acts of political violence against Turks by Armenians were reported. His whereabouts were not known and no one was able to contact him. Archbishop Shnork Kalustian, Patriarch of Istanbul, was called to testify before the military court. The Turkish press reported on the trial of the “priest who is Turkey’s enemy.” The US State Department turned down a request to intervene in the case. Amnesty International did investigate the arrest. After his conviction, Yergatian served nearly seven years in Turkish prisons. Since his release, he has remained silent about his ordeal. At this writer's request, Fr. Yergatian, 46, describes for the first time and in great detail, what happened when he was arrested and convicted on charges of inciting terrorism.
Armenian International Magazine (AIM) February 2000, Volume 11, No. 2
FOCUS OF THE MONTH
Jubilee in the Holy Land Pilgrimage of the Century Includes Top Government, Religious Leaders
By HRATCH TCHILINGIRIAN
early 1000 Armenians from around the world gathered in the Holy Land during the week of January 17-24 to celebrate the bi-millennial jubilee of Christ’s Nativity in Bethlehem. The celebrations were headed by the top leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church with the participation of Armenian President Robert Kocharian, who led a 30-member state delegation to Palestine and Israel for the occasion.