Pomp and Circumstance Greet President in Lebanon
Armenian International Magazine (AIM) March 2000, Vol. 11, No. 3, p. 23
Pomp and Circumstance Greet Kocharian
By Hratch Tchilingirian
President Robert Kocharian paid an official three-day visit to Lebanon in February. He was greeted at the Beirut airport by Lebanese President Emil Lahoud, the Chairman of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berrie, Prime Minister Selim Hoss and other senior officials. The 72 hours of pomp and circumstance turned heads. “Even the visit of President Jacques Chirac was not so grand,” said one observer.
Medieval Lobbyists
Armenian International Magazine (AIM) February 2000, Volume 11, No. 2, pp. 54-56
Medieval Lobbyists
AUB Professor Explores Armenian-Moslem Relations in the Middle East
By HRATCH TCHILINGIRIAN
The political and cultural history of the Armenians in the Near East is one of the least explored areas within traditional Armenian Studies. But Seta Dadoyan, Professor of Cultural Studies, Philosophy and Art at the American University of Beirut (AUB), has created a new interest in the subject — with a particular focus on its contemporary significance.
Jubilee in the Holy Land
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.
Seven Years in Prison:
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.
Haigazian University in Lebanon
Armenian International Magazine AIM Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 52-53
HAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY IN LEBANON
Hratch Tchilingirian
One of the most valuable contributions of the Armenian Evangelical Church and its commitment to education is the establishment of the Haigazian University in Beirut. After four decades, it remains the only Armenian institution of higher education in the Diaspora. Haigazian — which has graduated over 1,600 students since its founding in 1955 — is accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education of Lebanon and is a member of the Association of International Colleges and Universities. It offers 19 undergraduate and four graduate degree programs.
Psychological Welfare
Armenian International Magazine AIM Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 64-66.
Psychological Welfare
Healing the Emotional Scars of the Karabakh War
By HRATCH TCHILINGIRIAN
"Every child and adult in Karabakh has a war story,” says Khatchatur Khachik Gasparian, 36, psychologist and head of the Yerevan State Medical University’s Medical Psychology Section. “The need to listen to them is enormous and essential,” he adds.
The Armenian Evangelical School in Anjar
Armenian International Magazine AIM Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 52-53
The Armenian Evangelical School in Anjar
Providing a brighter future
Hratch Tchilingirian
Ara (not his real name) was four years old when a social worker brought him to the Armenian Evangelical boarding school in Anjar, the Armenian village in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. The school was already in session and the principal insisted that Ara should come at the beginning of the following year. But the social worker could not take Ara back. “You wouldn’t send him away if I told you where this child comes from,” pleaded the desperate social worker. Ara was very quiet and looked disturbed, says Rev. Nersess Balabanian, 40, who is in charge of the school. “The child’s father is a drug addict, his mother is a prostitute and he lives in a tiny room with two other little siblings,” explains Balabanian, “we couldn’t possibly return this child to that place.” They took him in.
The Armenian Evangelical Union of the Near East
Armenian International Magazine AIM Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 52-53
The Armenian Evangelical Union of the Near East
Coping with the effects of the war
Hratch Tchilingirian
Established in 1924, the Lebanon-based Armenian Evangelical Union of the Near East is one of the oldest among the five Unions that comprise the Armenian Evangelical Church. It is a union of over two dozen churches and congregations in seven countries in the Middle East and one church in Australia, as the origin of the Sydney church is traced back to Lebanon and Syria.
The Evangelicals in Armenia: On the Road to Pluralism
Armenian International Magazine AIM Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 52-53
The Evangelicals in Armenia: On the Road to Pluralism
By Hratch Tchilingirian
Reverend Movses Janbazian of the Armenian Missionary Association of America reminisces about his various relief missions to Armenia.