Having declared themselves the first Christian state in the world, the Armenians have a centuries-long history of attempts to skillfully play this card. Interestingly, in different parts of the world the Christianity served Armenians’ various purposes. Presumably, owing to the fact that their actual number is in the vicinity of just several million, the Armenians are practicing all the major branches and denominations of this religion. Armenians of such religious affiliation as Gregorian, Catholic, Protestant, Greek-Orthodox, Monophysite, Dyophysite, Evangelist and other are scattered around the world. Armenian-Muslims are also another subject.
The Hemshin people that populate mountainous regions of Turkey are considered to be special offshoot of the Armenians. According to observations, adoption of the religion of the lands they inhabit mainly serves the political purposes of the Armenians. If being Catholic in France is an advantage then the Armenian diaspora is predominantly Catholic, whereas they are suddenly overwhelmingly Protestant in the neighboring Germany.
History shows that at different times and places in the world the Christianity has been a political tool in the hands of Armenians. In light of the Armenians’ maneuvering within the scope of common Christian values during the Crusades, in Africa, they do have relations with Ethiopia and in the Middle East they are represented in the political leadership in Lebanon, thus politically capitalizing on the fact of being the followers of the Christian faith.
It’s well known that during the Crusades the Armenians betrayed the Turks, the Arabs and other Muslims under patronage of whom they lived and co-existed and chose to fight alongside the crusaders. There are well-documented facts that the crusaders were able to capture such Middle Eastern fortress-cities as Edessa and Antioch only after they were surrender by their Armenian dwellers. Intention to create an image of Christian solidarity had solidified their presence in the region for a long time. Since the very times the Armenians had conspired with the patron of the Crusades – the Vatican, and today the Armenians are continuing to exploit this mission.
Africa is another location where Armenia turned the Christianity into a tool of political manipulation. It must be particularly stressed that religion is one of the two factors that Armenia relies on in its relations with Ethiopia. Ethiopia is Africa’s most ancient Christian country and it is under the banner of "world’s two of the most ancient Christian states`` that the Armenian propaganda machine has been operating. Second, the Armenians refer to the similarities of their alphabet with the Amharic one and promote the idea of these peoples’ affinity.
Therefore, we encounter another fact of Armenians attempting to falsify history. How conceivable is it that when necessary the Armenians attribute themselves to Indo-European language group and then, the self-professed autochthon people of the Caucasus - the Armenians – become suddenly related to the Ethiopians that belong to different anthropologic type and language group? Presumably, if belonging to Indo-European language group is required for seeking alignment with Iran and backing the claim of being indigenous to Caucasus, Armenia needs Armenian-Amharic affinity for misinformation purposes in Africa.
Thus, a fascinating picture emerges. This begs the question as to how many language groups, religions and anthropologic types a people can belong to? Policy of falsification of history pursued by the political, religious and scientific circles of Armenia and the strategy of sacrificing policy, language, faith and ancestors, ultimately question the ethno genesis of these people.
Lebanon is a telling example of how the Armenians are utilizing religious affiliation for the political purposes. According to the system of confessional balance within the government structure of Lebanon, Armenians are represented within the government individually like representatives of Gregorian, Catholic, Protestant and Evangelist faiths. Thus, in Lebanon, the Armenians are entitled to six Parliamentary and two ministerial seats. The privileges not ethnic but religious minorities enjoy in this country condition Armenians’ affiliation with different religious sects. Lebanese government recognizes three Armenian religious denominations of the country as sects: Armenian Gregorian, Armenian Catholic and Armenian Evangelists. And political ambitions comprise the substance of the issue.
In the Caucasus as well, the factor of Christianity serves several purposes. First one is to claim the legacy of the Christian Albanians. Being non-indigenous people of the Caucasus, the Armenians attempt to seize the Christian legacy of the autochthon people of the region thanks to the support of their powerful benefactors. This purposeful policy conducted for centuries had resulted in the 1836 decision by Russia to transfer the Albanian church under the Armenian Gregorian church. As Islam was spreading across Azerbaijan, representatives of indigenous population in the high mountainous regions remained Christian. Therefore, it is a historical fact that the Christian Albanians inhabiting highlands of Karabakh were subject to assimilation under the influence of the Armenian Church.
There is yet another Christian legacy claimed by the Armenians in the Caucasus. Nowadays Armenia’s propaganda machine is busy presenting the Christian Kipchaks as Armenians to the world. All of this regardless of the fact that the Azerbaijani researchers Gadir Gadirzade, Kerim Shukurov, Hikmet Babaoglu, Emin Shikhaliyev and Parviz Elay as well as their Turkish counterparts Yashar Kalafat, Rejeb Shahin and Sadi Kochash have produced irrefutable facts about the Armenians appropriating the legacy of the Christian Kipchaks.
Victim of Armenia’s Foreign Policy – Christianity Factor
Thus, facts illustrate that for the Armenians the Christianity has always been a political tool. It is by exploiting the factor of religion and thanks to support of the benefactors that the Armenians managed to establish their state on the lands of others by occupying territories of their neighbors. They have always condescended to trampling of every religious, spiritual and universal value in order to achieve a political goal. We believe this must be the very prism that the President of Armenia Serj Sargsyan’s visit to Vatican on 18 September 2014 could be evaluated from.
It is no secret that Armenia, together with the World Council of Churches (WCC) is conducting active work, engaging also Vatican, in the run-up to the centennial anniversary of the ``Armenian genocide``. After election of the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II to the post of the Chairman of the WCC for the eight-year term, all doubts about the factor of Christianity becoming a hostage of Armenians’ bogus ambitions were dispelled.
Armenia’s political and religious circles are trying to secure recognition of the "genocide`` by the WCC in 2015. On the other hand, the activity is conducted aimed at leveraging the Christian world through Vatican. Thanks to the efforts of the Armenian diaspora, whilst in Argentina, Pope Francis I was provided biased information on the events of 1915. As a result Pope’s position has become somewhat lopsided. Now Armenia’s leadership is trying to ensure his presence at the next year’s event to be held in Yerevan.
Serj Sargsyan’s visit to Vatican also pursued political objectives disguised under the theme of Christian compassion, whereas remarks he made in Vatican constitute inherent contradiction with the terrorist past that he was part of. Directly implicated in the brutal massacre of innocent Azerbaijanis in Karabakh, Sargsyan deceitfully pleas to everyone that "religion must not be exploited for the purposes of war and violence, instead it should contribute to tolerance and dialogue”. Remarks such as these being voiced by someone of different religious-ethnic affiliation is a vivid manifestation of Christian faith used as an instrument.
Sargsyan, who by the way did not forget to praise his son-in-law, Armenia’s Ambassador to Vatikan Mikael Minasyan in his speech, accuses Azerbaijan of destroying Armenian cultural legacy. First of all, historical facts attest to irrelevance of a debate on ancient Armenian monuments in the Caucasus. Perhaps Sargsyan is talking about a monument erected in the Margushavan village of Azerbaijan’s Agdere district in 1978 commemorating 150 years anniversary of the Armenians’ resettlement there – the very monument they had demolished to "erase the traces``.
Presumably, Sargsyan, then the resident of Khankendi attended the unveiling of that monument. Second, Sargsyan who urges the world not to forget the crimes of the past remains silent about Islamic historical monuments that were either vandalized or destroyed in Karabakh. Vatican would know about the monuments razed to the ground by the military junta led by Sargsyan. Thus, once again, the Christian factor is used by the Armenia’s leadership for political hypocrisy.
Azerbaijan has been known for its tolerance, where representatives of various religions and cultures thrived. Today remaining committed to historical traditions Azerbaijan’s state policy is centered on tolerance and intercultural dialogue. In his speech at the Second Baku International Humanitarian Forum President Ilham Aliyev said that "Multiculturalism is our way of life. Despite that this notion is relatively new the multiculturalism is a feature attributable to our people for ages. For centuries, people of different faiths and nationalities have lived as one family in Azerbaijan``.
The most pressing issue and the process in our world is the trend of radicalization. On one hand, the subject of a heated debate is exploitation of religion for pursuing own agenda by different radical groups and on the other hand, there are attempts by the global media, with its puppeteers, to associate the processes of radicalization and the activity of the terrorist groups with the religious faith. Under such circumstances, the intention of the Armenia’s President to draw a connection between the events in the Caucasus and the radical trends in the Middle East is nothing but an attempt to disguise actions of a terrorist under religious causes.
Interestingly, a historical excursion would reveal that it was not the first time when the Armenians had tried to use Vatican for their political purposes. Israel Ori, delegated to Europe on behalf of the Armenian diaspora in the XVII century, also manipulated the Christianity factor for the Armenian interests. In this regard, a book titled "Nagorno Karabakh: History Read From the Sources`` by the academician Ramiz Mehdiyev contains valuable facts on this subject. According to the book, "Armenian missioners went from door to door of various European palaces aiming to establish a state for themselves on foreign lands. To that end, they created a myth that Armenians were persecuted by the Ottoman and Safavid states and were forcefully converted to Islam. Missioner named Israel Ori was sent to Europe tasked with an objective to spread the myth and to secure support from the Christian patrons. He was received by the Pope Clement XI in 1704 where the latter pledged aid to the Armenians. In exchange, Ori promised that the Armenians freed from the Safawids "yoke`` would recognize Papal authority``. Nothing but the Armenian lies and political abuse of Christianity. Historical facts in the book testify that later on Israel Ori was making the same promises at the court of the Peter I of Russia.
Thus, it is not that difficult to estimate promises made during the Vatican visit of the President of Armenia. Although the theme is religious values, it is nonetheless about credibility of the promises. At this point, a quote about the Armenians from the "Voyage to the Caucasus`` by the famous French writer Alexander Dumas comes to mind. He travelled around the Caucasus and gained first-hand knowledge of the peoples of the region. Dumas wrote, "If an Azerbaijani (term Tatar was used at the time) nods in agreement trust him. If a Persian shakes your hand rely on him. If a highlander makes a promise do not doubt him. But if you make an arrangement with the Armenian, have a signed paper and two witnesses available to prove him wrong in the future``.
Arastu Habibbeyli
PhD in Economy
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