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Armenian monastery finds unlikely saviour in Arab sheikh

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  • Armenian monastery finds unlikely saviour in Arab sheikh

    Sin Chew Jit Poh, Malaysia
    Nov 30 013

    Armenian monastery finds unlikely saviour in Arab sheikh

    - Features

    2013-11-30 15:33
    By Mariam Harutyunyan


    HAGHARTSIN MONASTERY, November 30, 2013 (AFP) -- Standing next to a newly
    refurbished bell tower, priest Aristakes Aivazyan says it needed divine
    intervention to save Armenia's medieval Haghartsin monastery.

    But it also took a lot of money from a very unlikely benefactor -- the
    Muslim ruler of the resource-rich Arab emirate of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan
    bin Mohammed al-Qasimi.

    "I cannot recall anything similar to this happening in our history that
    some Arab sheikh, a Muslim, helped to restore and rescue an Armenian
    Christian church," Aivazyan told AFP.

    "Without doubt it was God who brought the sheikh to Haghartsin," the
    priest, dressed in long black robes, said.

    Perched spectacularly amid thickly forested mountains about 100 kilometres
    northeast of Yerevan, Haghartsin monastery is a masterpiece of medieval
    Armenian ecclesiastical architecture.

    Founded in the tenth century, the monastery -- which includes three
    churches and once housed some 250 monks -- survived attacks from Arab and
    Ottoman invaders and anti-religious campaigns under Soviet rule during its
    turbulent history.

    But after weathering those storms, decades of neglect in recent years meant
    the complex looked headed for collapse as plants twisted through walls and
    cracks threatened to send buildings tumbling.

    'In need of serious reconstruction'

    "The monastery was in need of serious reconstruction but the repairs were
    always delayed by the lack of finances," father Aivazyan said.

    That was until a fortuitous visit from al-Qasimi, who had been invited to
    Armenia by former president Robert Kocharian on a trip set up by the
    Armenian business community in the emirate.

    "In 2005 his royal highness visited Armenia and generously offered to
    renovate the complex during a tour of various Armenian regions," says
    Varouj Nerguizian, a Sharjah-based Armenian businessman who has advised the
    sheikh.

    Nerguizian refused to say how much the sheikh had given for the
    refurbishment but local media reported that it could be around $1.7 million.

    Now, after years of building work including a new road up to the monastery
    to help boost visitor numbers, the refurbished structure was finally opened
    last month.

    "It falls within the natural context of his royal highness' philanthrophy
    as well respect for other religions," Nerguizian.

    Perched on the Persian Gulf, after Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Sharjah is the
    third largest of the seven emirates that make up the UAE.

    Al-Qasimi, 74, -- who came to power in 1972 after his brother, then king,
    was killed in a failed coup -- has sought to boost the emirate as a tourist
    and cultural hub in the region.

    The emirate has a thriving community of Armenian businessmen that now
    boasts its own church. But there have nonetheless been few links between
    Yerevan and Sharjah.

    'The word of God was heard here'

    For those working at the monastery, the surprise of seeing an Arab leader
    visiting the holy Christian site remains a vivid memory.

    "He came with his entourage of about 10 people and looked around for quite
    a while at all the churches and stone crosses before asking to go into the
    main Church of Our Lady," recalled Artak Sahakyan, who sells candles to
    visiting worshippers.

    "When he came out he said that he believed that the word of God was really
    heard here," Sahakyan said.

    Armenia is considered to be the oldest Christian country in the world and
    its Apostolic Church belongs to the ancient Oriental Orthodox branch.

    The church is hugely influential in Armenia and two monasteries and its
    main cathedral are already listed on UNESCO's list of world heritage site.

    After a history of conflict between Armenia and its Muslim neighbours of
    Turkey and Azerbaijan, those working at the Harghartsin monastery say they
    hope the support they have received from a Muslim ruler shows that the two
    faiths can get along.

    "The sheikh is a deeply religious man so seeing a monastery is such a bad
    state it is not surprising that he felt touched," says father Aivazyan.

    "It is as if the with this generous gesture the sheikh is saying that we
    need to be tolerant of other religions as in the end we all serve one God,"
    Aivazyan said.


    http://www.mysinchew.com/node/94287?tid=10


    From: Baghdasarian
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