Message From the Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II

[Gavur]

In the diaspora we can be loud and clear ,but when you listen to Armenians that are still there you have to listen carefully sometimes ,because they will say things in a covered way because there always been a threat of pogroms,massacres or at the least gov. prosucution.

I'm sorry we didnt survive the Genocide just to kiss Turkish ass

Friendship ofcourse is better then being enemies but its up to the Turkish Gov. to stop acting like an enemy to Armenia and Armenians first .

I have no problem being a forever enemy or a friend of Turkey its up to them to make me what they prefer to have.

[Heat]

Sadly, overwhelming majority of Turkish Armenians are more Turkish than Armenian. Of course there are good Armenians amongst them as well, but they are very few and far in between.

Just go and spend some time within a traditional "Polsahai" setting and you will see. These Christian Turks (and marginal Christians at best) are by far the most anti-Armenia and anti-Hayastantsi group.

Members of our "new generation" from Istanbul proudly claim that they are Turks - not Armenians. These pathetic fools, even claim that Turks are by far the most civilized of nations and that problems between Turks and Armenians are as a result of Western manipulations and the *evil* Dashnaktsoutyoun.

Several years ago, during a visit to the greater New York area, the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul admitted on live radio broadcast that the intermarriage rate between Armenians and Turks within Turkey is around seventy percent. And that Armenians within Turkey are more-or-less living the high life.

Of all Armenians worldwide, Turkish Armenians from Istanbul are the ones that travel to Armenia the least. This has nothing to do with fear towards the Turkish government, for they claim that they have the freedom within Turkey to do anything, this has more to do with an utter disdain they feel towards Armenians of Armenia and their carelessness towards the Armenian Republic.

This so-called Patriarch Mutafian needs to be flogged in public at the very least although we know what he would really deserve. This self-hating Mutafian filth and the rest of his administration are willing slaves for Turks and their filthy anti-Armenian Patriarchate is essentially a propaganda tool for the Turkish foreign ministry.

The Patriarchate of Istanbul has out-lived its intended purpose. Its high time to move this Patriarchate to France, Russia or even America - where it can serve the Armenian nation again. Thirty thousand Armenians of Istanbul with an intermarriage rate with Turks of seventy percent do not need a Patriarchate to administer their spiritual needs.

Below is what "liberal" Ramgavars (not Dashnaks) are now saying about this filth in Istanbul.

Archbishop Mutafian - Full of Turkish Mischief

Ever since exterminating 1.5 million Armenians and depopulating historic Armenia, successive regimes in Turkey have been hard at work, in an obsessive determination, to wipe out all traces of Armenian heritage in our ancestral land.

However, since Ataturk's Europeanization drive, the traditional Turkish scimitar has been replaced by more sophisticated methods with the very same ultimate goal - to drive the original inhabitants of the land into oblivion.

Recognizing the role of the Armenian Church in preserving the Armenian culture and identity, the Turks have turned it into a prime target of destruction. Thousands of houses of worship have been reduced to ruins. Additionally, the Turks have resorted to every ruse, any kind of Byzantine law to emasculate the remaining Armenian community in Istanbul, especially decapitating its spiritual leadership.

Contrary to the Lausanne Treaty (1923) provisions, the Turkish government has shut down the Holy Cross Armenian Seminary, the only center where young generations of clergy could be trained. When Armenians resorted to other creative means to replenish the dwindling pool of clergymen by enrolling aspiring clergymen at the Jerusalem Seminary, the Turkish government acted swiftly to ban that route as well, accusing Armenians of training terrorists (sic!) in that seminary. One of those returning seminarians, Father Manuel Yergatian, ended up in jail with ludicrous accusations and he suffered most of his 14 years verdict in the Turkish dungeons.

While denying all venues to train young clergy, the Turkish government has devised another trap: thus the Turkish law prohibits anyone from being elected as the Armenian Patriarch who is not born in Turkey. These restrictions severely curtail the number of potential candidates, only to eliminate all the candidates in a matter of several years. Under these devilish Turkish schemes, clergymen of dubious reputation will ascend the patriarchal throne by default. The current patriarch, Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, is the product of that default.

His predecessors, Archbishop Karekin Khachadourian, Archbishop Shnork Kalousdian, and even Archbishop Kazanjian, have served the Patriarchate with extreme prudence, cognizant of the limitations and restrictions imposed by the Turkish government. Thanks to their prudence, wisdom and inspiring personalities, the great traditions of the Istanbul Armenian community have been preserved, the creative impulse of the intellectual life has remained productive and the institutions have survived.

The emergence of Archbishop Mutafian has altered the scene dramatically. Traditionally united, the Istanbul Armenian community has been severely divided. He has bullied intellectuals, journalists and benefactors by his unorthodox behavior; however, thanks to the wisdom of the injured parties not to react, eccentric behavior of this young clergyman continues its damage.

Since Archbishop Mutafian was easily elected to the Patriarchal throne, with Turkish government crutches, he was intoxicated with his instant success and he used the patriarchal throne as a launching pad to try his luck as the supreme head of the Armenian Church - where he discovered that Turkish tentacles were not long enough to help him in his outlandish design.

He was frustrated and he turned against the Holy See at Echmiadzin; he used every opportunity to demonstrate his disrespect and he broke away from the traditional hierarchical relations, which the former Patriarchs had established and cherished sacredly.All his predecessors had been coerced by the Turkish government to get involved politically to promote its dubious agenda to the detriment of the Armenian cause, but they had wisely shied away from engaging in any such endeavor.

Yet Archbishop Mutafian gleefully engaged in that endeavor at the first advance of the Turkish authorities. He allowed himself to be used as a political tool when he took a tour of Europe last year to promote Turkey's admission into the European Union (EU), while the world Armenian political leadership was opposing the move vehemently.

Upon his return to Istanbul he believed that he had earned Brownie points with the Turkish government. When he approached the Turkish authorities with problems plaguing the Armenian community, he discovered that nothing had changed, and that the same authorities continued their discrimination policies. They continued usurping community assets and controlling the Armenian schools to eradicate any ethnic tradition left there.

As the Turkish heavy hand was relentlessly working to disrupt community life, instead of complaining to the International Court, or declaring a hunger strike at UN Headquarters to draw attention to the plight of the Armenian community, he dared to show up on Turkish TV to say what the Turks wanted to hear and what they wanted the world to hear - that the Armenian community had been living freely and peacefully and that no other Armenians from abroad had to meddle in their affairs.

When the EU representatives visited Turkey to contact the community leaders, Greeks, Kurds and xxxs courageously cited their grievances, yet Archbishop Mutafian disappeared on a Greek Island.

During President's Bush's visit he spoke of humanitarian values and complained about Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, instead of complaining about Midnight Express style Turkish prisons.

As the world Armenian community struggles for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Archbishop Mutafian plays the old Turkish tune: that history has to be left to the historians, as if there were anything left to be said about the genocide.

Today Archbishop Mutafian is on his ultimate adventure: he has decided to sue the largest charitable Armenian organization in the Diaspora, under the pretext of reversing the AGBU Board's decision to close down the Melkonian Educational Institute in Cyprus. The AGBU has met all its obligations to the Patriarchate; therefore, Mutafian has no legal leg to stand on. He is obviously out for trouble.

Since Archbishop Mutafian's record demonstrates amply that all along he has been serving the Turkish government's political agenda, it is inconceivable that he would engage in this new effort without the authorities' consent, encouragement and certainly design.

The Turks have always tried to damage the AGBU's reputation. Government controlled media has accused the organization many times that all its fund-raising drives to keep the school open and to provide relief have been intended to train terrorists. Even during the occupation of Cyprus one of the first targets to be bombed was the Melkonian Educational Institute.

Thus far, the Turkish authorities failed to damage the AGBU. Today, they seem to have found a helping hand in the adventurous person of Archbishop Mutafian.

If he were truly concerned with the demise of an Armenian educational institution, he would better serve his community by suing the Turkish government in International Court at The Hague to reopen the Holy Cross Seminary in Istanbul. His colleague at the Fenerbahce, the Greek Ecumenical Patriarch, has been fighting to reopen his seminary and it looks as though he will succeed.

Armenians traditionally have instant respect when confronted by an person in clergy garb - more so with Istanbul Armenians, who have enjoyed the spiritual leadership of inspirational patriarchs over many centuries. Some clergymen have taken advantage of that respect and they have abused that clergy garb and rank. Archbishop Mutafian seems to be one of them.

The Melkonian Educational Institute alumni, who may have legitimate concerns about the demise of their beloved school, would lose the credibility of their cause by playing into the Turkish hands.

Those who believe they have found a hero to champion their cause may actually be following a man with Turkish mischief at heart.

ADL RAMGAVAR
Central Committee
Boston, Feb. 2005

[Gavur]

Armenian is that you?
noren yegar?
Ku forumut inchu ches genar?
Re-carnati hon kashesig mehk yegav luv ingerer mezi hos.

[TurQ]

This is sick

this is pathetic

Ethen Mahcupyan ireally put it very well, "Diasporans are angry to us just because we keep on living in Turkey".



These pathetic guys think that they're "ArmeneoMeters" .
Masrob is an honorable person unlike those who bad-mouth him.

[
Sadly, overwhelming majority of Turkish Armenians are more Turkish than Armenian. Of course there are good Armenians amongst them as well, but they are very few and far in between.

Just go and spend some time within a traditional "Polsahai" setting and you will see. These Christian Turks (and marginal Christians at best) are by far the most anti-Armenia and anti-Hayastantsi group.

Members of our "new generation" from Istanbul proudly claim that they are Turks - not Armenians. These pathetic fools, even claim that Turks are by far the most civilized of nations and that problems between Turks and Armenians are as a result of Western manipulations and the *evil* Dashnaktsoutyoun.
ADL RAMGAVAR
Central Committee
Boston, Feb. 2005

[imported_DHolyGhost]

This is sick

this is pathetic

Ethen Mahcupyan ireally put it very well, "Diasporans are angry to us just because we keep on living in Turkey".



These pathetic guys think that they're "ArmeneoMeters" .
Masrob is an honorable person unlike those who bad-mouth him.

yes he is honorable to Turks as long as he keeps handing these towels to them so they can wipe themselves, I want to here your opinion after he uses the word genocide, as far as I know he only represent the self hating Armenians.

[imported_DHolyGhost]

good one Heat!

[hitite]

Yet Archbishop Mutafian gleefully engaged in that endeavor at the first advance of the Turkish authorities. He allowed himself to be used as a political tool when he took a tour of Europe last year to promote Turkey's admission into the European Union (EU), while the world Armenian political leadership was opposing the move vehemently.

Who is "the world Armenian political leadership"??? I thought Armenia was expressly supporting Turkey's EU membership. Or is the real political leadership based somewhere else?

[ScythianVizier]

This one is the latest speech that he did utter when he did participate at a conference in Erciyes University:

S P E E C H

MESROB II

Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey

Dear Rector,
Dear Participants,

I do not think that, as citizens of the Turkish Republic, our main reason for coming together here is to shower praise on the vast world empire of the Ottoman Dynasty. However, it is important to analyze the Ottoman system since it provided the possibility for people of different identities in the Ottoman Empire to live together and because in a shrinking world that requires people of increasingly different religions, languages, races, and nationalities to live together in the same cultural mosaic, crowded side by side, it will be no mistake to refer to the experience of the Ottomans.

I would like to share with you some of my personal thoughts about the event that is often called the “Armenian Issue” by some people and by the Turkish press.

THE HISTORIAN’S ETHICAL DIMENSION

The way we look at history is an ethical matter with universal consequences. Our way of presenting history to today’s generations is also an ethical matter. It often requires courage and freedom to convey the bare truth. If we are squeezed into a certain mold, if we are slaves to a certain ideology, and especially if we have a nationalist, racist, or militarist temperament, we will sometimes have difficulty in speaking the truth and communicating realities to the new generations. Our having a realistic historical viewpoint depends on whether we can be freed from the value judgements of the day and from subjective opinions.

It is not possible to idealize every phase in the history of Ottoman-Armenian relations and to say that Armenians never had any problems. However, we know that the first acquaintance between Turks and Armenians goes back at least 1300 years.[1] If the historian Elise actually did write his work on the Persian-Armenian War in the fifth century, then this mutual acquaintance has a 1500 year history.[2] In this long history of commercial and political interactions between neighbours, there are relatively few instances of exchanges of physical violence.

Just as the nationalist movement that started with the French Revolution in time affected all other governments, so all peoples connected to the Ottoman Empire came under its influence. Especially towards the end of the 19th century there was an increase in tension in relations, whether responsibility for this was due to the Ottoman Government, or the German, American, French, British and especially Russian governments, or Armenian political parties, or the Armenian Patriarchs of Istanbul of that period, who discharged their obligations under the close surveillance of the Temporal Affairs Council that then consisted of Armenian secularists in Turkey. Even if the various sides were not all equally responsible, it is not an moral approach in view of the painful aftereffects for any one of them to speak up and deny any accountability in the development of those events, or to place all responsibility on the other parties.

THE IMPASSE MUST BE BROKEN

Both Turks and Armenians must leave aside their cliches such as, “We really used to love the loyal nation” and “We really did love the Turks”. In place of nostalgic expressions such as, “My grocer was an Armenian” and “My army officer was a really good Turk”, we must accelerate those historical and scholarly endeavours that offer concrete examples from the past of the fact that Turks and Armenians did coexist peacefully. Instead of wasting time and money in publishing books that only re-state in various ways the usual Turkish and Armenian claims that everyone has memorized by now, Armenian works that can make an important contribution to the history of Turkish-Armenian relations should increasingly be translated into Turkish and English for the consideration of academicians and the general public. What are fundamentally needed at this stage in the impasse are new primary sources, rather than new interpretations of what already exists. For instance, the minutes of the Armenian National Assembly which, according to the 1863 Constitution of the Armenian Millet, appeared in print with the approval of the Sublime Porte and were collected regularly from 1863 to the time of Sultan Abdulhamid are one of the black holes in Turkish history. These texts should be published urgently as a parallel text, with Armenian on one page and the corresponding Turkish translation on the opposite page. The writings of Patriarch Nerses II (1874-1884), the correspondence of Patriarch Madteos III (1894-1896 and 1908-1909), the three volumes of memoirs of Patriarch Magakya I (1896-1908), and the one-volume patriarchal memoirs of Patriarch Zaven I (1913-1915 and 1919-1922) should be available in Turkish. Instead of books about the Armenian Church and its culture, and books that are sometimes highly unscholarly, Patriarch Magakya’s three huge volumes of the history of the Armenian Church should be read in Turkish by university students. In addition, the archives of the Istanbul Patriarchate that were moved to Jerusalem in 1916-1918 must also be brought into academic circles by the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. In order to create the possibility of collegial work on a common platform by the next generation of Turkish and Armenian academicians, the teaching of the Ottoman, Armenian and Turkish languages and their literatures must begin without delay, whether in universities in Turkey or in Armenia.

MUTUAL RESPECT

To rescue today’s relations from a dead end, dialogue is inescapable, and for dialogue mutual respect is a must. It is difficult to bring together parties who belittle each other and engage in verbal assaults. Therefore activities between groups of academicians, young people, artists, and members of the press from Armenia and Turkey, in which they exchange visits, for acquaintance and mutual understanding, are very important.

Respect must also be shown to the other’s history. We have to change the mentality shown by some Armenian historians who still see Turks as uncultured barbarian emigrants from Central Asia and who belittle their ability to establish a Turkish state and ensure its continuity. We must likewise change the mentality of some Turkish historians who say, “Armenians never had a state, and they couldn’t found one,” and who even turn the Native American peoples into Turkish clans who crossed the Bering Strait. Both the Turks and the Armenians are peoples who, both in their own capacity, have made a significant historical mark in politics and culture. In the museums of Anatolian Civilizations, the mentality that sees the historical Armenian Kingdoms as only vassal states or completely non-existent, even neglecting the mutual pacts between Armenian Kingdoms and western governments, can only deceive its own citizens, since it cannot destroy the documents in western archives and libraries. However, when there is a mutually respectful approach to the histories of the two sides, where each other’s successes are praised, it will be possible to create mutual empathy.

FRIENDSHIP IS A GEOGRAPHICAL IMPERATIVE

Turks and Armenians are people of the same geographical area. Almighty God has put these people together. It will not be possible to change this, now or in the future. Turks and Armenians have to learn to live together, or side by side. Strategists sin by ignoring this reality and by turning the youth of the two countries against each other. People will either be enemies or friends. Is friendship not much better than enmity?

DO NOT DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN THE ELEMENTAL CITIZENS OF A COUNTRY

However, fanatical nationalism claims that its own country and race are chosen, that its language is perfect, and that its culture is unsurpassable, but this is nothing other than collective narcissism. These kinds of baseless claims serve no purpose other than to cause similar narcissism in others. To count the other as nothing, to see in the other a foreigner or enemy or potential saboteur not only creates a chaotic condition in the country but, because such an approach always needs to create windmills to fight, it also leads to uneasiness because it hatches speculation about which group of citizens will be the next victims. I think that the often-heard _expression, “Turks and Kurds are the original elements of this country”, is also a sort of discrimination. If our Turkish and Kurdish brothers and sisters are the original elements, then in even the rosiest of definitions that puts the Armenians and others into second place. But the Armenians have a written history in this land since the sixth century BCE, and the Syriacs and Jews have even older records.

CORRECT THE PROBLEMS OF ARMENIANS IN TURKEY

Today in our country of 70 million people, the number of Christian Armenians who are citizens of the Republic of Turkey has fallen to 70 thousand. According to some government departments, there are about 30 thousand people with Armenian roots living in Turkey who have come from abroad. In this situation solutions are needed for religious, charitable and social issues pertaining to minority communities, including the local Armenian community, whose total population is probably less than one in a thousand. These are matters that arise from the regulations for religious foundations, and matters that lead to the struggle for existence in the face of massive problems generated by a changing world. This is one of the clearest areas where abstract concepts such as “tolerance,” “living together,” and “pluralism” can be concretized and can turn from word to deed. Otherwise we shall this country’s multi-hued character gradually fading away, becoming pale and monotonous.

RELATIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND ARMENIA REQUIRE SELF-SACRIFICE

The normalization of relations between Turkey, to which we Turkish Armenians are bound by citizenship and the dialogue of life, and Armenia, where we have common ethnic and religious roots, is the goal of the Armenians in Turkey, where we find ourselves between two countries, between two loved ones, if you will. But unless there is mutual sacrifice, it is evident that it will be difficult to make progress in these relations.

WE MUST GIVE PRIORITY TO HUMAN AND ETHICAL VALUES

We must think of what binds us together as human beings beyond religion, race, nationality, and so on.

In this context, what we leave behind for our children, for the future, is important. Thus in addition to scientific and technical education we must also see the humanities as of utmost importance and give this area the necessary encouragement. We must accept that studies of language and literature are also a significant bonding element.

No matter how much the secular form of government guarantees freedom of religion and conscience, it can be said that the implementation of so-called Jacobin secularism in our country, which we sometimes encounter, prevents the richness of the spiritual meaning of Islam’s ethical dimensions from contributing to analyses, and consequently this is also sometimes true of approaches to history.

I wish, as is done successfully in some countries, that pre-Ottoman civilizations could be considered as part of our historical heritage and that we could be enriched by the contribution made to Turkey by Byzantine, Armenian, Syriac, and Jewish cultures. In this context I see the Ministry of Tourism and Culture’s project to restore the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross on the Aghtamar Island in Lake Van as a very positive step in the right direction.

NOT NATIONALISM OR ETHNOCENTRICISM BUT ETHNOPHILIA

Both Turks and Armenians must break out of the straitjacket of exclusive nationalism and racism. Otherwise it is clear what will happen. The harm and cost is evident wherever the practice of nationalism and racism predominates. The results are always bloody wars, tears, and hate campaigns that last for generations. I believe that for peace and well-being to obtain the upper hand, we must be able to escape from this straitjacket. Instead of nationalism and racism, it is much more in line with our religious and ethical values to practice a love and appreciation for our national cultures.

CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD WISHES

I congratulate the Rector of Erciyes University, Prof. Dr. Cengis UTAS; the Head of the Symposium Organizing Committee, Prof. Dr. M. Metin HULAGU; and Assistant Professors Dr. Sakir BATMAZ, Dr. Suleyman DEMIRCI and Dr. Gulbadi ALAN who worked to organize this symposium. It is my wish that this symposium, which is taking place in our historical city of Kayseri (Caesarea in Cappadocia) may set an important milestone on the road to peace and well-being, and I would express my deepest respect to all who are following the proceedings. I pray that peace and well-being may prevail in our country, for the happiness of all of our citizens, and for unity. Thank you.

[1] C.J.F. Dowsett tr., Movsés Dasxuranci, The History of the Caucasion Albanians. Oxford, 1961, Book Two, Chapter 12.

[2] Elise, “Vasn Vardana ew Hayoc Paterazmin”, Yerevan, 1957, p. 12, 141, 198. While some academicians state that this work is from the fifth century, others think it is from the 7th century.

http://www.hyetert.com/haber3.asp?AltYazi=Haberler+%5C%3E+G%FCncel&Id=20967&DilId=2

[Vogelgrippe]

Is insulting Turkish-Armenians permissable?

Sadly, overwhelming majority of Turkish Armenians are more Turkish than Armenian. Of course there are good Armenians amongst them as well, but they are very few and far in between.

Just go and spend some time within a traditional "Polsahai" setting and you will see. These Christian Turks (and marginal Christians at best) are by far the most anti-Armenia and anti-Hayastantsi group.

Members of our "new generation" from Istanbul proudly claim that they are Turks - not Armenians. These pathetic fools, even claim that Turks are by far the most civilized of nations and that problems between Turks and Armenians are as a result of Western manipulations and the *evil* Dashnaktsoutyoun.

Several years ago, during a visit to the greater New York area, the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul admitted on live radio broadcast that the intermarriage rate between Armenians and Turks within Turkey is around seventy percent. And that Armenians within Turkey are more-or-less living the high life.

Of all Armenians worldwide, Turkish Armenians from Istanbul are the ones that travel to Armenia the least. This has nothing to do with fear towards the Turkish government, for they claim that they have the freedom within Turkey to do anything, this has more to do with an utter disdain they feel towards Armenians of Armenia and their carelessness towards the Armenian Republic.

This so-called Patriarch Mutafian needs to be flogged in public at the very least although we know what he would really deserve. This self-hating Mutafian filth and the rest of his administration are willing slaves for Turks and their filthy anti-Armenian Patriarchate is essentially a propaganda tool for the Turkish foreign ministry.

The Patriarchate of Istanbul has out-lived its intended purpose. Its high time to move this Patriarchate to France, Russia or even America - where it can serve the Armenian nation again. Thirty thousand Armenians of Istanbul with an intermarriage rate with Turks of seventy percent do not need a Patriarchate to administer their spiritual needs.

Below is what "liberal" Ramgavars (not Dashnaks) are now saying about this filth in Istanbul.

Archbishop Mutafian - Full of Turkish Mischief

Ever since exterminating 1.5 million Armenians and depopulating historic Armenia, successive regimes in Turkey have been hard at work, in an obsessive determination, to wipe out all traces of Armenian heritage in our ancestral land.

However, since Ataturk's Europeanization drive, the traditional Turkish scimitar has been replaced by more sophisticated methods with the very same ultimate goal - to drive the original inhabitants of the land into oblivion.

Recognizing the role of the Armenian Church in preserving the Armenian culture and identity, the Turks have turned it into a prime target of destruction. Thousands of houses of worship have been reduced to ruins. Additionally, the Turks have resorted to every ruse, any kind of Byzantine law to emasculate the remaining Armenian community in Istanbul, especially decapitating its spiritual leadership.

Contrary to the Lausanne Treaty (1923) provisions, the Turkish government has shut down the Holy Cross Armenian Seminary, the only center where young generations of clergy could be trained. When Armenians resorted to other creative means to replenish the dwindling pool of clergymen by enrolling aspiring clergymen at the Jerusalem Seminary, the Turkish government acted swiftly to ban that route as well, accusing Armenians of training terrorists (sic!) in that seminary. One of those returning seminarians, Father Manuel Yergatian, ended up in jail with ludicrous accusations and he suffered most of his 14 years verdict in the Turkish dungeons.

While denying all venues to train young clergy, the Turkish government has devised another trap: thus the Turkish law prohibits anyone from being elected as the Armenian Patriarch who is not born in Turkey. These restrictions severely curtail the number of potential candidates, only to eliminate all the candidates in a matter of several years. Under these devilish Turkish schemes, clergymen of dubious reputation will ascend the patriarchal throne by default. The current patriarch, Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, is the product of that default.

His predecessors, Archbishop Karekin Khachadourian, Archbishop Shnork Kalousdian, and even Archbishop Kazanjian, have served the Patriarchate with extreme prudence, cognizant of the limitations and restrictions imposed by the Turkish government. Thanks to their prudence, wisdom and inspiring personalities, the great traditions of the Istanbul Armenian community have been preserved, the creative impulse of the intellectual life has remained productive and the institutions have survived.

The emergence of Archbishop Mutafian has altered the scene dramatically. Traditionally united, the Istanbul Armenian community has been severely divided. He has bullied intellectuals, journalists and benefactors by his unorthodox behavior; however, thanks to the wisdom of the injured parties not to react, eccentric behavior of this young clergyman continues its damage.

Since Archbishop Mutafian was easily elected to the Patriarchal throne, with Turkish government crutches, he was intoxicated with his instant success and he used the patriarchal throne as a launching pad to try his luck as the supreme head of the Armenian Church - where he discovered that Turkish tentacles were not long enough to help him in his outlandish design.

He was frustrated and he turned against the Holy See at Echmiadzin; he used every opportunity to demonstrate his disrespect and he broke away from the traditional hierarchical relations, which the former Patriarchs had established and cherished sacredly.All his predecessors had been coerced by the Turkish government to get involved politically to promote its dubious agenda to the detriment of the Armenian cause, but they had wisely shied away from engaging in any such endeavor.

Yet Archbishop Mutafian gleefully engaged in that endeavor at the first advance of the Turkish authorities. He allowed himself to be used as a political tool when he took a tour of Europe last year to promote Turkey's admission into the European Union (EU), while the world Armenian political leadership was opposing the move vehemently.

Upon his return to Istanbul he believed that he had earned Brownie points with the Turkish government. When he approached the Turkish authorities with problems plaguing the Armenian community, he discovered that nothing had changed, and that the same authorities continued their discrimination policies. They continued usurping community assets and controlling the Armenian schools to eradicate any ethnic tradition left there.

As the Turkish heavy hand was relentlessly working to disrupt community life, instead of complaining to the International Court, or declaring a hunger strike at UN Headquarters to draw attention to the plight of the Armenian community, he dared to show up on Turkish TV to say what the Turks wanted to hear and what they wanted the world to hear - that the Armenian community had been living freely and peacefully and that no other Armenians from abroad had to meddle in their affairs.

When the EU representatives visited Turkey to contact the community leaders, Greeks, Kurds and xxxs courageously cited their grievances, yet Archbishop Mutafian disappeared on a Greek Island.

During President's Bush's visit he spoke of humanitarian values and complained about Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, instead of complaining about Midnight Express style Turkish prisons.

As the world Armenian community struggles for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Archbishop Mutafian plays the old Turkish tune: that history has to be left to the historians, as if there were anything left to be said about the genocide.

Today Archbishop Mutafian is on his ultimate adventure: he has decided to sue the largest charitable Armenian organization in the Diaspora, under the pretext of reversing the AGBU Board's decision to close down the Melkonian Educational Institute in Cyprus. The AGBU has met all its obligations to the Patriarchate; therefore, Mutafian has no legal leg to stand on. He is obviously out for trouble.

Since Archbishop Mutafian's record demonstrates amply that all along he has been serving the Turkish government's political agenda, it is inconceivable that he would engage in this new effort without the authorities' consent, encouragement and certainly design.

The Turks have always tried to damage the AGBU's reputation. Government controlled media has accused the organization many times that all its fund-raising drives to keep the school open and to provide relief have been intended to train terrorists. Even during the occupation of Cyprus one of the first targets to be bombed was the Melkonian Educational Institute.

Thus far, the Turkish authorities failed to damage the AGBU. Today, they seem to have found a helping hand in the adventurous person of Archbishop Mutafian.

If he were truly concerned with the demise of an Armenian educational institution, he would better serve his community by suing the Turkish government in International Court at The Hague to reopen the Holy Cross Seminary in Istanbul. His colleague at the Fenerbahce, the Greek Ecumenical Patriarch, has been fighting to reopen his seminary and it looks as though he will succeed.

Armenians traditionally have instant respect when confronted by an person in clergy garb - more so with Istanbul Armenians, who have enjoyed the spiritual leadership of inspirational patriarchs over many centuries. Some clergymen have taken advantage of that respect and they have abused that clergy garb and rank. Archbishop Mutafian seems to be one of them.

The Melkonian Educational Institute alumni, who may have legitimate concerns about the demise of their beloved school, would lose the credibility of their cause by playing into the Turkish hands.

Those who believe they have found a hero to champion their cause may actually be following a man with Turkish mischief at heart.

ADL RAMGAVAR
Central Committee
Boston, Feb. 2005

I do not personally know the Turkish-Armenian Patriarch, so I will save my comments. He might not the best Patriarch to represent the interest of Turkish-Armenians, and if this is the case, I hope his successor will be a better one.

The general comment above about Turkish Armenians is, however, ignorant and shameful to say the least. I have personally known many Armenians in Turkey, and three of them, I continued to see when they moved out of Turkey to Switzerland (2), and France (1). All of their relatives were already living outside Turkey, so when they also moved, had no longer an organic and economic connection to Turkey. Still, they still 'play the Turkish tune', and have a deep love for modern Turks and Turkey. They are far and exempt from the accusations that 'they cannot speak their own minds from fear of their Turkish masters'.

You should therefore refrain from posting articles which insult and attack these honourable, patriotic, mostly devoutly Christian, and humanistic Armenians just because they cherish, understand, and even miss their Turkish friends, colleagues, and brethren. They will never, ever, be like you, and that is why I am so proud of them.

[Varouj]

Still, they still 'play the Turkish tune', and have a deep love for modern Turks and Turkey. They are far and exempt from the accusations that 'they cannot speak their own minds from fear of their Turkish masters'.

And they say people who have been in hostage situations develop a sick attachment to their captors.