Armenian archbishop: Azerbaijan wants Dialogue

7/5/2010

Archbishop Aykazian of the Armenian Church in the USA has told The Armenian Reporter his impressions of his visit to Baku.

Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, legate of the Eastern Diocese in Washington, visited the Azerbaijani capital on 26 April together with Catholicos Garegin II, head of the Armenian Church, to attend the World Summit of Religious Leaders.

‘The most impressive was the city of Baku,’ the archbishop told The Armenian Reporter’s editor, Emil Sanamyan. ‘It is very beautiful, very organized, very clean. It reminded me a little bit of Istanbul. When you see the old city, of which I saw very little, you understand that there was a culture and it is not just the petrol money.

‘But from what I understand, a lot of work has been done under President Aliyev. Highways are extremely good, particularly the road from the airport to the city is very beautiful and along the road they have built walls with motifs [that block the view from the road]. So [when you arrive] the first impressions are very good, as opposed to Yerevan, say, where the road from the airport to the city is quite depressing.

‘The conference was also well-organized. I have to say much better than the conference held in Moscow a few years ago, which I also attended.

‘The security was very tight. As we arrived, the road from the airport to the conference venue in Baku was shut down and there were police on every street corner. And the same happened when the catholicos went to meet Ilham Aliyev at the presidential palace.’

Archbishop Aykazian said he had initially not been planning to attend the summit, but the catholicos had suggesting that he accompany him.

‘So I went on behalf of the National Council of Churches, but flew in with the Catholicos from Yerevan directly to Baku. An Armenian businessman from Russia offered a plane to us and it took only 45 minutes to fly from Yerevan to Baku.’

‘There was some doubt that the trip would take place, unless a joint statement from the Russian patriarch, catholicos and sheikh-ul-Islam could be agreed on in advance,’ the archbishop said. ‘The catholicos wanted to have a balanced statement before he went to Baku. And when that was ready, the trip took place.

‘We arrived about 09.00 and left about 22.00 at night. In addition to the summit, we visited [the building of] the Armenian church of St Gregory the Illuminator. There was a fire in 1990 there that destroyed the frescoes. The cross is missing and altar has been destroyed, but the premises have been renovated and are now well-kept.

‘The building now stores books, including some 6,000 books in the Armenian language as we were told. The lady who handles those books is an Azerbaijani from Yerevan and speaks perfect Armenian.’

Asked about the significance of the trip, Archbishop Aykazian said: ‘Everyone felt it was a very historic event. We hope that it will diffuse tensions at least a little bit. I don’t know how effective it is going to be. But at least we have shown that we are ready to talk and the catholicos has invited Sheikh-ul-Islam to come to Yerevan and he accepted.’

He was asked, ‘The image of the Armenian Church – anything Armenian really – in Azerbaijan has been very negative in how it has been presented over the years by state officials and media. There are also the frequent threats made by Azerbaijan of going to war with Armenia. How did that reconcile with the invitation for the catholicos to visit?

‘Religious leaders came together because we believe that we can play a very positive role in helping achieve a peaceful solution of the Karabakh conflict,’ the archbishop said. ‘The religious leaders may not have the political power but they can influence those in power. It is important to note that already in 1993 through the World Council of Churches mediation, the Sheikh-ul-Islam together with Catholicos Vazgen I issued a statement that noted that Karabakh was not a religious conflict. And the Baku communiqué reiterated that.’

‘Azerbaijan has actively sought support for its position within the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and has been backed by majority of OIC members at the United Nations,’ The Armenian Reporter pointed out.

‘That is true. But at the same time, Islamic groups or organization have never described the conflict as religious. Even Azerbaijani religious leaders have not issued calls for jihad. There have been statements that such a call could be issued, but it has not materialized and I doubt that it will,’ the archbishop said.

Asked about the role of Sheikh-ul-Islam Pashazade in Azerbaijan today, the archbishop said: ‘It is hard to say. But I think he is respected and my impression is that he is a good man. I was impressed by his simplicity. He was very cordial and polite with the catholicos, leaving more than 100 guests at the conference to accompany the catholicos to the airport. So the impression was of a humble, simple person. And of course the fact that he accepted the invitation to come to Armenia means that the dialogue would continue.’

‘There has been some criticism in Armenia that the catholicos agreed to go to a country whose government continues to target Armenian religious heritage sites, with the recent destruction of the medieval cemetery of Old Jugha perhaps the most prominent example. Were those issues raised in Baku?,’ The Armenian Reporter asked.

‘The catholicos openly spoke about the [Old Jugha] khachkars in his conversations and stressed that monuments in both countries must be protected. And the communiqué that was issued also reflected that view,’ the archbishop replied.

‘The catholicos is ready for dialogue,’ the archbishop said. ‘The dialogue must be about peace. And we might like each other or not, but we have to start to visit each other again and we have to talk.’

The Armenian Reporter commented, ‘For the past six or seven years, the Azerbaijani government discouraged such visits and in fact, outside formal international events Armenians have been unable to go to Azerbaijan, and those Azerbaijanis that go to Armenia are harassed when they go back. Is that changing?’

‘I think that is changing,’ the archbishop said. ‘I think there will be more contacts between intellectuals and journalists. But these should be moderate people interested in solutions rather than creating more problems.’

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