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Many Armenians are leaving Nagorno-Karabakh these days. One remains and shows itself unbroken despite the outcome of the war. Speak to many from the soul.
Father Ter Hovhannes Hovhannesyan wants to stay, even though his world is falling apart around him these days. His Armenian compatriots clear out their houses, cover the roofs: what remains behind burns. No stone should stand on another as Azerbaijan takes control of large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh these days.
The Father has lived in Nagorno-Karabakh for almost 30 years, the region for which Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought several times in recent weeks. The de facto Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh has long been predominantly inhabited by Armenians; in a UN resolution, the area was assigned to Azerbaijan until the conflict was finally resolved. “Armenians don’t want to leave their homes to the enemy,” says Hovhannes. “You built it stone by stone with your own hands, now you destroy it with deep pain.”
His home is the Dadivank Monastery. Built in the Middle Ages, it is a central symbol of the Armenian Church – also because it shows how long the Christian tradition has been anchored in the region. Hovhannes has given the monastery a new luster in recent years. When he took it over in 2006, it wasn’t in good condition, he says. Animals were still kept on the site in Soviet times. He found there were paintings under the dirty facade. He took care of the buildings in detail; in 2015 they were then meticulously restored with the help of investors and volunteers. Present his monastery to the world on Facebook. He can be seen there too, in a black robe, with a cross pendant, a gray beard and a determined look.
Dadivank Monastery: a gift for all Christians, says Father Hovhannes. (Source: Emad Aljumah / Getty Images)
Christian symbols are saved
With the war, the Armenians not only lost this monastery, but also a large part of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The father trusts the “vandals”, as he calls the Azeris, to destroy everything. Many people think like him: churches across the region have already been obliterated and Christian symbols rescued. How real this fear is can only be imagined. However, human rights organizations are reporting war crimes on both sides, with Azerbaijan reportedly committing much more. Among other things, the Armenian prisoners were publicly executed and Azerbaijan was apparently supported by Syrian mercenaries.
Hovhannes also initially removed the chatschkars from his monastery, the so-called memorial stones with decorated millings and a cross in the center. Then, after days of fear, a small miracle happened: the Russian peacekeepers will guard the monastery and guarantee its existence, at least for the next five years. What happens next is uncertain.
The father with the Kalashnikov
The priest has given many interviews in recent days and is well known in Armenia. This is due to his devotion to the monastery. Before it was clear that the Russians would protect him, he had already decided to stay there. He wants to preserve the beauty of the place. “The church belongs to God and should belong to the Christian world forever,” he says.
Father Hovhannes: He wants to stay in Nagorno-Karabakh. (Source: Alexander Nemenov / AFP / Getty Images)
He is also known for his willingness to fight. In doing so, he sometimes uses drastic messages, which are also controversial in Armenia: on 10 November, after Armenia and Azerbaijan had signed the peace agreement under the auspices of Russia and Turkey, he accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his traitor’s Facebook profile. . To do this, he posed in a photo with a Kalashnikov, again and again.
Compared to the Western media, he is more moderate, but his message is clear: “I will not return this monastery.” The priest, who fought himself in the Nagorno-Karabakh War as a student in the early 1990s, shows himself unbroken despite the outcome of the war – and therefore speaks from the soul of many Armenians.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: the leadership of the Soviet Union assigned the predominantly Armenian area to Azerbaijan in 1923. Against this, there were repeated protests in Nagorno-Karabakh until a bloody conflict broke out at the end of the 1923. 80, in which Armenia was finally involved and, together with the Nagorno-Karabakh army, brought the region under their control. Nagorno-Karabakh describes itself as independent; in a UN resolution the area was assigned to Azerbaijan until the conflict was finally resolved. Read more about this here.
Abandoned from the west
Because not only for Hovhannes, but also for many Armenians, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue has not been resolved despite the ceasefire agreement. Thousands of people have demonstrated in the capital Yerevan in the past two weeks, berating the prime minister and the clergy as “traitors” and demanding their resignation. Getting to grips with the status quo after several weeks of war isn’t very popular here. The Armenians who are demonstrating now do not feel only betrayed by their government. The rest of the world looked the other way when Azerbaijan attacked them with help from Turkey on September 27, they say.
A woman cries when she visits the monastery for the last time. (Source: Alexander Nemenov / AP / Getty Images)
Despite all the disappointment, the Armenians are now hoping for Europe and Russia. So Father Hovhannes thinks: “The question must not be on the shoulders of Armenia alone. Europe must also intervene”. Hope now rests on the “Minsk Group”, which has accompanied the conflict since 1992 and now wants to negotiate again. The group is part of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and is led by the US, Russia and France. Russia is Armenia’s protecting power and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has already highlighted France’s close ties with the country. Only: if a peace agreement has not even been reached in recent years, why should it happen now?
Many Armenians have returned to Dadivank Monastery again in the past few days – the last time in a long time? Father Hovhannes sees it differently: “Not to say goodbye,” says the priest. But pray – and show they believe in him and the church. He is sure that people will soon be able to return to their homes. But the Armenians have little else but to hope for another miracle.
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