In recent months, I have been contacted by many readers who asked me to write about the controversy regarding the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate’s lease of around 25 percent of the Armenian Quarter to a Jewish investor for 98 years. However, as the details of the lease contract were not made public, I was unable to write about it.
Trying to learn the facts, I called the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Nourhan Manougian twice, asking him for a copy of the contract. He did not respond. I spoke with now defrocked Fr. Baret Yeretzian, one of the signatories of the contract, who said he did not have a copy of the contract. I made several unsuccessful attempts to contact some of the lawyers who went on a fact-finding mission to Jerusalem and prepared a 184-page report. I was told that the report has not been made public because it had some sensitive information. I also contacted an Armenian activist in Jerusalem and one of the sponsors of the fact-finding mission.
Even though I still have not seen a copy of either the report or contract, I just read a revealing article on the Keghart website which posted an interview with a Jerusalem Armenian activist who had a copy of the 184-page report, including the contract with one of the pages missing. I decided to write about what I have learned so far, even though I prefer to review personally copies of the contract and report.
For those who have been following the various scandals involving the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate, there is nothing surprising — sad, but not surprising. Such covert land leases and sales of precious items owned by the Patriarchate have been going on for decades.
This current scandal is not just a questionable business transaction. It has political repercussions given the controversy between Palestinians and the State of Israel over Jerusalem. It has also consequences for the survival of the dwindling Armenian community in Jerusalem.
The contract for the lease has been signed by three clergymen: Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, now defrocked Father Baret Yeretzian, and Archbishop Sevan Gharibian. As Fr. Baret, the former director of the Patriarchate’s Real Estate Office, has come under intense criticism, many feel that the Patriarch has attempted to shift the blame on Fr. Baret, making him the scapegoat. Nevertheless, King Abdullah II of Jordan, historically the custodian of Holy Sites in Jerusalem, and Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian National Authority, in a joint announcement, blamed the Patriarch and suspended their recognition of Archbishop Manougian as the Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem, the Holy Land and Jordan.
