The Ancient Armenian Papacy: Strategic wars at the echmiadzin church

By Ali Arslan

Armenian History shows parallelism with the history of Armenian Church; therefore, they should be handled together. In this respect, this study is unique in the field. St. Gregorian rejected the decisions of the Consul of Kadikoy (Calchedon) in 451 and dissent from the Roman church. While their followers were trapped in the conflict between the E

• Language: English
• Publisher: iBoo
• Release date: Apr 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9786058443501

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The AncıentArmenıan Papacy

Strategic wars at the echmiadzin church

The AncıentArmenıan Papacy

Strategic wars at the echmiadzin church

Ali Arslan, Ph.D.

Istanbul University,

Faculty of Literature,

Department of History

iBoo

London

THE ANCIENT ARMENIAN PAPACY

Strategic wars at the echmiadzin church

An iBoo Book

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Hard cover and eBook edition published May 2015

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Copyright © 2015 Ali Arslan, iBOO PH

This is a work of history, published originally in Turkish and translated to English by Ahmet and Nisa Ozturk. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, electronic, graphic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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About the Author

Ali Arslan was born in 1961 in Yayladağı-Hatay, Turkey. He completed elementary and secondary education in Yayladağı. He graduated from the department of history in Istanbul University in 1985. In the same year he has started graduate education in history and completed M.A. degree with the thesis Academic Relations Between Ottoman Turkey and Turkestan (XIV-XIX. Century) in 1988.

He started his Phd in 1988 and successfully and became a doctor with the thesis Transition from Darulfunun to the University in 1992.

He started to work as research assistant in the department of Modern Age and The History of Turkish Republic in 1987. With the establishment of The History of Turkish Republic as a new branch in 1989 he preferred to study in this department.

In 1990 he went to UK to improve his foreign language and to study in the Archives and Libraries of England. Between October 1922- December 1923 he worked as an education consultant in the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 1995 he has started to deliver classes as an Assistant Professor in the department of The History of Turkish Republic. In November 1997 he became an Associate Professor in the same department. He became a professor of history in 2005.

He was the chair of Department of History in Istanbul University between the years 2011-2014.

Contents

PROLOGUE ...................................................................13

INTRODUCTION ........................................................15

THE FORMATION OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH ...15

I. The Establishment and Development of the Armenian Church .. 15

II. The Power of the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate ................17

a – The Catholicoi’s duty of preserving the Church’s ways and traditions ................................................................................. 18

b – The Catholicosate’s power when giving Religious Titles 19

c – The necessity of the Balm of Gilead, necessary for Armenian services, being prepared by the Catholicoi ....................................21

PART I

THE TRANSITION FROM THE ETCHMIADZIN CATHOLICOSATE’S OTTOMAN SUPERVISION TO ITS RUSSIAN RULE ...................................................................23

A – THE ETCHMIADZIN CATHOLICOSATE UNDER OTTOMAN SUPERVISION ...........................................................................25

I. The Etchmiadzin Catholicosate being tied to the Ottoman State.25

II. The Etchmiadzin Catholicosate’s status before the Russian invasion according to Ottoman records ....................................................27

B – THE RUSSIANS’ EXPANSION INTO SOUTH CAUCASIA AND THE RUSSIANS’ GAINING CONTROL OF THE ETCHMIADZIN CATHOLICOSATE ................................................................33

I. The Development of Russian-Armenian relations ....................36

II. The Russians’ efforts to get their own men appointed as the Etchmiadzin Catholicos ....................................................38

III. The role and importance of the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate in the Russian wars against Iran and the Ottoman ....................................44

a. The Etchmiadzin Catholicosate’s role and importance in the Russian-Iranian War ....................................................................................44

b. The Etchmiadzin Catholicosate’s role and importance in the Russian-Ottoman War ....................................................................................47

IV. The Russians’ strategy for the emigrating the Armenians to Yerevan and the part that the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate played ...50

a. The Russians’ strategy of getting the Armenians to emigrate to the vicinity of Yerevan, and gathering them in one area .....................50

b. The Etchmiadzin Catholicosate’s Role in the Emigration of Armenians from Iran ....................................................................50

c. The Etchmiadzin Catholicosate’s Role in the Emigration of Armenians from the Ottoman State .....................................51

d. The Situation of Armenians That Were Now Under Russian Rule ..53

V. The Status of the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate Under Russian Rule..54

VI. Precautions taken by the Ottoman State against the Russian-controlled Etchmiadzin Catholicosate .....................................56

PART II

RELATIONS WITH ETCHMIADZIN AND THE DIVISION OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH DURING THE OTTOMAN STATE’S PERIOD OF EUROPEANIZATION .......... ........................61

A. The Founding of the Armenian-Catholic Church .....................63

B. The Founding of the Armenian-Protestant Church ................... 64

C. Arranging Relations With Etchmiadzin ....................................66

D. The Subject of the Appointment of the Catholicos’s Deputy in Istanbul ...................................................................................................69

E. The 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War and the Armenians .........71

F. The Istanbul Armenian Patriarch’s Request for Privileges and the Etchmiadzin’s Attitude .....................................................................71

G. The Formation of Armenian Organizations .................... 74

H. Ottoman Relations With Etchmiadzin During The Period of the Commencement of Operations in Armenian Organization ................76

I. Magyar I.’s Russian Opposition, his Requests of the Armenians and his Assessment of the Turks ....................................................77

PART III:

ETCHMIADZIN DURING THE PERIOD OF INTENSIFYING COLONIALISM AND THE FIGHT FOR LAND DISTRIBUTION THAT LED TO CLEAR POLARIZATIONS ....................................81

A. A Change in the International Balance of Power .....................83

B. The Appointment of Etchmidzin Catholicos Khrimian, that the Ottoman State did not want ....................................................84

1- Preparations to the detriment of Turkey in Caucasia after the appointment of Khrimian as Catholicos .....................................86

2- Events related to the Etchmiadzin Catholicos in the Ottoman and unrest in the Ottoman ....................................................................88

3- Catholicos Khrimian’s activities in Iran, Romania and Bulgaristan 91

4- The Attitude of the English and Their Relations with the Etchmiadzin Catholicos .....................................................................................93

5- Khrimian’s Attempt to Influence the Ottoman Armenians as the Spiritual Father ....................................................................................94

6- Khrimian’s Activities and Effect During His Period of Persuading the Ottoman State to Accept the Reform Project .....................96

A. The Russian Tsardom’s Efforts to Russianize the Armenians ..103

B. The Attempt to Transport the Etchmiadzin Catholicos to Istanbul due to the Russians’ Assimilation Policy, and the Ottoman Administration’s Attitude Towards the Attempt ..................107

C. Those To Be Appointed as Pontiffs Going To Etchmiadzin with Ottoman permission, and the Ottoman’s Decision to Keep Records of Them .................................................................................................109

D. Arguments Among Armenians and Among the Ottoman Administration Concerning the Appointment of the Catholicos Upon Khrimian’s Death ..................................................................110

E. Izmirlian Being Elected as the Etchmiadzin Catholicos ..114

PART IV

THE ETCHMIADZIN CATHOLICOSATE DURING AND AFTER WORLD WAR I. ..................................................................117

A – THE ETCHMIADZIN CATHOLICOSATE DURING WORLD WAR I. .................................................................................................119

1. The Russians’ Attempts to Strengthen the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate .................................................................................119

2. The Etchmiadzin Catholicosate’s Cooperation with Russia before World War I .................................................................................120

3. Armenians Fighting Alongside Russians in World War I. ..124

4. Armenians Fighting Alongside the English and French During World War I. .................................................................................125

5. Armenians Being Moved Away and Settled to Prevent Them From Working With Russians ..................................................................127

6. The Founding of the Ottoman United Catholicosate In Response To the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate ..................................................129

a. The Aim of Forming the Ottoman Armenians’ Catholicosate ...129

b. Area of the Ottoman Armenians’ Catholicosate .................. 130

c. Centre of the Ottoman Armenians’ Catholicosate .................. 130

d. The Ottoman Armenians’ Catholicosate and its Position .. 131

e. Organization of the Ottoman Armenians’ Catholicosate ..131

7. Abolishment of Russian Tsardom, and Acceptance of the Armenian Republic that was Founded within Caucasia by the Ottoman State .132

8. The Formation of the Armenian Republic in Caucasia, and the Attitude of Ottoman Armenians After the English Took Halep ....133

9. The Abolishment of the Ottoman Armenians’ United Catholicos .135

B – THE ETCHMIADZIN CATHOLICOS AT THE END OF THE WORLD WAR I. ..................................................................137

1. Border Changes in Caucasia and the English Occupation of the Region .................................................................................................137

2. The Armenian Republic Starting a Policy of Acquiring Land from East Anatolia via English Support ..................................................143

3. The Etchmiadzin Catholicosate’s Role in Activities that Concerned the Formation of Great Armenia during the Peace Conference ....145

PART V

THE ETCHMIADZIN CATHOLICOSATE’S PLACE IN INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES (1923-2005) ................. 149

A. The Western Public’s Bringing the Antelias (Cilician) Catholicos to Prominence In Response to the USSR Using the Etchmiadzin Catholicos ..................................................................................151

B. The West-Controlled Armenian Church’s Turning Against Turkey ...................................................................................................................156

C. Actions Towards Turkey Starting in the West and the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate (1965-1991) .................................................................159

D. The Union of Antelias and Etchmiadzin Upon the West Taking Control of the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate ..................................160

E. Armenians’ Place in the Strategies of Today, and Problems that Turkey will Face ..................................................................................164

Conclusion ..................................................................................171

Bibliograph .................................................................................183

Prologue

It makes us narrow-minded to wonder whether Armenian or Turk-Armenian relationships contained genocide. By looking at the main factors that have been affecting the recent years, we may be able to understand the past. This also helps us, who live on the same planet as well as breathe the same air, establish the future.

To reach a positive result about Armenians, we must acknowledge the fact that viewing the following as one has become a necessity: the concept of the Church, the International strategies and Imperialist States persuading the Armenians to create a greater state, and the Ottomans’ -later on known as the Turks- attitude. Instead of staying and evaluating the Turk-Armenian relations with this limited information, it has been decided to put forth and understand the reason of how international competition and colonial policy shaped Turk-Armenian relations. To do so the main foundation of the Armenians’, the Etchmiadzin Catholicos, was examined. By doing so, the opportunity to see both the reaction of the Armenians to the invasion as well as the effect it had on them instead of only observing the large states invading the Armenian Church,

When the Ancient Armenian Patriarch we call the Etchmiadzin Catholicos was established, it was universal. This meant that it carried an ecumenism quality for all Armenians.

Even though the Akdamar and Cilicia Catholicoi were established later on, first by the Ottoman and later by the then Russian-English rulers, the Etchmiadzin was made the active Catholicos.

The Ottoman Archives found in 1993, when I had started work on this topic, suprised me. It was found that the Armenians’ most authorized foundation and the one that was taught about, the Istanbul Armenian Patriarch, was tied to the Etchmiadzin Catholicos.

I started working on this subject especially, when I realized that the Ottoman Sultan had designated the Etchmiadzin Catholicos, who was the spiritual leader of regions like Iran, Russia, and various parts of Asia. Russia wanted to infiltrate the Catholicos while it was making layout plans for South Caucasia. This was the first sign in understanding this religious foundation’s international relations. I wrote and published my first article about the Etchmiadzin Catholicos in 1995. As my work progressed I determined that every state that developed strategies in Asia Minor and that analyzed the Armenians’ religious organizations, was interested in the Etchmiadzin Catholicos. When Burak F. Chabuk realized that this research, mostly published as articles, came to the mass of a book, it was encouraged and issued as a book in 2005.

It is hoped that with this work it can be explained not only how to better understand the Armenian Church, but also the effect of international relations on Turk-Armenian relations. It is hoped that it will help to understanding recent history, and believe that people must give up the habit of making others stop striving in the wrong, with Istanbul Patriarch Shinork’s words: those that distorted historical events and truths and accepted only others as sinful and responsible, and who attempted to foisted their own troubles upon others by way of acceptance or declaration To rid ourselves of grudges, and conscientiously understand that the world is a place for everyone to live and hope that the world can at least become a planet we can live on in the future...

Ali Arslan, PhD

Introduction

The Formation of the Armenian Church

I. The Establishment and Development of the Armenian Church

The Armenians accepted Christianity in the 4th century. The Roman Church had no problem with beliefs until the Chalcedon (Kadıköy) Consul in 451, when Christian clergies were arguing about how Jesus could be God. In this meeting, which the Armenian clergies did not attend, the decision which was made was: Jesus has two qualities that combine in one character but are separate, Jesus’ human appearance was put upon a wooden cross, not the Godly one. The Armenians did not agree, and chose to believe that the qualities Jesus possessed were not separate and that they were the same quality as the father and the originary god. Because the Armenians did not accept the Roman Church’s superiority and the decisions of the Chalcedon Church as well as the Pope’s power of indulgence, they decided to establish their own Church. In the 5th century the Etchmiadzin Pontiff left the Byzantium Church and was converted to Pontiff Catholicos. In other words, he was the spiritual Catholic head. According to Georgian belief God’s only son, Jesus, descended here and inaugurated the Armenian Church. As required by their religion, Jesus organized this Church separately from others in the East and West. When the Roman Church alleged that Saint Pierre, by the hand of Jesus, established them the Armenians alleged to present theirselves as more archaic becaue Jesus himself inaugurated their Church. Thus the Etchmiadzin Catholicos, by being the oldest Catholicos, was accepted as the foremost centre by the Armenians.(1) The bottom line is that the Etchmiadzin Catholicos surfaced as a sort of Papacy for the Armenians.(2) The only spiritual jurisdiction the Armenians had until the Mongolian invasion was the Etchmiadzin Catholicos, which had ceased all activity after this period. Since the Catholicos had moved to the centre of Anatolia with the Armenians, and had showed activity in Van/Akdamar as well as Adana/Sis (Cilicia), it was established yet again in the Etchmiadzin Monastery in 1441. However, the Cilicia and Akdamar Catholicoi continued their activities. By doing so, three Catholicoi centres had arose from the Armenian Gregorian Church.(3)

The Etchmiadzin Catholicos had become the Istanbul Armenians’ only spiritual jurisdiction towards the end of the 17th century in regions such as Yerevan, Kars, Bayezid, Erzurum, and the neighboring areas. The Akdamar Catholicos’ areas were in Van and its vicinity, but the Cilicia Catholicos in Kozan, Adana, Maraş, Zeytun, Urfa, Rumkale, Birecik, Nizip, Antep, Gurun, Darende, Divrik, Malatya, Behisni, Antakya, Halep, and Lattakia served as spiritual centres for the dedicated Armenians. The Etchmiadzin Catholicos was chosen by election since the 15th century, while the Cilicia and Akdamar Catholicoi were passed down through the generations. These three Catholicoi had the authority to take out the Holy Olive Oil, the Balm of Gilead, and grant the position of Pontiff.(4) With Fatih Sultan’s conquering of Istanbul, an Armenian Patriarchate was established there. Jerusalem also had an Armenian Patriarchate existing at the time.

Although the Etchmiadzin, Akdamar, and Cilicia Catholicoi were of a higher spiritual ranking than the Istanbul Patriarchate as of the 16th century, the leader chosen by the people was the Istanbul Armenian Patriarch, and he also possessed the strongest status of leader in the eyes of the Ottoman State.(5) The Istanbul Patriarchate’s being an interlocutor and a means of all relations with the Cilicia and Akdamar Catholicoi within the Ottoman State’s borders had increased the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate’s influence within the state. This was because the Ottoman State recognized the Istanbul Patriarchate as the leader of the Armenians instead of the Catholicos.(6) However, it was not the attitude of the Ottoman State that caused the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate to rise to the Georgian Church’s ministry. Spiritually, the Catholicoi maintained their higher position.

II. The Power of the