Armenia faces very serious challenges today - Dr. Nassim Taleb

ArmInfo.Armenia faces very serious challenges today.  American-Lebanese writer and risk manager,  Dr. Nassim Taleb, stated on November 30 at a joint press conference with RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan.

He recalled the facts of history, according to which during the time  of Tigran the Great, Armenia extended from sea to sea. Mr. Taleb  noted that taking into account the reduction of the country's  territory throughout the history of the Armenian people, and  especially as a result of recent events, it is impossible not to see  the extremely difficult situation Armenia is facing. <You have a very  strong Diaspora that can play an important role in this matter. I  personally am sensitive to the fact that, for example, Mount Ararat  is located on the territory of Turkey, and the Armenian cultural  heritage, reaching all the way to Jerusalem, is very widespread  throughout the world, but now we all see that incomprehensible events  are happening in Jerusalem," - the writer noted, calling on the  Armenian authorities to more actively inform the international  community about the ongoing developmentsin the region.

In the Armenian quarter of Old Jerusalem, a tense situation has  developed around the Cow Garden estate, where Israeli settlers are  putting brutal pressure on residents. In turn, Father Aghan Gogchyan,  Chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem,  wrote on his  Facebook page that the Patriarchate is under the greatest existential  threat in its 16-century history, and the existential-territorial  threat extends to all Christian communities in Jerusalem. In this  vein, he recalled that the Armenian Patriarchate recently terminated  the agreement, "tainted by false representation, undue influence and  illegal benefits." "Instead of giving a legal response to the  termination, the developers are trying to carry out construction work  on the Cow Garden estate. They completely ignore the legitimate  position of the Patriarchate on this issue, choosing instead tactics  of provocation and aggression, including the destruction of property  through hired armed provocateurs "The removal of asphalt in recent  days on the territory of the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem was  carried out without the permission of the Jerusalem mayor's office,  the developer and the police.  Despite this circumstance, the police  require all members of the Armenian community to leave the  territory," Gogchyan wrote.

In this regard, he called on all Christian communities in Jerusalem  to support the Armenian Patriarchate in these unprecedented times, as  this is another obvious step threatening the presence of Christians  in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.  It should be noted that the Armenian  Patriarchate leased part of the Armenian quarter of the old city of  Jerusalem to an Israeli company for 99 years. The Armenian community  of Jerusalem opposed this deal, organizing several protests.  On  November 1 of this year, Father Aghan Gogchyan, Chancellor of the  Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, , announced that the Armenian  Patriarchate of Jerusalem sent a letter to Xana Gardens Ltd,  informing them that it was terminating the contract dated July 8,  2021 regarding the Cow Garden estate in the Armenian Quarter of the  Old City in Jerusalem.  The Cow Garden is located on the historic  Mount Zion, in the southwest corner of Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter.  Back in November 2021, the Supreme Spiritual Council under the Mother  See of Etchmiadzin discussed the issue of leasing the Cow Garden  estate of the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate and called for the  cancellation of this decision.