Are there any armenian muslims

No one, said Moore. As this is a conflict over land—not religion—it is best to stay neutral and urge both sides to negotiate. Doing so could strengthen Iran, while Azerbaijan is allied with Israel. His social media has been flooded with statements of support. Accad said he has not studied the issue sufficiently to weigh between the two nations, though he notes with concern the Syrian militants reportedly developed by Turkey.

Armenia was the first nation to accept Christianity, in A. While only 1 percent evangelical today, 93 percent of its population of 3 million belong to the Armenian Orthodox Church. Its largest missionary outreach is in Armenia, where it began work following a earthquake that killed 60, people. But the evangelical movement began far earlier, when an s revival spread through Anatolia to reach even into the Nagorno-Karabakh mountains.

Today the region has one Armenian Evangelical church and three Christian education centers, with 22 churches in Armenia proper. His church in Yerevan serves over families. But while the nation has experienced some revival along with a renewed focus on Christian education, there is still a lack of emphasis on the Scriptures. So while the younger Hovsepian waits for a phone call drafting him into the army, Nercessian scrambles to answer the phone calls reaching out for assistance.

Whether a political or a religious conflict, it is hitting a Christian nation. Correction: An Anatolian revival began in the s, not the s as this article initially stated. Sections Home. Bible Coronavirus Prayer. Subscribe Member Benefits Give a Gift. Subscribers receive full access to the archives. Trending: Easter Coronavirus Racism Elections. Jayson Casper October 6, AM. A priest blesses Armenian volunteers and mobilized military personnel ahead of their deployment to the Nagorno-Karabakh front line on October 6.

But is it right to employ their religious labels? It is a war. Current Issue November Subscribe. Excavations were conducted here on April 4, Mass graves were opened in front of the eyes of the Western press and scientists," he said. Kardas also asserted that the US president's statement on April 24 had no historical or legal basis.

He said that by releasing it, Biden "also denies US documents. He accused Biden of releasing the statement on account of other existing problems in Turkish-US relations. Turkey Muslim memorial shows cruelty of Armenian gangs: Expert Mass graves of martyrs are evidence of massacre by Armenian gangs against Muslims in eastern Anatolia, says scholar Emre Ilikan VAN, Turkey The Zeve martyrs' cemetery and memorial built in honor of 2, Muslims massacred during World War I in present-day eastern Turkey, reveals the extent of the atrocities committed by Armenian gangs, according to a Turkish scholar.

Events of These events occurred in the runup to the events of , when Turkey says Armenian deaths in eastern Anatolia resulted took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a history commission to examine the issue.

Biden's statement is 'criminal' On the events of , Koclar said that they have ceased to be a scientific historical issue and that they had become politicized. Please contact us for subscription options. Related topics events Armenian gangs massacre Turkey Zeve Martyrdom.

Blaming Turkey for refugee crisis amounts to 'ingratitude,' says Erdogan. These two things are the exact opposite of each other.

The holy city of the Armenian people is not Mecca. The holy city of the Armenian people is Yerevan. The symbol of the Armenian people is not the Islamic Crescent. The symbol of the Armenian people is the Armenian Cross.

But anyway, those particular Islamized Armenians, who identify themselves as being Armenian, but still wish to practice Islam, should not be rejected by Armenian Christians. Instead, they should be encouraged to dump the Islamic Crescent inside the garbage can where it belongs, and to embrace the majestic Armenian Cross. They should be taught by Armenian Christians about the Armenian culture, history, and traditions. They should be taken to the famous Armenian church, Surb Giragos, over in Diyarbakir, and encouraged to spend time inside this church.

After a while, the combination of Armenian education and time spent in the Armenian church, will encourage them to finally convert to Christianity. Hey, the more Armenians we have in this world, the better it will be for all of us. To Avery, Very well said. Indeed the Hemshentsis, Islamized read Trukified Armenians too! I just wrote on facebook,Armenia does not have sea outlet-port,While Georgia has.

Why not hold the meeting in Tbilisi or Batumi ,this last sentence is not on my facebook. One thing is to keep silent and see how tiny Armenia is being copied after rest 14 ex-soviet republics-especially Russia,another to have to swallow such errors.. It is time to really re-organize the Diaspora to keep itself more independent of RA, until such time as latter begins to act correctly.

And to think that such a person is there governing it????? Hayutyun Ho yertas???? I read panarmenian. BSEC meetings are held in various capitals. This year Armenia has the Chairmanship.

So Armenia gets to invite various FMs. Armenia has to be involved in these things: there is no other option. It has to play the game: standard politics.

Everybody does it. Armenia is not on another planet. Thank you Avery for clarifying the issue at hand re Black Sea. I did not know that. But you failed to comment on the speaker copying the National Assembly Bldg.

This I saw with own eyes…can you explain,why on earth such persons can take over the presidency of our national assembly … Indeed he could and can build-with …money what he likes as his residence,good architects are in abundance in RA.

I am in the camp that says our Christian faith and Armenian identity go hand in hand, but with caveats will say more on it later.

And anyone who would say otherwise is not fully aware of the historical realities of our culture. I largely agree with what Ararat posted on this above. But as far as Islamized Armenians, we must first figure out the what, how and why such an issue has come up.

My first observation is, as Boyajian and Avery and others have pointed out before, Armenians were Armenian before they were Christian, which would mean someone can be of Armenian heritage and not be Christian. Notice I said as our records indicate, and not necessarily our ancient history as various tribes. Spiritually that we can tell, we have been Christians the longest, and we know accurately how long. Next we must present the fact that since our conversion to Christianity, within a few centuries, Islam came to be our mortal enemy.

Are they calling out for help to be re-integrated in Armenian society? Do they just want to learn something then disappear? Do they wish to form their own community by keeping their Muslim faith but being known as Armenians henceforth? And with their Muslim faith, are they involved to the point of extremism? Their faith is what they were born into and what they know. In fact, I would even say it is dangerous to convert all of a sudden in an extremist country like Turkey. It would be great for them to come to our Christianity eventually to fully experience all aspects of Armenian culture, but this must be viewed as a long-term process and not a one-time event.

The opposing views of the Istanbul Patriarchate and Etchmiadzin are rather ironic, since one would have expected the opposite. Finally, for me so far this applies to the hidden Armenians living in Turkey, and not necessarily elsewhere.

And after having said all this, the issue of Islamized Armenians for me remains complex and there are no easy answers, so perhaps, it is best left treated on a case by case basis. You need to move a lot quicker than that. These people already wish to identify themselves as being Armenian, and in addition, many of them have expressed the desire to convert to Christianity.

What is the Armenian diaspora waiting for? There is absolutely nothing to lose in all of this. On the contrary, there is a lot to gain. Not only are these people a valuable asset in our fight for the Armenian Cause, but in addition, they will also end up forming a major Armenian presence in Turkey, which is extremely important. Dear GB, Yeah, we have been great in the past. Such as when i was in Yerevan ,right after conflict in S.

Ossetia and Abkhazia and these fought off the ill-planned Sahakashvilli offensive,thre them out -indeed with Russian help-and declared independence. At a meeting then,at Congress Hotel…. WE are not!!! Case in point is how our neighbours are intent to secure their rights in the region while we still beat around the bush.

Also our brethren sisters in Ra are very much busy paying more attn to their own well being8the Elite,so to speak those in the Govt. Right now we ought to take care of such issues. Stop the wild market economy drive in RA. Recent issue of aGBU magazine just to hand speaks of terrible situation there. Whjat I propose is to start counter emigration, i. Latter is busy buying cloths at Giorgio Armani in downtown Yerevan…. Then Loan monies at low interest to those who wish to Repatriate soon very soon.

A lot of what is being said here is devoid of historical understanding and frankly, very narrow minded. If you look at history, Armenians go back at least years, probably more, as a distinct people, with their own language and yes, even their own, native born religion!

And low and behold, for several thousand years, they worshipped the almighty sun as in arev, ar, armen, Armenia. That circle under the cross on most khatchkars is a sun symbol. The point is that Armenians, sadly, abandoned their native religion to adopt a foreign religion, only for the last years, even though their own religious pantheon was much, much older. If we celebrate the achievements of Metzamor, Karahunj, Erebuni and many other pre-Christian sites, we must accept that for centuries, Armenians were not Christian.

The adoption of Christianity was more an effort to establish themselves as an independent entity, distinct from the Byzantines and the Persians, by adopting a little known religion brought to them by itinerant Jews, rather than a true embrace.

In fact, it took centuries for the new religion to eliminate its ancient predecessor. This is why year old fire altars still exist and are preserved beneath the altars of Etchmiadzin and other churches, as well as at Ani and other sites throughout ancient Armenia.

My feeling is that we never really gave up our old, native traditions, but instead adapted them to the newcomer, and invited a lot of trouble and headache as a result.

For once, just imagine what it would be like if Armenians chose a path of less resistance, instead of the one with the most difficulty. It would just be another thin veneer on top of many, deeper layers of elemental Armenian culture and tradition. While these gods were still centered on the worship of the sun, by the Urartian period early 1st millennium BC , they resembled Mesopotamian and Egyptian deities based on animal-human combinations.

Yet, afterwards Zoroastrianism based on fire-worship had emerged. It is not true that the circle under the cross on some Armenian khatchkars is a sun symbol. In fact, the extensive symbolism on the khatchkars include world, semen, the paradise of Eden, Golgotha, the paradise mountain of Revelation, sun, star, universe, etc. Sumerian, Egyptian, Indo-European, and Meso-American cultures developed solar religions as well, and were older than the Armenian.

In many cultures, Paganism and Zoroastrianism receded into the background when the Son of God came to earth. Son of God, by definition, has no ethnicity.

Christianity lasts the longest in the Armenian history. Christianity was fought for in the fiercest way. Millions died in order not to denounce their Christian faith. If we showed less resistance in Avarayr, we would have stayed Zoroastrians as Persians. If we showed less resistance during the spread of Islam and Arab conquests, we would have become Muslims.

And if we became Muslims, then from the 11th century onward, during the rule of nomadic outsider Turks, we would have become at the minimum Mountainous or Plain Turks. John…you may want to dispute history, but facts are facts. Proto-Indo European religion, which logically includes that of the Armenians, because of the linguistic connections, dates to at least BC, if not earlier. And yes, the sun was and remains an essential element in Armenian religion, Christian or not. According to Wikipedia:.

The pantheon of Armenian gods formed during the nucleation of the Proto-Armenian tribes that, at the initial stage of their existence, inherited the essential elements of paganism from the Proto-Indo-European tribes that inhabited the Armenian Plateau.

Historians distinguish a significant body of Indo-European language used by Armenian pagans as sacred. Since ancient times, the cult of sun worship occupied a special place in Armenian mythology.

Also among the most ancient types of worship of Indo-European roots are the cults of eagles and lions, and the worship of heaven. Over time, the Armenian pantheon was updated, and new deities of Armenian and not Aryan origins appeared. Furthermore, the supreme god of the Armenian pantheon, Vanatur, was later replaced by Aramazd. The latter, though, has appeared under the influence of Zoroastrianism see Ahura Mazda , but with partially preserved traditional Armenian features.

Similarly, the traditional Armenian goddess of fertility, Nar, was replaced by Anahit. After the formal adoption of Christianity in Armenia, new mythological images and stories were born as ancient myths and beliefs transformed. Biblical characters took over the functions of the archaic gods and spirits. For example, John the Baptist inherited certain features of Vahagn and Tyre, and the archangel Gabriel that of Vahagn.

Basic information about Armenian pagan traditions were preserved in the works of ancient Greek authors such as Plato, Herodotus, Xenophon and Strabo, Byzantine scholar Procopius of Caesarea, as well as medieval Armenian writers such as Moses of Chorene, Agathangelos, Yeznik of Kolb, Sebeos and Anania Shirakatsi, not to mention oral folk traditions. The point is, in the 4th C.

There was nothing nice about the conversion period, as eliminating the native religious tradition was a brutal, ruthless process. As a result, Armenians lost a vital link to their most elemental traditions and history, due to the intolerance of Christianity. The other point is that if Armenians were Armenians then, they remain Armenians now…no matter what religious tradition they subscribe to. Blood i. As a matter of routine, I stop discussions whenever people bring Wikipedia, the most unreliable source of information, into the debates.

But, as poster Yerevanian rightly noted, you deliberately position pagan history about 2 millennia off the mark to support your argument that Paganism lasted for many more millennia than Christianity. Well, not many. Finally, Karekin, where are the pagans and zoroastrians nowadays?

Except for isolated groups here and there, what civilizational level were they able to achieve? There is more history, as well:. Several references are made by Moses of Chorene to the worship of the sun and moon in Armenia.

In oaths the name of the sun was almost invariably brought up, and there were also altars and images of the sun and the moon. Agathangelos, in the alleged letter of Diocletian to Tiridates, bears witness to the Armenian veneration for the sun, moon and stars. The eighth month of the Armenian year and, what is more significant, the first day of every month, were consecrated to the sun and bore its name, while the twenty-fourth day in the Armenian month was consecrated to the moon.

The Armenians, like the Persians and most of the sun-worshipping peoples of the East, prayed toward the rising sun, a tradition which the early Armenian Apostolic Church adopted, so that to this day the Armenian churches are built and the Armenian dead are buried toward the east, the west being the dwelling of evil spirits. Aramazd was considered the father of all gods and goddesses, the creator of heaven and earth. The first two letters in his name — AR — are the Indo-European root for sun, light, and life.

The celebration in his honor was called Amanor, or New Year, which was celebrated on March 21 in the old Armenian calendar also the Spring equinox. Aramazd was a syncretic deity, a combination of the autochthonous Armenian legendary figure Ara and the Iranian Ahura Mazda. The principal temple of Aramazd was in Ani Kamakh in modern Turkey , a cultural and administrative center of ancient Armenia.

The temple had been ruined at the end of the 3rd century AD, after the adoption of Christianity in Armenia as the state religion. Some people have argued that in the early days of our Christianity, we oppressed our people using Christianity. And I say to this… so!?

I do acknowledge that we experienced cultural losses as a result of the actions of the church, but why not also acknowledge the gains? Besides, many if not most of our cultural aspects and traditions were maintained, but with Christianized versions. We may have had an old alphabet… in late pre-Christian Armenia where was it?

Gone, and the church was not around to take the blame. And why, may I ask do we have an alphabet today? Our religious belief and drive also helped us achieve our unique Architectural style, which in turn also influenced other Christian nations, like Georgia, Byzantium and Europe early Gothic.

Our art and carpets, all revolved around the cross and its variants. Yet, we had cruciforms in our ancient pre-Christian art as well, which made a perfect match with our newfound religion in AD.

The problem we have here is, people rejecting religion have confused the religion with the behavior of humankind. Throughout history, every group, nation, religion, organization, etc has at one point or other committed abuses and oppression of others, at least by how we see them today. Someone, somewhere killed in the name of religion? Fine, but if not for that religion, they would have done the same in the name of something else.

How did the Atheism touting Soviet Union work out, where they killed millions upon million in a couple of decades where any other religion failed to do in the name of religion for centuries? And how is the current China and North Korea working out with their brilliant human rights records? Even slightly, because that is exactly what our enemies want.

We have corruption in our church? Sure we do, and again I would ask, as far as our religion is concerned, so what of it? If you care enough about it, then you can try to get better people involved instead of equating our church itself with corruption. No one forces anyone to believe in God. This is by and large a personal experience and choice.

But to deny our church is to deny part of our identity and culture. If we got rid of our church today, what will it be replaced with? Most of Humanity I would say are spiritual beings and do need a belief. So what is the gain?

In fact we would lose years of identity and cultural tradition. Our religion has touched and influenced nearly every aspect of our history and life, including literature, art, music, language, food and everything else. If you look at history, you will see that the Armenian culture does not go back at least 6, years, as you say Karekin.

The Armenian culture goes back to B. In terms of religion, Karekin, prior to the adoption of Christianity in , the Armenian people were Pagans, just like so many other people at that time.

Christianity, obviously gave our Fatherland something special that it did not have prior to its adoption of this religion.

However, as bizarre as this might sound to you, and to so many other people, adopting Christianity as its state religion, was the best decision our Fatherland ever made. And, the reason for this, is that after the year , the Armenian nation was completely surrounded by Islamic states, with the exception of Christian Georgia to the north.

What does this all mean? This all means that the Armenian nation and culture would have easily been absorbed into the Islamic Crescent nation of Turkey. The Armenian people would have ended up being Turkified, and there would be no Armenian nation and no Armenian culture in existence today. I salute our Fatherland for making this decision.

Hey Karekin, when you say that year old fire altars exist beneath Etchmiadzin and Ani, how exactly is that possible? As you know or might not know, the Zoroastrians revere fire in any form. However, what does any of this have to do with the Armenian people before their adoption of Christianity?

They were never Zoroastrian to begin with. As a matter of fact, back in the mid 5th century, the Armenian nation fought a war against Persia, who tried so hard to force Zoroastrianism upon the Armenian people, but ended up failing. By the way, Karekin, the cathedral of Etchmiadzin, goes back to the year As for the city of Ani, it goes back to the 5th century, which would be around years ago.

I was actually over there, earlier this year. What a heavenly place it is. It is a feeling that I will never forget. Yerevanian — please do us all a favor and study some real history, not myth, not fantasy and not legend. Where was the Garden of Eden? Where was Abraham born? Urfa Armenia Where did all of their earliest history take place? By the time Christianity was born, Armenia and Armenian culture had been around for many thousands of years and was already ancient and well established.

It had flourished. For you to say that Armenian history started in BC is a bit ridiculous. Archaeologists, linguists and historians all disagree with you and today they have facts to prove it. The Armenian language itself is the oldest direct descendant of proto-IndoEuropean language, which is dated to BC. Who spoke it? Think about that. And, it originated in the Armenian highlands.

Moreover, these same people not only had language, they had their own belief system. The Armenian highland, due to its incredible climate, fertile soil and indigenous flora and fauna, was the true cradle of civilization and provided the genesis of civilization in the middle east.

When it landed after the Deluge, there were supposedly no humans, Armenians or others, or other living things around. At best, for about The earliest record of an established, flourishing proto-Armenian civilization is Urartu, and this is early 1st millennium BC.

Blunder Six: The Armenian language, as a descendant of PIE languages cannot be dated to BC, because only in BC the breakup of the tree into various dialects is considered to have been complete. The Zaroastrian alters exist under the Etchmiadzin Cathedral. But possibly you could bribe one of the priests there and they could give you a tour of the place. I have seen it myself and it is presented to the public as a location of fire worship. Noahs Ark huh… seriously?

This notion of Noah, the Great Deluge and the Ark is comical at best. This is an allegorical story and nothing more. It goes against so many fundamental aspects of science such as biology, geology, zoology not to mention lack of any corroboratibe historic facts to suggest such a global event took place on earth.

This is pure comedy people. I mean think about the impracticality of such a venture as rounding up animals from all corners of the globe, keeping them in check, feeding them, cleaning their quarters and making sure they survive for a whole year! To top it off, they have to re-populate the whole earth in matter of years or so. Seriously guys, this violates all common sense not to mention established fields or research and inquiry.

Hey Karekin, you have a nice arsenal of vocabulary words, and you also include an enormous amount of details in your writing. However, the problem is that these details of yours, convey absolutely nothing.

The vast majority of your details, do not have one piece of evidence behind them. The problem, though, is that the Armenian nation was never Zoroastrian to begin with.

Just because a fire temple was found below the ground of Etchmiadzin and Ani, does not mean that the Armenian people had a religion, revolving around fire worship.

What sort of ridiculous logic is that? And your claim that the location of the Garden of Eden, happened to be in Armenia, is without any evidence. You can also find this information in Armenian history books.

Hey Karekin, why are you trying to convince us that the Armenian culture goes back to B. At the beginning, you were saying it goes back 6, years. Now, all of a sudden, it goes back 9, years? Armenia, which happens to be one of the oldest existing countries today, has evidence of civilization as far back as B. However, this particular group of people were not connected to the Armenian culture.

They did not speak any form of Armenian, nor did they share any cultural traits with the Armenian culture. As a matter of fact, they died out in B. Those archaeologists you were talking about, have been doing a great deal of studying on that ancient Shengavitian culture.

It seems quite interesting. Hey Karekin, you seem to be interested in the Cradle of Civilization, so let me take the time to educate you on that subject. The Cradle of Civilization, corresponds to the ancient Near East.

It was the first to practice year round agriculture. It gave the world, the first writing system, created the first centralized governments, and laid the foundations for the fields of astronomy and mathematics. The ancient Near East, begins with the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium B. Are you still there Karekin? Or was that too much civilization for you? Anyway, if you need any more history lessons, make sure to let me know Karekin. The pleasure is always mine.

Whether these Islamisized Armenians choose to identify themselves as primarily or at least in part as Armenians, they are welcome. Many Islamisized Armenians, partially out of fear of Turkish nationalism, vehemently deny their Armenian roots. For example, the Rize and Camlihemsinlis who lost their Armenian language a few centuries ago.

It is only in Hopa and Borcka they still speak a Western Armenian dialect. But, unfortunately, it is dying there too as newer generations tend to be monolingually Turkish-speaking. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Unlike the teachings of Christ Islam is a big concern to me, their teachings are not parallel to what we learn from Christ, for example Quran commands the Muslim as follows: Fight those who believe not in God nor the Last Day, Nor hold that forbidden Which hath been forbidden By God and His Apostle, Nor acknowledge the Religion Of Truth.

I will welcome them only then. I was incorrect when I stated that the Armenian culture began in B. After conducting a great deal of research on this topic over the last few days, it turns out that Karekin was correct on this particular matter. The Armenian culture does actually go back a lot farther than B.

For whatever reason, the Armenian historical literature of the Armenian Apostolic Church, contains very little information on Armenian civilization before B. It is only in recent years, that archaeologists are uncovering layer after layer of history that places Armenia as the location of one of the first cultures on earth.

To begin with, the Armenian culture is an Indo-European race, made up of tribes that long inhabited the Armenian plateau. There were numerous settlements in the Ararat valley, as early as B. The oldest settlement found in Armenia, is a Stone Age settlement in suburban Yerevan, from 92 thousand years ago. From then thru the Paleolithic period, proof of human settlement is scattered between cave dwellings and stone inscriptions on the Geghama Lehr. Suddenly, at the end of the Mesolithic period, numerous cities and fortified settlements appeared throughout the Ararat valley, only a handful of which have been excavated.

However, enough have been uncovered to show a surprisingly developed culture that actually rivaled the Mesopotamian urban centers, and even led the way in astronomy. These cities in the Ararat valley, specialized in the metal industry.

Their inhabitants were the first to forge copper and bronze. Ancestral Armenians were also among the first to create a calendar that divided the year into 12 segments of time, and among the first to devise the compass and envision the shape of the world as round. The first signs of fortified cities are traced to this era, beginning with the excavation at Metsamor, a thriving trade culture by B. In the 4th millennium B. Two observatories found in Armenia, show a developed awareness of astronomy, at least by B.

The appearance of the zodiac signs in Armenia, actually occurred before the Hittite and Babylonian kingdoms, which were credited with developing astronomy. But, exactly how far back? We can actually find some of this information by examining the history of the Armenian language.

As the source of life, the sun became equated with power and the supreme god. As a matter of fact, Ararat is mentioned as early as B. Could it possibly be that the Armenian culture is the oldest existing culture in the world today?

Are they all in positions of political power? How is RoA or the Diaspora harmed if all two million walk around in Turkey confessing that they are Armenians whose ancestors had been forced into converting during the Genocide? What if a couple of them meet up at the Turkish bazaar and …. This article literally blew my mind. Keep up. My grandfather was an Aremenian genocide survivor. He was forced to change identity when parents and all family were killed by Turks. My father was the only son that refused to marry anyone but Armenians.

Luckily, fell in love with my mother and raised us all as proud Armenians.