Oleg Gabrielyan: Crimean-Armenians urge authorities to consider their claims for Surb Khach monastery's status.
After reconstruction and consecration Surb Khach ceased functioning as a monastery, according to Head of Crimean-Armenian Community Oleg Gabrielyan. "If the monastery had monks, we could have avoided such situation," he finds.
In a letter addressed to Supreme Rada Speaker Anatoly Gratsenko, the Armenians of Crimea voice their community's position on the impermissibility of authorities' taking any measures without the previous consent of the AAC Ukrainian eparchy.
Earlier Gratsenko announced that beginning December 1, 2009, Surb Khach Monastery would become a department of Crimea's ethnographic center.
A monument of state importance, Surb Khach (Holy Cross) was for centuries a place of worship and pilgrimage for Armenians.
In a letter addressed to Supreme Rada Speaker Anatoly Gratsenko, the Armenians of Crimea voice their community's position on the impermissibility of authorities' taking any measures without the previous consent of the AAC Ukrainian eparchy.
Earlier Gratsenko announced that beginning December 1, 2009, Surb Khach Monastery would become a department of Crimea's ethnographic center.
A monument of state importance, Surb Khach (Holy Cross) was for centuries a place of worship and pilgrimage for Armenians.
