News from the Orient – April 26, 2024

This week’s News from the Orient:

Destruction of Armenian Heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh

The destruction of Armenian heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh continues. Satellite images from April 4 show the total destruction of St. John the Baptist Church, known as Kanatch Jam of Shushi.

In March, images revealed the destruction of the parliament building in Stepanakert.

Last September, Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh fled the region en masse as it was invaded by Azerbaijan’s army. Today, they fear a comprehensive policy that could erase all Armenian presence from an area they have inhabited for 3,000 years.

109th anniversary of Armenian Genocide

Thousands marched on April 24 through the streets of the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to commemorate the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Some carried torches and other flowers, recalling the 1.5 million Armenians murdered in the Ottoman Empire. Commemorations continued the next day near the genocide memorial.

Several hundred thousand Assyrian-Chaldeans were also killed, a community present at the commemoration.

Renovation of Old St. George Church in Bartella

In Bartella, Iraq, work was completed to restore the ancient Mar Guorguis church. Archbishop Hano, the Syriac Catholic ordinary of Mosul, inaugurated it on April 23, St. George's Day.

The so-called Islamic State had spared the church, but its condition had significantly deteriorated. Fr. Benham Benoka led restoration efforts to return it to its 1850 state.

The new Mar Guorguis church, built next door in 1934, was renovated in 2019, after ISIS set it ablaze.