The Role of the Armenian Church During Military Conflicts

Author(s): Harutyun Harutyunyan
Editor(s): Iris Kempe, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Lili Di Puppo
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 20
Pages: 7-9
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Jefferson Institute, Washington D.C.; Heinrich Böll Foundation, Tbilisi; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen
Publication Year: 2010

Throughout its history, Armenia frequently has been a battlefield for foreign forces. Consequently, Armenians have repeatedly been forced to fight for their freedom. Society highly valued such resistance and Church leaders glorified these combatants as heroes. During the Armenian-Persian war in the 5th century, the death of Christian soldiers was defined as self-sacrifice and the Church canonized them as fighting martyrs. This attitude towards sacred militarism continued to be evident from that time through the present. The main focus of the following article is to examine how the Armenian Church legitimized the use of violence, especially during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (1988-1994). For the future, it suggests a critical analysis of traditional Church-State relations and a complete separation between politics and religion.

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