Khor Virap is the Armenian Church closest to Mount Ararat.
This means it has a particularly special place in the hearts of Armenians as Mount Ararat is revered as the sacred mountain of Armenia. Biblically famous as the site where Noah’s Ark came to rest, Mt Ararat looms over the Armenian capital.
Yet the great tragedy for Armenia is that Mt Ararat is not in Armenia at all any more. Instead it is part of Turkey, who took over these lands in the early twentieth Century and who emptied it of Armenians in a programme of genocide during World War One.
A great deal of what is now Eastern Turkey was once populated by Armenians. What the Ottoman Empire was going to do with this mutinous population as World War One broke out was known as ‘The Armenian Question’. Remember? The UK used to have an Irish one of those.
As one Turkish general put it at the time. “No Armenians, no Armenian question.”
A campaign of forced marches for women and children and concentration camps for the men reduced the land area of Armenia, brought Mout Ararat into Turkey and drastically reduced the population as people died or fled.
The issue of caling this a genocide is a contentious one internationally at the moment. Turkey denies that what happened was a genocide. Armenia’s diaspora is campaigning hard to have it recognised as such around the World. This is a campaign which is being met with mixed responses by Armenians in Armenia.
Last year Turkey and Armenia were very close to opening their border, something which would boost trade and growth and benefit Armenia. The Armenian diaspora lobby in the US persuaded Congress in Washington to pass a bill officially declaring the events of 1915 as a genocide. As a diplomatic response Turkey withdrew from the arrangement with Armenia and the border remains closed. This is a state of affairs which draws some criticism in Armenia. People living in the country question who the diaspora are really benefitting with their campaign.
Khor Virap is a place of pilgrimage for all visiting diasporans and Armenians. It is as close to Mt Ararat as they can reach.
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