Palestine concerned about Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate's land lease

PanARMENIAN.Net - Dr. Ramzi Khoury the president of the Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affaires in Palestine, has sent a letter to the Catholicos of all Armenians Karekin II concerning the lease of land by the Armenian quarter to the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem, Massis Post reports.

He noticed that he had previously sent two letters to his beatitude Nourhan Manougian, Patriarch of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem for further clarification on the Armenian Patriarchate’s leasing of the plot of land known as the Cow’s Garden.

Publisher of The California Courier Harut Sassounian revealed in a recent article that the plot of land was recently leased by the Patriarchate to a Jewish businessman from Australia. Father Baret Yeretzian, director of the Patriarchate’s real estate department, has confirmed the deal and said that the Australian businessman is planning to build a seven-star luxurious hotel on the property and a percentage of the annual revenue of the hotel will be transferred to the Patriarchate. Yeretzian said the lease was for 98 years, asserting that the Australian businessman will have to return the property to the Patriarchate at the end of the lease, along with the pricey hotel built on it.

The property in question is located on the historic Mt. Zion. Several months ago the Patriarchate had signed an agreement with the municipality of Jerusalem to use the same property as a parking lot to be renovated at the expense of the municipality. Yeretzian said that the new lease with the Australian businessman will supersede the earlier agreement with the municipality.

Khoury now says the Palestinian leadership has not received any clarification from the Armenian Patriarchate, and there was a massive diffusion of news from both internal and external sources about the fate of the previously mentioned land plot. Due to the important geographical and strategic location of the plot of land, the Palestinian leadership has demanded clarification from the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem.

Furthermore, the Palestinian leadership has required urgent clarification from Armenian minister of foreign Affairs and the Patriarch of Armenia on the circumstances of what happened of the above-mentioned plot of land.