Issue on existence of Armenology chair in Freie Universitat Berlin still open

Freie Universitat Berlin management's decision on closing the chair of Armenian studies by the end of 2009 - 2010 academic year is still in force.

According to RA Ministry of Diaspora, there are 75 Armenology centers outside Armenia. However, not all of them are active due to lack of funds. The centers, which are mainly sponsored by Armenian funds and organizations, have appreciable achievements in Armenology development and national identity retention.

PanARMENIAN.Net - But due to the above-mentioned problems, the chair of Armenian Studies of Humanities and Comparative Linguistics departments in Leiden University (The Netherlands) has been already closed, it's quite probable that the International Research Center of Salzburg University (Austria), providing classes of grabar, Eastern-Armenian languages and Armenian Church history, will be closed, too. The RA Ministry of Diaspora started to show interest only after the ‘signal’ by Jirayr Kocharian, the lecturer of Freie Universitat Berlin, doctor of Indo-European and comparative linguistics department, which is a good evidence on how slow the RA government reacts to such important issues.

Within the past months, some Ministries of Armenia displayed interest in the problems related to the activities carried out by the Armenology chairs, departments and centers outside Armenia in the light of probable closing of the chair of Armenian Studies and Indo-European and Comparative Linguistics department of Freie Universitat Berlin.

Jirayr Kocharian, the lecturer of Freie Universitat Berlin, doctor of Indo-European and Comparative Linguistics department informed on the university management’s intention during a press conference in Yerevan in October 2009. Few days later, he submitted a written notification by the dean of Indo-European and Comparative Linguistics department, informing that the Armenology department would be closed by the end of 2009 - 2010 academic year.

Jirayr Kocharian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter that the university management’s intention should be interpreted as a policy to amalgamate three Berlin Universities in order to survive the crisis.

However, during the later submission of the 2010 budget, it became clear that RA government has allocated the finance needed to continue the chair’s activities. Armen Ashotyan, RA Minister of Education and Science personally informed German Ambassador to Armenia Hans Jochen Schmidt about it and emphasized the importance of co-sponsoring the chair. Hranush Hakobyan, RA Minister of Diaspora, while receiving the guest, stated for her part that the funds, needed for continuous activities of the Armenology chair of Freie Universitat Berlin, have been allocated from the RA national budget. She also highlighted the importance of implementing the programs, stipulated by the Memorandum of Understanding between Yerevan State University and Freie Universitat Berlin.

In a conversation with a PanARMENIAN.Net German Ambassador to Armenia Hans Jochen Schmidt said, “I cannot predict anything in regard to Freie Universitat Berlin, but I would like to mention that currently we are taking steps to open a chair of Armenology in Galle-Vittenberg university which is in good relations with Armenian Universities. Armenology is a very important science, and I think the issues on the Armenology development will be discussed during the planned visit of Armen Ashotyan, RA Minister of Education and Science, to Germany. I would like to see the chairs of Armenology retained and developed in Germany as it's a good way for Germans to learn more about Armenia and Armenians. Nowadays, only few people are aware of Armenian culture, history and modern Armenia, as only Russian Media provides information on South Caucasus region to Europe."

All the above statements are dated 2009, although the situation has not yet changed and the problem still persists. Jirayr Kocharian said the other day, “Freie Universitat Berlin management's decision on closing the Armenology chair by the end of 2009-2010 academic year is still in force. I addition, I would like to mention that 7 million 769 thousand AMD, that is about 15 thousand euros, have been allocated from the RA budget to support future activities of the chair. Meanwhile, 48 thousand euros are needed per annum to support the existence of the chair. The University is ready to donate 50% of the funds.”

This mosaic of facts gives a clear picture of Armenian authorities’ failure to provide the essential assistance in time.

Anush Petrosyan / PanARMENIAN News
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