Municipality groundlessly charges Armenian Church of Jerusalem with several millions – Setrag Balian

The Armenian Church in Jerusalem alerts that Israel is seeking to seize its property. The Jerusalem Municipality is seeking to seize property that has belonged to the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem for centuries and put it up for auction to collect the community debts that have allegedly accrued since 1994.

The Patriarchate has filed an administrative petition to stop the seizure of property that the Patriarchate has owned for centuries.

Alpha News spoke to Setrag Balian, the founder of the Save the ArQ movement.

“I would like to note that this has nothing to do with the Cow’s Garden, it is not about this area but about the estates and buildings that are located in West Jerusalem. In 1994, there was already some tension around these estates and properties. Some solutions to the problem were found along the way. Unfortunately, at the moment, the Jerusalem Municipality, ignoring all laws, decided to immediately ask for huge sums without any grounds or facts. They are trying to seize these territories,” Setrag Balian said.

According to him, the Jerusalem Municipality ignored the Patriarchate.

“The Jerusalem Municipality has taken unilateral steps. I don’t have any specific information, but as far as I know, we are talking about tens of millions. That’s not the problem. The problem is that they have to file a claim for the entire property tax based on the facts. But this did not happen, they ignored the Armenian Patriarchate,” Setrag Balian said.