The Church’s caution saved the people when Armenian political thought was still immature: Narek Karapetyan

It is not recorded in our historiography that the Armenian Apostolic Church preserved us within foreign religious empires for approximately 1,500–1,600 years and prevented unrest among our people. That is the view expressed by Narek Karapetyan, a member of the Strong Armenia party council.

“It is precisely as a result of this work by the Church that Armenians made up nearly 15% of the Ottoman Empire’s population at the beginning of the 20th century, despite being subjected to all manner of oppression,” he said.

According to Karapetyan, Armenian political thought never reached the maturity and foresight that the cautious and wise thinking of the Armenian Church possessed.

“I recall that Catholicos Simeon of Yerevan was criticized by many for not allowing an uprising to be launched in Armenia. But it was precisely by doing so that he managed to spare the people from further casualties. Moreover, he wrote a letter to the Georgian king to find out whether military campaigns in the region were being planned. This shows that he was seeking a political solution, endeavoring not to expose his people to mortal danger. In the end, Simeon of Yerevan succeeded in securing a relatively safe environment for Armenians during that historical period,” Karapetyan stressed.