'We Are Citizens of This Country'
20-JAN-06
Scripps howard news Service
By KEVIN SITES
Yahoo! News
TEHRAN, Iran -- From the choir loft, a haunting aria rises and falls through an air thick with ceremony and incense. At the altar, candles illuminate a large painting of the Madonna and Child. It is nearly midnight on New Year's Eve, yet it is standing-room-only at St. Sarkis Church in downtown Tehran.
Here, some of the faithful from an estimated population of 100,000 Armenian Christians in Iran come to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next.
The Armenians say they've been in Iran for hundreds of years. Many were brought by force, enslaved by Persian ruler Agha Mohammad Khan during his wars in the Caucasus.
But now many claim Iran as their own.
"We identify ourselves with Iranian society and nationality because Armenians have been living here for centuries and centuries," says Bishop Sebouh Sarkissian of the Archdiocese of Tehran. "Sometimes they call us 'religious minorities' _ a (term) I've never liked, even hated, because we are not a religious minority. We are citizens of this country."
Citizens who, some say, have more privileges under the Islamic government than even Iranian Muslims.
In the Armenian Club near the church, a more festive New Year's celebration is under way. Dozens of couples twirl around the floor, their hands held high in the traditional style of Armenian dance, with live music performed by a band brought in from Armenia specifically for the occasion.
[...]
[...] Muslims Bahrehman Shaker and Jawad Dae-Zadeh have both brought their families, 20 people in all, to witness the Christian celebration, even though they don't know anyone in the Armenian community.
"We just wanted to see," says Shaker. "We've been to (Christian) New Year's before in Australia with fireworks, but this is very different."
"We want to share their happiness," says Dae-Zadeh, "and congratulate them on their Christmas."
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Scripps howard news Service
By KEVIN SITES
Yahoo! News
TEHRAN, Iran -- From the choir loft, a haunting aria rises and falls through an air thick with ceremony and incense. At the altar, candles illuminate a large painting of the Madonna and Child. It is nearly midnight on New Year's Eve, yet it is standing-room-only at St. Sarkis Church in downtown Tehran.
Here, some of the faithful from an estimated population of 100,000 Armenian Christians in Iran come to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next.
The Armenians say they've been in Iran for hundreds of years. Many were brought by force, enslaved by Persian ruler Agha Mohammad Khan during his wars in the Caucasus.
But now many claim Iran as their own.
"We identify ourselves with Iranian society and nationality because Armenians have been living here for centuries and centuries," says Bishop Sebouh Sarkissian of the Archdiocese of Tehran. "Sometimes they call us 'religious minorities' _ a (term) I've never liked, even hated, because we are not a religious minority. We are citizens of this country."
Citizens who, some say, have more privileges under the Islamic government than even Iranian Muslims.
In the Armenian Club near the church, a more festive New Year's celebration is under way. Dozens of couples twirl around the floor, their hands held high in the traditional style of Armenian dance, with live music performed by a band brought in from Armenia specifically for the occasion.
[...]
[...] Muslims Bahrehman Shaker and Jawad Dae-Zadeh have both brought their families, 20 people in all, to witness the Christian celebration, even though they don't know anyone in the Armenian community.
"We just wanted to see," says Shaker. "We've been to (Christian) New Year's before in Australia with fireworks, but this is very different."
"We want to share their happiness," says Dae-Zadeh, "and congratulate them on their Christmas."
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 2:16 PM
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