Jirair Reyisian: “Can one really give a slap to the person who express gratitude?”
On September 21, ISIS terrorists bombed the Holy Martyrs memorial complex of Deir Zor where there are relics of victims of the Armenian Genocide. The terrorist act was followed by different statements and interpretations.
These days press secretary of the Armenian Diocese of Aleppo, general speaker of the Armenian Apostolic, Catholic and Evangelical Churches Jirair Reyisian is in Armenia and gave his interpretation of this violent act in an interview with “Hayern Aysor”.
“I can’t say anything exact about the bombing of the Holy Martyrs memorial complex of Deir Zor because the news was spread via Arabic news agencies. There were statements regarding the incident, but there is no photo or video. It will be hard to comment on the incident as long as there’s no video. However, this can’t be justified in any way.
There is nobody on the face of the earth that can justify such an act. Let me state just three reasons.
Firstly, as it is stated, the church was bombed by extremist and radical Islamist groupings, that is, the ISIS.
If that’s the case, then any real Islamist, faithful can’t accept the destruction of the house of God.
Secondly, if we look at the incident through the eyes of an Arab, then the Holy Martyrs Church is not only a church dedicated to the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide, but also a memorial complex, the sections of the several reliefs of which show the friendship between the Armenians and Arabs. It shows the gratitude of the Armenian people to those who extended a helping hand to the Armenians during the Genocide and the deportations. Can one really give a slap to the person who expresses gratitude? It’s incredible.
Thirdly, the name of the memorial complex says it all. Whether the martyr is an Armenian or Arab, there is no nation or religion that doesn’t pay homage to martyrs.
Some of the bones and ashes of our martyrs compiled on the sands of the desert of Deir Zor are buried under the memorial complex that was built on the earthen chapel later.
Books and documents devoted to the Armenian Genocide are presented in the showroom located on the lower floor of the chapel. The glass window showcases the bones, skulls and ashes of the martyrs. The fact that one can overlook these standards and show disrespect by bombing the center encompassing the ashes of the martyrs is out of the human, international and inter-religious norm.”
When told that there is information according to which the relics of the martyrs have been moved to a safer place, Jirair Reyisian said:
“The national authorities may move the main parts to a safer area, but how can the ashes lying at the core of the church be moved? Finally, the Holy Martyrs memorial complex is valued for to its symbolism.”
By Lusine Abrahamyan