Is AB Elpidophoros Useless Even To His Real Secular Masters?

Shortly before the visit, on January 3, Bishop of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church in the United States Mesrop Parsamyan, ordained on October 8, 2023, was for the first time received by the Archbishop Elpidophoros of America at the headquarters of the GOARCH. The hierarchs conveyed congratulations to each other on the occasion of the Nativity of Christ and discussed the imperative of ministering to the youth and the challenges associated with preserving faith, culture, and language. On January 11, Archbishop Elpidophoros paid a return visit to Bishop Mesrop visiting his office in New York.

What Elpidophoros, a lobbyist of the Democratic Party, a loyal partner of Turkish diplomacy, and a Turkish citizen hiding under the mask of a Greek Orthodox hierarch, could have in common with the Armenian revanchist Karekin II? It seems the goal of the Catholicos was only to lull the vigilance of the head of the GOARCH and gain access to more interesting persons.

The fact is that, while in New York, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II held a number of meetings with representatives of the Greek diaspora in the United States, in particular with the consultant of the Livingston Group LLC consulting firm, Elias Gerasoulis, whose activities were aimed at lobbying Armenian interests in the U.S. Congress. The main client of this organization is the Armenian opposition party National Democratic Pole led by Jirair Sefilian whose conflict with Nikol Pashinyan against the background of the surrender of Nagorno-Karabakh sharply escalated last fall, just like the conflict between Catholicos Karekin II and the head of the Armenian government.

The issue of preserving Armenian shrines in Nagorno-Karabakh remains acute for the Armenian Apostolic Church. In particular, it is argued that the Azerbaijani side unreasonably refers the Armenian Cathedral of St. Christ the All-Savior in Shushi to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church and plans, with the connivance of local hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, to destroy it under the pretext of building a road.

In addition, the Armenian Church strives to maintain its political influence in the country and diaspora. Thus, in his New Year’s address and in the Christmas message sent on January 6, Catholicos Karekin II mentioned Artsakh and expressed revanchist views. By the decision of the Armenian government, broadcasting of the traditional New Year’s address of the Catholicos live on Public Television was prohibited.

It should be noted that on the background of the current preparation of the so-called “peace agreement” between Yerevan and Baku, the United States is undergoing numerous consultations with the participation of key representatives of Armenian opposition forces trying to put pressure on the Azerbaijani side through lobbying opportunities in Congress. In this regard, it is possible that one of the main subjects of discussion between Karekin II and Elias Gerasoulis also became the upcoming agreements.

According to sources in the Armenian diaspora, the so-called “new Armenian-American group” (AAG) is now being actively formed in Washington, the core of which was made up of major businessmen who want to change the vector of Armenia’s development and invest in its new political future. The core of this group includes the leaders of the non-profit organizations (e.g. Tim Jemal, president of the Global ARM, and James Tufenkyan, founder of the Tufenkyan Foundation), as well as the Academic Board of the Policy Forum Armenia think tank. The group is supervised by Chief of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency Foreign Liaison Division Gregory Pipes, formerly a military attaché in Yerevan, and Jake Sotiriadis, Director of the Center for Future Intelligence at the National Intelligence University. The main lobbying structure is the aforementioned Livingston Group LLC, the objects of its work are Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Gary Peters, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Domestic political aspect

The ideology of the new Armenian-American group containing theses about the need for the urgent dismissal of Nikol Pashinyan and nullifying the agreements with Baku, runs counter to the official position of the State Department and the desire of the Democrats to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict as soon as possible, recording “another foreign policy victory” on the account of running Joe Biden.

The GOP hawks, having secured the tacit support of the U.S. special services and the Pentagon, seek to clean up the current political landscape of Armenia, removing all politicians (including Pashinyan) on whom Russia has at least any influence.

At the same time, the AAG-supported National Democratic Pole, despite its numerous protests and media activity, has an extremely low rating in Armenia (less than 1% of the country’s population). In this regard, it is also becoming clear that the new Armenian-American group is interested in negotiations with Karekin II, who has tremendous support among the population and can have a serious impact on the domestic political agenda in Armenia, acting already in the fairway of the political and military elites of the United States that are increasing their influence.

Elpidophoros doesn’t live up to anyone’s hopes.

If the insider information presented in the article corresponds to reality, then it can be stated that Archbishop Elpidophoros was useless not only for Orthodox Americans as the First Hierarch of the GOARCH, but also for his Turkish curators, as well as the Democratic Party. He was easily lulled by speeches about the “difficulties of preserving national identity in the diaspora” and deceived like a child, as a result of which he did not cope with his role as a guard protecting the access of actors unfriendly to Ankara to the financial and political resources of the Greek diaspora in the United States. Moreover, without thinking of it, Elpidophoros did a favor to Republicans that could overturn the incumbent President’s plans to quickly make up foreign policy points.

February 2, 2024,  www.helleniscope.com

DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.

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