Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate’s Brotherhood to Vote on Compromise Settlement on 98-Year Land Lease

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The Armenian Patriarchate and community of Jerusalem face a historic moment of truth regarding the future of the crucial Cows’ Garden in the western part of the Armenian Quarter. The Cows’ Garden is not merely a plot of land but a sacred trust, a cornerstone of our traditions, history, and identity. Generations of Armenians have revered and safeguarded it, understanding that its preservation is essential to the survival of our eighteen-hundred-year presence in Jerusalem.

In 2021, a grave mistake was made when certain individuals within the Patriarchate signed an illegal agreement leasing the Cows’ Garden for 98 years to Xana Gardens. This deal violated the Brotherhood’s constitution and the sacred duty entrusted to us all. It undermined the moral and legal integrity of our institution and betrayed the trust of the faithful. The signatories were Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, Grand Sacristan Archbishop Sevan Gharibian, and the since-defrocked priest Baret Yeretzian.

Today, we stand at the threshold of a second and perhaps even greater mistake. A proposed settlement — negotiated behind closed doors over the past year-and-a-half — will soon come before the Brotherhood for a vote on the 24th of September. Leaked segments of the proposal show that it would be even more devastating than the original lease, further entrenching illegality and jeopardizing the sustainability of the Armenian presence in Jerusalem’s Old City. Approving such a settlement would ignore the clear legal arguments presented by the community, including the violation of the Brotherhood’s own bylaws and the undeniable status of the land as a waqf property, which is an endowment entrusted to the Community under which the Patriarch is its custodian.

The proposed settlement regarding the Cows’ Garden is the signing of a new deal of 7,200 square meters instead of 11,500 square meters. The community met with the mediator in recent months, expressing its opposition to the proposed deal and demanding that only financial compensation should be legislated and not any concessions. Real estate director Bishop Koryoun Baghdassaryan, who has worked in secret for the past two years, received the mandate two years ago by the Holy Synod and General Assembly to fully revoke the illegal deal. However, he failed and negotiated on land concessions, keeping in the dark the community and the Brotherhood. His actions remind us of the time Fr. Baret Yeretzian was the real estate director.

The Brotherhood’s upcoming vote on Sept. 24 may decide the fate of the Cows’ Garden and the security of the Armenian Quarter.

Call for Transparency, Inclusion – The Brotherhood cannot and must not make this decision in secrecy. Transparency, accountability, loyalty, and faithfulness to the truth must guide their deliberations. The Armenian people in Jerusalem and across the world have the right to know and the right to be heard. Their rightful voice must not be silenced.

The community has made its position clear: the Cows’ Garden must be fully preserved within the Armenian Quarter, which means the 2021 deal is illegal.

Responsibility to History – The decision before the St. James’ Brotherhood is not merely administrative: it is historic and crucial. In choosing transparency and justice, the Brotherhood has the chance to restore the people’s trust, to safeguard the integrity of our centuries-old institution, and to ensure the future of the Armenian presence in Jerusalem. By choosing secrecy or compromise, it risks repeating and deepening the errors of 2021, with consequences that will echo for generations. In addition to thinking as clergymen, Brotherhood members should think as Armenians because the lands under discussion are our national properties. Outside of Armenia, Jerusalem’s millennium-old Armenian Quarter is our nation’s most important property and, as such, vital to the existence of the Armenian Diaspora.

The Armenian community of Jerusalem and the diaspora share the same anguish, concern, and determination. Together, with vision and responsibility, we can overcome this crisis. The Brotherhood has the duty and the power to act in a way that honors our past and secures our future.