During his visit to Doha in April 2004, Archbishop Gorun Babian of the Cilician Brotherhood invited the Qatari Armenians (total number 180 persons) to form their national bodies. It is not clear whether these bodies are meant to be elected in a democratic way or they should be appointed by higher Church authorities. Anyway, the Qatari Armenians are now much more organized than they used to be few years back. During the past School-Year (2003-2004) an Armenian Weekly School (Nareg) started functioning, with the purpose of teaching the children the language of their ancestors and the heritage of the nation that they represent.Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I has been invited by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to pay an official visit to the State of Qatar from 18-21 November 2004. The program of his visit will include meeting with the Emir himself and several Qatari officials, followed by meeting with the Armenian Community in Doha.
We hope that the Armenians of Qatar learn from the pitfalls of the Armenians of other Communities and avoid creating an atmospher of antagonism and hatred among their different groups. They should learn to respect each other and not to cling to classifications based on "ideological" inclinations.
The Diasporan experience however shows that very small proportion of such wishes get fulfilled. At least on the level of a small Community it is important to put the differences aside and try to create an atmosphere of tolerence. AZAD-HYE.
During his stay in Qatar Catholicos Aram I will deliver also a lecture about the Christian-Islam Dialogue.
Website of Qatari Armenians
The bulk of the information in this website is related to Armenia and Diasporan communities in general. There is little information about Qatari Armenians, but we hope that this will be changed in the future and we will know more about the Community life in Doha.
You can reach the webmaster of the Qatari Armenian website at: zaven_m@hotmail.com
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