The authorities, who are so proud of the construction of schools and kindergartens in various Armenian communities and condemn previous administrations for considering these buildings a luxury, are ultimately preventing the implementation of the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies project in Etchmiadzin, initiated and executed by the Blessed Virgin Mary and His Holiness personally.
The Blessed Virgin Mary herself recently sounded the alarm on this matter, noting that this important initiative for the city has stalled not due to a lack of ideas or funds, but due to administrative and legal obstacles.
In 2022, the land needed for the construction of the educational complex remained an issue: the church land alone was insufficient for the full implementation of the project. According to the project, the building requires 4,500 square meters of land, while approximately 700 square meters of land on the site selected for construction belong to the community.
In a conversation with us, Father Yesayi Artenyan, Director of the Information System of the Blessed Virgin Mary, clarified that the land in question was an additional 736 square meters, part of which was an unused road, and the other part was land belonging to the community, also currently unused. This territory became the subject of a dispute. In 2025, it seemed the ice had finally broken. In 2022, the Blessed Virgin Mary submitted an application to the Vagharshapat Community Council, to which the council responded several years later, in 2025, and transferred the land to the Blessed Virgin Mary. However, during the registration of state property rights, the State Cadastral Committee suspended the process based on a statement from the mayor of the Vagharshapat community, and the project was frozen.
After artificially delaying this charitable initiative, the authorities ultimately passed a law that made the project’s implementation in its original form impossible.
As a reminder, on March 25, the National Assembly, with 67 votes in favor, 26 votes against, and 3 abstentions, adopted in its second reading the draft amendments to the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Amendments to the Land Code.” The amendments, submitted by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia, prohibit the granting of land plots to the See of Holy Etchmiadzin with the right of gratuitous ownership. Prior to the amendments to the relevant article of the Land Code, land plots in state and community ownership could be granted to the Armenian Apostolic Church with the right of gratuitous ownership for the construction and maintenance of churches and church buildings. The new draft law proposes granting land to the Armenian Apostolic Church only with the right of use.
Anticipating public criticism, during the discussion of the draft, MP Vahe Ghalumyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Territorial Administration, Local Self-Government, Agriculture, and Environmental Protection, assured that these amendments to the law are not directed against the Church, but merely regulate land ownership issues. This raises the question: why was the project’s implementation plan frozen until the amended version of the law was adopted? Is this legislative initiative deliberately designed and a manifestation of the government’s declared crusade against the Armenian Apostolic Church? In any case, as Father Yesai Artenyan confirms, there were no problems with the idea or the means for suspending the program; the obstacles were administrative and legal, related to state bodies.
In this regard, the Holy See expresses concern that “such a decision is unacceptable and will significantly hinder the spiritual, social, and educational mission of the Church, aimed at strengthening the spiritual life of our people.”
If the Tumo center were built, over 2,000 children from Vagharshapat and neighboring towns would have an environment in their city for modern education, technological skills development, and creative development. The modern Tumo Children’s Development and Education Center is designed to educate nearly 2,000 children.
In other words, the authorities are effectively creating obstacles not for the Armenian Church, but for the children of Vagharshapat and neighboring towns, who are thereby deprived of opportunities enjoyed by children from the towns and towns where Tumo centers and laboratories operate. Incidentally, according to our source, Argentine-Armenian businessman Eduardo Eurnekian, as a philanthropist, provided financial resources for the construction of the Tumo center in Etchmiadzin.
It appears that the Pashinyan government is preventing the realization of Armenia’s philanthropic potential, calling into question the culture of philanthropy in our country, as well as foreign investment.
How will this issue ultimately be resolved? The director of the information system of the Blessed Virgin Mary does not yet know the fate of the charitable project. According to him, the relevant structures of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Marys are negotiating with the Vagharshapat community council, and, as they say, the ball is in the court of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Whose sphere of activity is this? Time will tell whether common sense or fear and the vain ambition of losing their position and possibly being arrested on some criminal charge will prevail.