However, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture unexpectedly ordered a halt to construction of the monument one day after it officially began on Saturday in the presence of a government member.
The businessman, Gagik Tsarukian, announced plans to build the statue on Mount Hatis in January, saying that it must serve as a “guardian of our country and people” and impress the outside world. The Armenian Apostolic Church objected to the idea, saying that is inappropriate and goes against Armenian Christian tradition.
That did not stop Tsarukian from organizing a contest for the statue and announcing its winner in May even before securing the government’s approval of his project.
The statue designed by sculptor Armen Manvelian will stand 33 meters (108.3 feet) tall atop a 44-meter pedestal to be perched on Hatis. The mountain itself stands more than 2,500 meters above sea level.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian described the project as “acceptable” as he chaired a cabinet meeting in Yerevan last Thursday. He argued that the statue of Jesus Christ will give Armenia a new tourist attraction.
Pashinian’s economy minister, Vahan Kerobian, also put the emphasis on commercial benefits of Tsarukian’s supposedly faith-based undertaking when he attended a ground-breaking ceremony held at the summit of Hatis two days later.
“Just like in the case of other investors, we are ready to do our best to ensure that the project is put into practice as soon as possible and without hurdles,” said Kerobian.
“We believe in Jesus,” Tsarukian reasoned, for his part. “The whole world has [statues of Christ]. Why shouldn’t we have too?”
A spokesman for the Armenian Church’s Mother See in Echmiadzin, Rev. Yesayi Artenian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that it remains opposed to the project. He said that the ancient church, to which the vast majority of Armenians nominally belong, has not erected or worshipped statues of Jesus throughout its more than 1,700-year existence.
In an unexpected statement issued late on Sunday, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports said Mount Hatis is home to about two dozen ancient monuments legally protected by the state. It singled out the ruins of a Bronze Age fortress discovered at the mountain’s summit by an Armenian-Italian archeological expedition in 2019.
The statement warned that Armenian law does not allow any construction at such sites without special government permission. It said that Tsarukian’s eponymous charity must therefore suspend all construction work carried out there.
Education and Culture Minister Vahram Dumanian on Monday declined to clearly explain why he did not voice these objections when Pashinian gave the green light to the project last week.
Hamlet Petrosian, a prominent Armenian historian and archeologist, said that significant damage has already been inflicted on Hatis’s cyclopean fortress stretching back thousands of years.
“They have covered a large part of the fortress with soil to build a platform,” Petrosian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Several parts the [newly built] road [leading to the summit] pass through fortress walls. There is no doubt that nothing will be left there if the construction continues.”
Some representatives of the Armenian tourism sector echoed these concerns. They said that Hatis, which is located about 30 kilometers northeast of Yerevan, is a tourist attraction in itself given the rich historical heritage lying on its top and slopes.
“As a specialist and citizen, I find the existence of such a statute unacceptable,” said Yasha Solomonian of the Armenian Association of Tour Guides
Reacting to the ministry statement, the Gagik Tsarukian Foundation said on Monday that work on the statue of Jesus and its equally huge pedestal will not start until it secures all necessary permits from “competent state bodies.” But it made clear that the construction of the road as well as water and gas supply lines for the site will continue as planned.
Pashinian’s swift approval of Tsarukian’s extravagant project came as a surprise given the uneasy relationship between the two men. The tycoon leads the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) which claims to remain in opposition to the current government.
As recently as in September 2020, Tsarukian was arrested on charges of vote buying which he described as government retribution for his calls for Pashinian’s resignation. He was freed on bail one month later. The 65-year-old has avoided publicly criticizing the government since his party failed to win any parliament seats in last year’s general elections.
As well as giving the nod to the statue of Jesus, Pashinian’s cabinet on Thursday decided not to challenge a court ruling that revoked a hefty penalty imposed by tax authorities on Armenia’s largest casino belonging to Tsarukian. The Ministry of Finance revoked its operating license shortly after Tsarukian was indicted in June 2020. A company operating the casino is understood to have regained the license last year.