Guy Arcizet, the Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France, a masonic lodge, who visited Armenia last year stated in an interview that there were 15-20 members of their lodge in our country. He also said that those people would not be revealed, since there was no lodge in Armenia yet. Arcizet stated that he had come to Armenia to examine the possibilities of establishing that lodge. There were articles published, according to which in order to establish and to recognize the Armenian masonic organization called the Grand Lodge of Armenia, the approval of at least three countries was needed. And according to the same source, the masonic organizations of the US, Russia and France approved of having the Grand Lodge of Armenia. According to some articles in the mass media, Armenian Freemasons have even acquired land in the Vahagn neighborhood and wish to build a masonic temple.
The subject of Freemasonry has been actively discussed in the press and on social networks again recently – the issue of the 2013 presidential election in Armenia will be discussed in the Grand Masonic Lodge of Armenia or the Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the short run and even the candidate will be “outlined.” Among the influential figures of the meeting reportedly was Armenian American lawyer Armin Janyan, director Ruben Gevorgyants, the president of the Association of Armenian Cinematographers, and Levon Rukhkyan, a former Minister of Agriculture. www.aravot.am inquired of the Association of Armenian Cinematographers president which schools had Armenian Freemasons provided computers with and had supported financially, as he had stated in an interview given to the Law and Investigation newspaper.
“It is classified information, I can say nothing,” Mr. Gevorgyants who doesn’t conceal his being a Freemason said.
In response to another question of ours whether nationalism was compatible with Freemasonry, since he was an extreme nationalist, the president of the Association said, “There is no such thing, what newspaper wrote that? It only seems to them that they are not compatible with each other.”
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Shortly afterwards, he stated once again that Armenian Freemasons were engaged in charity, “We give scholarships… not scholarships, educational fees… we have done different things at different times, we have paid the educational fees of 2-3 people this year.” Has there been any support in terms of cinema? “Our mission has nothing to do with cinema,” the head of the Cinematographers’ Association rushed to answer.
For what qualities have you been included in the masonic lodge, what is the principle that you correspond to and adhere to? In response to this question of www.aravot.am, Ruben Gevorgyants said again, “It is classified information, but everything that is necessary is on the web, connect and read, yet there are many lies written in the press.”
Let us remind that in an interview given to Aravot in 2008, Hovsep Seferyan, a member of Rotary International, not ruling out that there were Freemasons in the Rotary Club, stated that, for example, on the occasion of the 90th commemoration of the Genocide, the Armenian National Opera Theater had staged the Gayane ballet in Turkey and all the expenses had been covered by the Turkish Rotarians.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
