Orontes:
For the Orthodox, the basic tenant behind ASpostolic succession is not only a mere laying on of hands thereby creating a lineage that can be traced back to the apostles, but also (and perhaps more importantly) and contiguous line of believers that have held and passed down the teachings of the apostles. Many Eastern Orthdoox would argue that the Oriental Orthodox lost that lineage because of a disagreement on how to express the natures of Christ. Some EOs might disagree and purport that both groups actually hold the same faith but just use different wording to express the same idea. There have been a number of sad threads that always end up closed regarding this issue and no real conclusion ever comes out of them... so for now you will find many (most?) who believe that the OO are in error and therefore not part of the Church where others suggest that this split betweent he OO and the EO is one over a misunderstanding and that while we are split visibly, we are united by the same Faith and that we should come to recognize this soon and come together as the One Body that we already are. But this... is another thread and if you wish you may suggest someone open it up or (Better yet) dig up an old threa... or five, in both TAW nad the OO forums so you can learn... and see how fruitless the threads usually end up being.
John
God bless,
John