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Armenian Church Leaders Call For Recognition Of 1915 Armenian Genoci

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  • Armenian Church Leaders Call For Recognition Of 1915 Armenian Genoci

    ARMENIAN CHURCH LEADERS CALL FOR RECOGNITION OF 1915 ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    World Council of Churches
    April 25 2014

    GENEVA

    The World Council of Churches issued the following news release:

    Leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church have marked the
    99th anniversary of the start of the Armenian Genocide with calls for
    recognition of that historic event. Beginning in April 1915, more than
    one million Armenians were killed by troops of the Ottoman Empire,
    a world power with its capital in what is now the Republic of Turkey.

    Patriarch Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
    Armenians, and Catholicos Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia, based
    in Lebanon, presided at separate anniversary events honouring those
    who suffered as martyrs.

    At a Requiem Mass in Armenia, Karekin II observed that the martyrs'
    pain was inflicted deliberately because of who they were, contrary to
    the position of those who perceive their suffering as an unfortunate
    side-effect of general suffering during the First World War.

    According to online news source Havern Aysor, the patriarch warned
    that "denial of the truth is a heavy burden not only on the denied,
    but the denier as well. The truth can be concealed, but never forgotten
    or lost."

    Earlier in April, at an international conference in Lebanon, Aram I
    spoke of the need for Armenians throughout the world to observe next
    year's 100th anniversary as a united people.

    "Unity must become the driving force for all Armenians," he said.

    "It's obvious that Armenia and all Diaspora Armenian communities
    will hold events according to their region and conditions. But we
    must take measures to make this a pan-national event".

    Aram I stressed that the goals of remembrance must include both
    "recognition" of the genocide and "reparation" for losses of the past
    hundred years.

    Last year, on 24 April 2013, Karekin II and Aram I took the unusual
    step of issuing a joint statement on the Armenian Genocide urging
    Turkey to return confiscated Armenian churches and church estates. The
    statement came as an appeal uniting the voices of the two Primates
    on an issue of great importance to their churches in Armenia and
    the diaspora.

    "In 1915, more than 1.5 million Armenians became victims of genocide.

    The survivors on the roads of exile found shelter in Eastern Armenia,
    the present-day Republic of Armenia, Syria, Lebanon and other
    Arabic nations, and in a number of other countries of the world,"
    the statement said.

    Karekin II and Aram I demanded that the government of Turkey recognize
    the killing of Armenians as genocide, that the government return all
    of the confiscated churches, church properties, monasteries and other
    relics to the Armenian churches, and compensate those Armenians who
    have suffered because of the genocide.

    The Turkish government has never recognized the Armenian Genocide,
    despite governments around the world, including the EU and United
    States, recognizing the killings as genocide.

    The World Council of Churches (WCC) is planning a major conference on
    the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on 24 April 2015. In
    a Minute passed by the WCC 10th Assembly held in Busan, Korea, 30
    October to 8 November, the assembly pledged that the WCC will hold
    an "an international conference in Geneva on the recognition of and
    reparation for the Armenian Genocide".

    Both Armenian churches are member churches of the World Council of
    Churches. Patriarch Karekin II is one of the eight recently elected
    presidents of the WCC. He was elected by the 10th Assembly as president
    for the Oriental Orthodox churches of the WCC. Catholicos Aram I is a
    past, and the longest-serving, moderator of the WCC Central Committee,
    having served in that office from 1991 to 2006.

    Read the joint statement from Karekin II and Aram I
    (http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/04/24/karekin-ii-and-aram-i-urge-turkey-to-recognize-armenian-genocide-and-return-armenian-churches/)

    Read the WCC 10th Assembly Minute on the Armenian Genocide
    (http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/assembly/2013-busan/adopted-documents-statements/minute-on-100th-anniversary-of-the-armenian-genocide)

    Read about the 24 April statement by Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan
    (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/23/turkey-erdogan-condolences-armenian-massacre)

    Armenian Apostolic Church (Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin)
    (http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/armenian-apostolic-church-mother-see-of-holy-etchmiadzin)

    Armenian Apostolic Church (Holy See of Cilicia)
    (http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/armenian-apostolic-church-holy-see-of-cilicia)

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