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PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.ArmenianOrthodoxChurch.org/
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
"WE DEMAND THET TURKEY RETURN OUR CHURCHES AND ALL OTHER CONFISCATED
PROPERTIES"
SAYS HIS HOLINESS ARAM I
On Wednesday 24 April 2013, after the Holy Liturgy and the Memorial Service
in front of the Martyr's Chapel, His Holiness Aram I addressed the thousands
of people who had come to honour their martyrs.
The Catholicos said, "The memory of our one-and-a-half million martyrs of
the 1915 Genocide, organized and implemented by Ottoman Turkey, calls us
today to break our silence and demand that Turkey return all property
belonging to our church, our nation and our people, including homes, lands,
religious and cultural artefacts and other valuable objects, to their legal
owners." He then asked, "How can we remain silent in front of such a tragedy
and injustice?"
The Catholicos then continued, "According to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, all international and regional covenants and instruments, and
the Convention on Genocide, genocide is a crime against humanity, and its
perpetrators must be punished. We have already seen the response of the
international community to the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda and
Bosnia Herzegovina.."
Referring to the Armenian case, His Holiness said, "We should adopt a
three-pronged approach: historical, political and legal. Historically, the
Armenian Genocide need not be proven any more. However, we should continue
to identify new documents that governments open to the public for study and
documentation. Politically, our institutions, Armenian Cause committees and
research institutions should continue their valuable advocacy work. We
should now focus on our legal claims. The Catholicosate of Cilicia owns a
large number of Churches: 12 in Adana, nine in Alexandretta, six in Ayntab,
10 in Fernouz, 26 in Gurun, eight in Hadjin, 23 in Malatya, 24 in Marash, 11
in Payas, seven in Sis, 43 in Yozgat and 14 in Zeytoun. The Catholicosate of
Cilicia also owns 15 Monasteries, more than a hundred schools, cultural
centres, farms, shops and agricultural lands. The current list does not
include the properties owned by our people. Catholicos Aram I then asked:
How could Turkey believe that it could gain access to the European Union in
the face of such a blatant injustice? How could it defend democracy and
people's rights? How could it speak of interreligious and intercultural
dialogue when it denies the Genocide and transforms churches into mosques?
Aram I added, "Our people, the government of Armenia, our religious
institutions and our political organisations should combine their efforts to
demand the legal rights of our people to their confiscated properties. This
is our inalienable right and the legacy we inherited from our martyrs." His
Holiness then announced that the Catholicos of All Armenians, Holy See of
Etchmiadzin, and the Catholicos of Cilicia, in a joint statement, have
demanded the following::
1. That Turkey recognize the Armenian Genocide
2. That Turkey compensate Armenians for all their losses in human lives
and human rights
3. That Turkey return the Armenian churches, monasteries, church
properties and all spiritual and cultural monuments to their rightful and
legal owners, the Armenian people."
The Catholicos concluded, "The late Catholicos Sahak was forcefully removed
from his See in Cilicia; our people were massacred, subjected to all forms
of violent acts, deported from their homes and deprived of their churches,
schools and family properties. Therefore, as the Catholicos of Cilicia, it
is my moral responsibility to demand, through political and legal channels,
that Turkey return our churches and church properties. Turkey is the
successor of the continuing state of the Ottoman Empire that committed the
Genocide against one-and-a-half million Armenians and appropriated our
properties and possessions. Therefore, Turkey is responsible for the acts of
the Ottomans."
##
Photos: http://www.armenianorthodoxchurch.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos821.htm
http://www.armenianorthodoxchurch.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos822.htm
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.ArmenianOrthodoxChurch.org/
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
"WE DEMAND THET TURKEY RETURN OUR CHURCHES AND ALL OTHER CONFISCATED
PROPERTIES"
SAYS HIS HOLINESS ARAM I
On Wednesday 24 April 2013, after the Holy Liturgy and the Memorial Service
in front of the Martyr's Chapel, His Holiness Aram I addressed the thousands
of people who had come to honour their martyrs.
The Catholicos said, "The memory of our one-and-a-half million martyrs of
the 1915 Genocide, organized and implemented by Ottoman Turkey, calls us
today to break our silence and demand that Turkey return all property
belonging to our church, our nation and our people, including homes, lands,
religious and cultural artefacts and other valuable objects, to their legal
owners." He then asked, "How can we remain silent in front of such a tragedy
and injustice?"
The Catholicos then continued, "According to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, all international and regional covenants and instruments, and
the Convention on Genocide, genocide is a crime against humanity, and its
perpetrators must be punished. We have already seen the response of the
international community to the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda and
Bosnia Herzegovina.."
Referring to the Armenian case, His Holiness said, "We should adopt a
three-pronged approach: historical, political and legal. Historically, the
Armenian Genocide need not be proven any more. However, we should continue
to identify new documents that governments open to the public for study and
documentation. Politically, our institutions, Armenian Cause committees and
research institutions should continue their valuable advocacy work. We
should now focus on our legal claims. The Catholicosate of Cilicia owns a
large number of Churches: 12 in Adana, nine in Alexandretta, six in Ayntab,
10 in Fernouz, 26 in Gurun, eight in Hadjin, 23 in Malatya, 24 in Marash, 11
in Payas, seven in Sis, 43 in Yozgat and 14 in Zeytoun. The Catholicosate of
Cilicia also owns 15 Monasteries, more than a hundred schools, cultural
centres, farms, shops and agricultural lands. The current list does not
include the properties owned by our people. Catholicos Aram I then asked:
How could Turkey believe that it could gain access to the European Union in
the face of such a blatant injustice? How could it defend democracy and
people's rights? How could it speak of interreligious and intercultural
dialogue when it denies the Genocide and transforms churches into mosques?
Aram I added, "Our people, the government of Armenia, our religious
institutions and our political organisations should combine their efforts to
demand the legal rights of our people to their confiscated properties. This
is our inalienable right and the legacy we inherited from our martyrs." His
Holiness then announced that the Catholicos of All Armenians, Holy See of
Etchmiadzin, and the Catholicos of Cilicia, in a joint statement, have
demanded the following::
1. That Turkey recognize the Armenian Genocide
2. That Turkey compensate Armenians for all their losses in human lives
and human rights
3. That Turkey return the Armenian churches, monasteries, church
properties and all spiritual and cultural monuments to their rightful and
legal owners, the Armenian people."
The Catholicos concluded, "The late Catholicos Sahak was forcefully removed
from his See in Cilicia; our people were massacred, subjected to all forms
of violent acts, deported from their homes and deprived of their churches,
schools and family properties. Therefore, as the Catholicos of Cilicia, it
is my moral responsibility to demand, through political and legal channels,
that Turkey return our churches and church properties. Turkey is the
successor of the continuing state of the Ottoman Empire that committed the
Genocide against one-and-a-half million Armenians and appropriated our
properties and possessions. Therefore, Turkey is responsible for the acts of
the Ottomans."
##
Photos: http://www.armenianorthodoxchurch.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos821.htm
http://www.armenianorthodoxchurch.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos822.htm