PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: ktrij@etchmiadzin.am
April 20, 2005

His Holiness Karekin II Delivers Opening Address at International
Genocide Conference

On April 20, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, presided during the opening session
of the International Conference entitled “Ultimate Crime, Ultimate
Challenge – Human Rights and Genocide”, which convened in Yerevan,
Armenia, dedicated to the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
His Excellency Robert Kocharian, President of the Republic of Armenia,
and His Holiness Karekin II delivered opening addresses to the
assembled international participants and guests.

Below please find the message of His Holiness:

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THE MESSAGE OF BLESSING AND WELCOME OF
CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II
AT THE CONFERENCE DEDICATED
TO THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
(Yerevan, 20 April 2005)

Your Excellency, President of the Republic of Armenia,
Honored Participants and Guests of the Conference,

We greet you who are assembled here for this international conference on the
occasion of the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and bring to you
blessings from the spiritual center of all Armenians – the Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin.

Today is a day of great consolation for our people, that decades later,
international society has focused on the Genocide of the Armenians
implemented at the beginning of the 20th century in Ottoman Turkey, and
which was the most lamentable page in the history of our people who have
seen manifold tribulations.

In the century of enlightenment and the progress of civilization, our people
had the hope of finding personal security, a defense of human rights, and
conditions for a peaceful and creative life. However, instead they were
eliminated from the greatest portion of their historical homeland within
Turkey and in the Armenian-occupied settlements of the Ottoman Empire. The
systematic massacres and organized exiles were transformed into death
sentences; what the sword could not reach, was finished by starvation and
epidemic. The studies of these events are not lacking for factual
testimonies. Today, the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian
Genocide, by a number of states as the greatest of crimes against humanity,
fills us with confidence, that it will find universal recognition and
truthful evaluation.

The 20th century, which began for the Armenian people with the greatest
calamity of Genocide, became the century in the history of mankind which
witnessed two world wars. The same mindset that produced the dreadful,
savage massacres of the Armenians would later create the concentration camps
and the gas chambers. Truly, a new century begins and it must begin with a
new way of thinking, one that rejects violence and crime, and instead
confirms the values of humanity and compassion. A century when, as the
psalmist wishes with yearning, mercy and truth will meet, and righteousness
and peace will embrace. We the people must create that century. History
testifies that ruined cities are rebuilt with greater ease and conditions
of life improve faster than changes in the thinking of men and the standards
of life – which are the true guarantors of progress and hope for the future.
Likewise, the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Republic of Turkey
would become a great victory for human rights and democracy, without which,
Turkey will find the building of a free and joyful life difficult.

Dear ones, the highest aspiration and goal, the greatest efforts for all
times must be that charity, rights and justice remain victorious against
hatred and enmity, against terrorism and war, and against all other evils
which are present in our contemporary reality, and are the challenges facing
humanity in this century.

This international representative conference is similarly called to reflect
on the challenges of our time. In this sense, the commemoration of the 90th
Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is not only an event, but also a
charge. It is our wish that this conference benefits the work of having a
better and benevolent world, one that manifests the hopes and desires of
mankind.

We extend our appreciation to the organizers of this gathering and to all of
you, and wish manifold successes to the sessions of the conference.

May the Lord bless us and bless peace, justice and the paths of brotherhood
between nations. We offer prayers and incense to the memory of the 1.5
million innocent victims. The mercy, grace and love of God be with the
entire world and us always. Amen.

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