PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: cathcil@cathcil.org
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I MEETS WITH THE REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER
The representative of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora, Culture
Minister Tarek Mitri, visited His Holiness Aram I in Bikfaya on August 26.
On behalf of the PM, the minister thanked His Holiness Aram I for his
efforts in favor of Lebanon during these times of crisis, especially in
international circles. The minister also talked about the current situation
in Lebanon, the external and internal factors affecting it and the
continuing efforts for national consensus with the aim of sustaining the
country’s internal unity.
The Pontiff and the minister also discussed the issue of potential Turkish
contribution to the UNIFIL forces in South Lebanon. The Catholicos asked
minister Mitri to inform the PM of the Lebanese Armenian community’s and his
personal objection to the participation of Turkey in the peacekeeping
forces.
"This is not only an Armenian issue, it is a problem for Lebanon, a problem
for the Arab World, when Turkish history is full of massacres, human rights
violations and past and present injustices. Our opposition to the
participation of Turkey in the UNIFIL forces comes to express the just
demands of all those nations that have suffered under the bloody hands of
the Ottoman-Turkey. Our people will oppose to all attempts aimed at casting
shadow over irrefutable historical facts for the sake of political
considerations," His Holiness said.
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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.