HEAD OF ARMENIAN CHURCH SUPPORTS GENOCIDE MEASURE
by Mrinalini Reddy

Medill Reports, DC
Oct 19 2007

His Holiness Karekin II tours the Jefferson Memorial with Rabbi
Arthur Schnier of Appeal of Conscience Foundation and Archbishop
Khajag Barsamian (left) Primate of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern Diocese.)

WASHINGTON–As Congress considers legislation that brands the killings
of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 "genocide," the patriarch of the
worldwide Armenian Church has called Turkey’s negative response is
"unacceptable."

His Holiness Karekin II, the spiritual leader of 7 million Armenian
Christians, stopped in Washington during a month-long U.S. tour and
weighed in on a diplomatic fracas that is roiling the nation’s capital.

At issue is the 1915 massacre of Armenians on Turkish soil in the last
days of the Ottoman Empire. On Oct. 10, the House Foreign Relations
Committee passed a resolution that called the deaths a "genocide."

President Bush issued a stern rebuke, saying the bill could threaten
relations with Turkey, a strategic ally — and moderate Islamic nation
— in the war on terror.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has expressed discontent and recalled
the Turkish ambassador from Washington as a sign of protest.

Karekin, spoke in Washington the day after the committee action on the
marbled steps of the Jefferson Memorial at an event to mark religion
freedom. "We believe that similar threats are unacceptable and we
would desire a more positive approach by Turkey itself," he said in
answer to a reporter’s question.

Just hours before the House panel approved the non-binding resolution,
Karekin met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and offered the opening
prayer in the House chamber. "With the solemn burden of history, we
remember the victims of the genocide of the Armenians, the consequences
of which are still felt by the entire world in new manifestiations
of genocide," he prayed.

Speaking in Armenian, Karekin said he was pleased with the resolution,
which Armenian Americans lobbied lawmakers hard to get on the House
floor.

Edward Alexander, a former diplomat and parishioner at St. Mary
Armenian Church in Washington D.C., joined Karekin on his visit with
Pelosi and at the Jefferson Memorial. He said he lost members of his
extended family in the massacre.

While the legislation may appear more a symbolic gesture, it means a
great deal to the Armenian community, he said. "This is the greatest
country in the world," said Alexander. "It’s a country of laws,
deep democracy and justice."

The Armenian Church holds a unique place outside of Roman Catholicism,
Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism. Armenia was the first country
to proclaim Christianity the official state religion, in 301 A.D.,
preceding Roman Emporer Constantine by 12 years.

There are about 7 million Armenian Christians around the world,
including about 1 million in three dioceses in the U.S. and Canada.

The 1915 massacre fueled a wave of refugees to American shores, which
helped build the U.S. church into the largest and most prosperous
church in the Armenian diaspora.

Karekin holds a position similar to the pope, and is the church’s
132nd catholicos, or supreme partiarch.

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