PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: info@ArmenianOrthodoxChurch.org
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

"WE DEMAND REPARATIONS FOR THE HUMAN AND MATERIAL LOSSES RESULTING FROM THE
ADANA MASSACRES"

Said His Holiness Aram I
at the Opening of the Commemorative Symposium

On Wednesday 28 October in the evening the symposium to commemorate the
100th anniversary of the Adana Massacres began, with the participation of
community and political leaders, clergy, historians, researchers,
international law experts and the descendents of the victims, who came from
different parts of the world.

The symposium began with a Requiem Service in memory of the martyrs,
presided over by His Holiness Aram I and celebrated by the members of the
Brotherhood of the Catholicosate. Following the Service the participants
were led to the Cilicia Museum for the opening of an exhibition of 60
photographs from the archives of the Catholicosate depicting scenes of the
massacres of Adana.

In his opening speech, Catholicos Aram I said that the current symposium
will bridge the past, the present and the future. He continued: "As
Armenians we should set aside our differences and unite in our just claims
for reparation for the Adana Tragedy. Demand for justice is not constrained
by time. We must ensure that the consequences of the genocides are
recognised and remedied. In Adana we lost 30.000 lives, the massacres left
us with widows, orphans, destroyed churches, homes, schools, farms, mills
and everything else that touched the peoples’ livelihood. Hence, today on
behalf of all Armenians we demand compensation from Turkey for those losses
inflicted upon our people".

After the exhibition, the participants took part in the erection of a
Khatchkar (stone-cross) in the yard of the Catholicosate in memoriam of the
victims.
The symposium in Antelias will continue until the end of the week.

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View the photos here:
tos/Photos412.htm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the 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.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress