RUSSIAN PATRIARCH HONORS ARMENIA GENOCIDE VICTIMS

Asbarez
Mar 18th, 2010

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill
has honored the victims of the Armenian Genocide. During a visit to
Yerevan, Kirill laid wreaths at Yerevan’s Armenian Genocide Monument,
dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians annihilated by the Ottoman
Turkish government under the guise of World War I.

Russia is among the countries that recognize the genocide, which
Turkey vehemently denies and lobbies to cover up.

Earlier, Kirill pledged to strengthen relations between the Russian
and Armenian churches at the beginning of his three-day official visit.

Kirill and Catholicos Karekin II, the supreme leader of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, were greeted by hundreds of believers and led a joint
prayer service at the Armenian church’s main cathedral in Echmiadzin,
near Yerevan, shortly after Kirill’s arrival in the Armenian capital
on March 16.

"Every visitor to Armenia receives unforgettable impressions, looking
at its main symbol, the holy Mount Ararat," Kirill said in a speech.

He added that Russian-Armenian relations have been "warm and friendly"
ever since modern-day Armenia was incorporated into the Russian
Empire in 1828 as a result of a Russo-Persian war. He underlined the
significance of that victory later in the day by visiting a memorial
to Russian soldiers killed in that war.

Karekin, for his part, spoke of the Armenian people’s "total love of
and warm feelings of gratitude toward the Russian [Orthodox] Church,
the great Russian people, and the Russian state."

A spokesman for Karekin, Vahram Melikian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian
Service that the visit will "further strengthen" ties between the
two churches, which both enjoy strong government support.

Russian analysts say that unlike his predecessor, Aleksy II, who
died in 2008, Kirill is active in the political arena and keen to
reach out to other churches. Aleksei Makarkin, director of the
Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies, likened him to
experienced politicians who can "very quickly achieve their goals."

Makarkin told RFE/RL that the 63-year-old patriarch has a cordial
rapport with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin.

"Patriarch Kirill is undoubtedly an influential political figure in
Russia, someone whose views the Kremlin takes into account," he said.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is the oldest state church in the world.