Armenian church leaders have called for recognition of the Armenian Genocide which saw more than a million Armenians killed by troops of the now defunct state, the Ottoman Empire, which had its headquarters in Turkey.
The genocide started in April 1915 with the 99th anniversary marked last week.
According to a report from the World Council of Churches, Patriarch Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians observed at a Requiem Mass in Armenia on Friday that ” the martyrs” pain was inflicted deliberately because of who they were, contrary to the position of those who perceive their suffering as an unfortunate side-effect of general suffering during the First World War”.
He reportedly warned that “denial of the truth is a heavy burden not only on the denied, but the denier as well. The truth can be concealed, but never forgotten or lost.”
Earlier this month Catholicos Aram I of the Lebanon-based Holy See of Cilicia, told an international conference of the need to Armenians to throughout the world to mark next year’s 100th anniversary as a “united people”, according to the WCC report.
“Unity must become the driving force for all Armenians,” he is reported as saying. “It”s obvious that Armenia and all Diaspora Armenian communities will hold events according to their region and conditions. But we must take measures to make this a pan-national event”.
Aram I stressed that the goals of remembrance must include both “recognition” of the genocide and “reparation” for losses of the past hundred years.
In a joint statement issued last year, the two church leaders urged Turkey, which has never recognised the Armenian Genocide, to return confiscated Armenian churches and church estates.
The WCC is planning a major international conference to be held on Geneva on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on 24th April, 2015.