Aram I: Turkey ignores calls for return of property confiscated in Genocide years

PanARMENIAN.Net - Archbishop Paul Sayah, Vicar General of the Maronite Patriarchate met with Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia His Holiness Aram I on April 3 to report on Patriarch Bechara El-Rai’s visit to Turkey.

The Archbishop said that the Patriarch, who was warmly received by Turkish authorities, referred to the Armenian Genocide issue during his meetings with the President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.

Archbishop Sayeh said that during the patriarch’s discussion with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the PM insisted that Turkey believes in “the separation of religion and state, defends human rights and democratic principles and stands up for peace, justice and interreligious harmony.”

Erdogan also assured the Patriarch that as legislated, Turkey will return the confiscated properties of religious communities to their legal owners.

After listening to the report, His Holiness Aram I thanked the Patriarch for initiating the Armenian Genocide discussion and said: “First, Turkey’s often-repeated suggestion that historians should discuss the Armenian Genocide is void of any credibility, because established evidence shows that the Genocide of 1915 was planned and executed by the Ottoman authorities. Second, Turkey has decided to return properties confiscated since 1939, but has ignored the issue of the Armenian properties confiscated between 1915 and 1920.”

The Catholicos then informed the Archbishop of the letter he had written to Prime Minister Erdogan raising this question, which as yet remains unanswered.”