ETCHMIADZIN. –Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II received Ruprecht Polenz, Chairman of the Foreign Committee of the German Bundestag, accompanied by German Ambassador to Armenia Hans-Jochen Schmidt at the Holy See in Etchmiadzin on Monday.

Karekin II told the guests about the history of the Armenian Church and its role in Armenian public and cultural life.

The Catholicos mentioned that such visits will contribute to further development of Armenian – German relations.

Ruprecht Polenz highly estimated not only Armenian-German political and economic cooperation, but also the cooperation in the spheres of culture and education.

The Karabakh issue was also touched upon during the meeting. Karekin II expressed concern about the recent events on the contact line stressing that the international community must condemn Azerbaijan’s aggression and must input efforts so that the issue will be settled only through peaceful negotiations.