Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church issued a joint statement, whereby they call upon Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide and to return the confiscated Armenian churches and church properties.   

“In 2015, the Armenian nation will mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide orchestrated by Ottoman Turkey. All properties, which belong to the Armenian people that were subjected to genocide and were forcibly deported, were appropriated by the state of Turkey [and] under the name ‘derelict estates.’

As the legal successor of the Ottoman Empire, the present-day state of Turkey continues its anti-Armenian policy, 98 years after the Genocide, by keeping under confiscation the religious and cultural values of the Armenian nation.           

Consequently, we call upon to the state of Turkey and demand:

1) To recognize the Armenian Genocide.

2) To fully compensate for the losses the Armenian people have suffered and for the violated human and national rights.

3) To immediately return to the Armenian people the Armenian churches, monasteries, church properties, and the spiritual and cultural values,” the two catholicoi’s statement reads in particular.