Catholicoses call on Turkey to return Armenian churches

Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia Aram I have called upon Turkey to return Armenian churches and Armenian property.

In their statement, Catholicoses say that along with their personal possessions in Western Armenia and Cilicia, which were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, as well as in other regions of Turkey, the Armenians also lost church property such as churches, monasteries, religious, educational and humanitarian centers, and items of great cultural and religious value.

“The Turkish state declared all possessions of the Armenians subjected to genocide and forcibly deported to be its own property as abandoned property. 98 years after the Genocide was committed, the modern state of Turkey as the legal successor of the Ottoman Empire not only denies the genocide that was organized and committed against our ancestors, but also continues its ant-Armenian policy, withholding Armenian cultural and religious values such as churches and church property.

We call on Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide, compensate the Armenian people for their losses and violated human and national rights, and immediately return Armenian churches, monasteries, church property and spiritual and cultural values to the Armenian people as the legal successor,” the statement reads.