Russian Church Clarifies Position on Armenian Genocide

MOSCOW — Position of the Russian Church towards the Armenian Genocide is not changed spokesman of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia Deacon Alexander Volkov said in a statement to the Armenian media.

“The position of our Church on the Armenian genocide has been repeatedly and clearly expressed in numerous statements and messages of the Patriarch,” added Volkov. He pointed out that high-level Russian Orthodox clerics took part in last year’s events in Armenia that marked the centennial of the Armenian genocide.

“In an interview for “Rossiya” TV channel Patriarch Kirill spoke about the terrible and unprecedented situation of the Christians in Syria and Iraq. In that context, he brought the example of the history of the Ottoman Empire, where there were periods that the imposed order ensured relative security and stability in the lives of religious minorities.

Volkov insisted that the Patriarch alluded to only some periods of Ottoman history that saw “relative security and stability in the lives of religious minorities.” “The absence of such order — both in the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago and in contemporary Iraq, Syria and Libya — always leads to tragic events,” he said.