With the Holy Mass in St. Peter's Basilica dedicated to the Armenian Genocide and the call for recognition of that crime against humanity Pope Francis has headed the part of the world community that opposes any attempt to place geopolitical interests above condemnation of the Genocide of Armenians. The statement came from Samvel Farmanyan, the co-chair of the Armenia- EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, in a press conference Tuesday, on April 14.
In this light, he said, despite Turkey's efforts to fail the mass, it took place and become an important achievement of Armenia's foreign policy. Farmanyan said Vatican has a serious influence on the world policy and the Pope's statements will greatly help us step up the process of international recognition of the Genocide.
Farmanyan said Ankara's hysteria was not a surprise for Armenia. The politician hopes Turkey's leadership will not allow nationalist groups to take any radical steps against the catholic community in that country. "There are 10 catholic churches and 3 schools in Turkey and I hope Ankara will not close eyes on possible actions of the local nationalists against Catholics, including Armenians," he said.
To note, on April 12 during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Pope Francis said that the annihilation of 1.5, mln Armenians in Ottoman Empire was the first Genocide of the XX century. He called Genocide one of the three massive and unprecedented tragedies of the XX century along with Nazism and Stalinism. The Pope's statement angered Turkey's authorities that summoned the ambassador of Vatican for explanations.