On September 23, right after arriving in Athens, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos was deeply saddened by the news about the bombing of the church in Deir Zor, as reported on the official website of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia.

The Supreme Patriarch has strictly condemned that crime and has said the following: “We view this crime committed ahead of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide and on the day marking the 23^rd anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia as a barbarous act. The ones behind this crime should know that Deir Zor, which symbolizes the memory of our martyrs and the Armenian nation’s struggle for justice, as a holy place dedicated to the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide, may not be destroyed in the collective memory of our nation.”

His Holiness addressed the incidents at the church and complex of Deir Zor during his meetings with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Yerominos II Archbishop.

The Supreme Patriarch has called on all Armenian state, political officials and clergymen to strictly condemn this act and draw foreigners’ attention to this.