Armenian Patriarch Meets U.S. President

On 27 June 2004, Sunday afternoon, President George W. Bush of the
United
States of America had a meeting with the religious leaders of Turkey.

His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey,
accompanied by the Revd. Fr. Drtad Uzunyan, attended the meeting held
at the
Hilton Hotel in Istanbul at the U.S. Embassy’s invitation.

Also present were His Excellency Ali Bardakoglu, Director of the Office
of
Islamic Religious Affairs in Ankara; His Holiness Bartholomew I, Greek
Orthodox (Ecumenical) Patriarch of Istanbul; His Excellency Rav Itshak
Haleva, Chief Rabbi of Turkey; His Grace Philixinos, Metropolitan of
the
Syriac Orthodox Church in Istanbul; His Excellency Mustafa Cagrici,
Grand
Mufti of Istanbul; Mr. Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State; Mr. Eric
Edelman, U.S. Ambassador to Ankara; Dr. Condoleezza Rice, the
President’s
National Security Advisor, and others.

The meeting was cordial and began with President Bush welcoming each
guest
personally. The President, in his opening remarks, spoke of his
appreciation
of Turkey’s being a mosaic of faiths and cultures, and how she presents
a
good model for a country which is a secular democracy, though
predominantly
Muslim.

In his exchange with the Armenian Patriarch, the President indicated
his
awareness that His Beatitude had studied in the United States. In
response,
Patriarch Mesrob said that he considers the United States his second
home
after Istanbul, and therefore the visit of the President of the U.S.
gave
him great pleasure.

The Patriarch also referred to America’s hospitality over the years
since
the second half of the 19th century to hundreds of thousands of
Armenians,
who had settled on the friendly shores of the New World. The President
fondly said that he thinks highly of the American Armenian community
and
made a special reference to Mr. George Deukmejian, the 35th Governor of
California.

Speaking of the minority situation in Turkey, Patriarch Mesrob said
that any
of the non-Muslim minorities in Turkey, or for that matter, for any
ethnic
or national minority to exist anywhere, three types of institutions are
essential: First, places of worship to preserve religious heritage and
to
nourish the spiritual life of the community, secondly, schools to teach
language and culture, and thirdly, foundations to fund religious and
educational activities and the personnel who enliven them. The
minorities
in Turkey are attempting to maintain those institutions for the future
and
well-being of their communities.

Patriarch Mesrob expressed his satisfaction that there was an on-going
inter-faith dialogue between the different religious establishments in
Turkey, and also a neighbourly dialogue of life among peoples of
various
confessional communities.

Another subject Patriarch Mesrob touched on was the intermediary roles
of
the minorities. He said that the communities have sometimes been in the
past, are ready today and will be so in the future to act as catalysts
in
any peace undertaking in the region between Turkey and neighbouring
countries.

And finally the Patriarch said that being ministers of religion engaged
in
spiritual edification, religious leaders try not to interfere or engage
in
politics. However, certain occurences call for, if not political
involvement, at least a moral response to particular situations. Fully
supporting the initiative of the World Council of Churches called “the
Decade to Overcome Violence,” Patriarch Mesrob voiced the sadness and
disquiet of many believers of various faiths in Turkey who are daily
bombarded with terrible scenes of violence via the media. Such images
come
daily from Palestine, the Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq and other places
in
the world. The Patriarch said he was deeply concerned with this because
he
is worried that such occurren